In Italy 1.5 million people with psoriasis, for World Social Day campaign

Patients forced to deal with patches and macules distributed throughout the body, often in difficult-to-treat parts such as scalp, nails, palms and feet and who, in some cases, are associated with problems with the joints of the hands, pain sudden in the knee, wrist or ankle or actual groups of joints. It is psoriasis, an inflammatory disease that affects about 1,500,000 people in Italy, while in Europe it affects about 14 million people and 125 million worldwide. On the occasion of World Psoriasis Day, which is celebrated all over the world on October 29, Alfasigma, alongside the Association of Italian Psoriasis Friends of the Corazza Foundation (Apiafco), has launched an awareness-raising initiative through its social channels. Psoriasis is not only an aesthetic problem but above all a real health problem. “Psoriasis, like many other chronic skin diseases, is often perceived as a mere aesthetic problem and therefore little considered by the layman as well as by the political decision-maker on duty. Often, however, its impact on the life of the a person who is affected by it is devastating “, explains Francesco Cusano, president of the Association of dermatologists, venereologists of Italian hospitals and of public health (Adoi). “This occurs – he continues – not only as a consequence of the frequent involvement of other organs to which the pathology extends, such as joints, gastrointestinal tract, cardio-vascular system, eye, nor as a simple reduction in the quality of life in a more or less tract long of the same, but rather significantly influencing the individual in the crucial moments and stages of his existence, preventing him from exercising certain professions, for example, from attending collegiate environments such as beaches or swimming pools, from practicing sports or other recreational or recreational activities , up to strong conditioning or giving up a family life or in any case strictly relational “. Research has in fact shown that psoriasis is a complex, autoimmune, systemic disease. “Skin inflammation – says Valeria Corazza, president of Apiafco – is only the external manifestation. The psoriatic person often has cardiovascular problems, very often rheumatological. Other co-morbidities that have a significant impact are the metabolic syndrome, obesity and in many cases depression. This is why I define it as the disease of the strong, given the physical, psychological and social suffering it causes “. To all this is added the problem of diagnosis that often occurs many years after the first symptoms appear, when instead a correct diagnosis in a short time would allow access to treatment and a more probable and rapid improvement of the disease. In fact, from a study conducted by Censis on a sample of 300 patients, it emerged that 70% of these go from one specialist to another to obtain a correct diagnosis and 50% turn to 4 different specialists or centers on average before identify the referring physician to rely on for treatment. “Traditional therapies, as well as phototherapy itself – continues Cusano – are still valid options, not only in patients who cannot or do not want to practice therapies with the most modern biotechnological drugs. adaptation of the organism to a certain type of biotechnological drug sometimes induces a progressive loss of efficacy of the drug itself. Considering precisely that these are therapies to be practiced throughout life, it is understood how it is appropriate to maintain an additional therapeutic option with a drug that, in addition to allowing a certain percentage of patients to be successfully monitored for an indefinite period, often delays access to the biological some years thus postponing the potential exhaustion of the therapeutic resources at our disposal “. “Since this is a chronic disease – adds Corazza – there is no cure, but the effects can be kept under control through the therapeutic alternatives available, commonly divided into three groups: topical treatments, indicated for patients with mild forms of the disease , phototherapy treatments and biological and non-systemic treatments, used, instead, for moderate-severe cases “. On the occasion of World Psoriasis Day 2021, Apiafco addresses its members and all psoriatic patients,” the real protagonists of this day “. Several initiatives were proposed in the week ‘of preparation’ for World Day, the culmination of the celebrations, through a social awareness campaign. Furthermore, during the week, Apiafco provides patients with telephone medical consultancy support with respect to various problems such as requests on ongoing therapy, evaluation of exams, doubts regarding adverse events that have been encountered. Finally, an online event is planned with the members of the association and broadcast live on Facebook, to take stock of the initiatives implemented in the course of 2021 as well as those in progress and for the near future, from the renewed pressure on the institutions for the ” inclusion of the pathology in the National Chronicity Plan, to the commitment to the development of digital medicine.