Become a member
Quick Registration
Full Registration Benefits -
Free Homepages for Doctors
Free Homepages for Hospitals
Free Homepages for Medical Conference
Free Homepages for NGO's
Personal Health Record Creation
Access to all Medical Slides
Access to all Jobs & Products Sale
Combination of Biologics With Traditional Therapy Beneficial in Psoriasis | |
|
| |
Psoriasis
patients may have a reason to smile - studies indicate that addition of newer
drugs belonging to the biologic group to standard treatment could help in
faster improvement without increased side effects.
Psoriasis is an inflammatory disorder that affects the skin resulting in the formation of large plaques. It could also cause complications like arthritis and increase the chances of development of heart disease and inflammatory bowel disease.
Moderate to severe psoriasis is treated with phototherapy, medications like methotrexate, acitretin, and cyclosporine, or biologics like adalimumab, alefacept, etanercept, infliximab, and ustekinumab. Biologics are medications isolated from a variety of natural sources like human, animal or microorganism and are produced by biotechnology methods and other technologies. In psoriasis, biologics act by inhibiting various steps in the inflammatory process that contribute to psoriasis.
Studies indicate that addition of a biologic to other medications used for psoriasis could help to reduce the dose of the medications and possibly discontinue them. Medications used in psoriasis have a number of side effects, thus reducing their dose could help to reduce their toxicity. In addition, biologics enhance the efficacy of traditional treatment. On the other hand, addition of the usual medications like local treatments, phototherapy or systemic medications to biologicals helps to increase the efficacy of the treatment. Combination of adalimumab with methotrexate; alefacept with topical or systemic agents; etanercept with calcipotriol, phototherapy, methotrexate, acitretin, or cyclosporine; and infliximab with methotrexate have been proved to be beneficial in various studies.
Thus, combination of the traditional treatments for psoriasis with biologics should be considered where treatment with a single agent is ineffective or the patient suffers from repeated flares.
Reference:
1. Guenther LC. Combination Therapy of Biologics with Traditional Agents in Psoriasis; Skin Therapy 2011.
Source-Medindia
| |
|
|
 Comment & Contribute
|
Related Links
Psoriasis About
Psoriasis is a recurrent and complex inflammatory skin disorder that can have tremendous physical and psychological impact on the ...
Severe Psoriasis Tied With Major Adverse Cardiac Events
A new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has revealed an increased incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in ...
Health In Focus News
Some Myths and Realities About Your Body
Be it from a word-of-mouth, or a newspaper article, unreliable and mis-interpreted facts always keep us in the dark. To shed some light, we've ...
Liver can be Damaged by Cinnamon
A compound called coumarin present in cinnamon is toxic to the liver even in small amounts, shows study. Cinnamon is a spice ...
Glutamate Responsible for Insomnia Associated With Restless Leg Syndrome: Hopkins Study
The neurotransmitter glutamate may play an important role in sleep loss in patients with restless leg syndrome, according to a study ...
Secondhand Smoke Destroys Good Cholesterol in Teen Girls
Teenage girls may be more vulnerable to the adverse effects of secondhand smoke when compared to boys of the same age, shows study. ...
Benefits of a Deep Breath
On an average, an individual breathes around 17,280-23,040 times a day, without giving it a second thought. When we breathe, we take ...
Fish Oil Supplements May Not Prevent Blindness: NIH Study
One of leading cause of blindness in developed world is age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is a common eye condition among older adults ...
- Health News Index
|
|
 | Quiz on Psoriasis Psoriasis is an autoimmune skin disease occurring in almost all parts of the body and affecting people of all ages. 
|
- News Quick Links
 |
Psoriasis
Complete Medindia Resources
|
| News Categories: |
| » | Tumour Growth Mechanism Goes a Step Further |
| » | Link Between Skin Cancer and Lower Risk of Alzheimer's Disease Identified |
| » | Molecular Profiling Timely for Tailoring Therapy Shown By First Prospective Trial |
| » | Broad Support for Rationing of Some Types of Cancer Care Found By Penn Medicine Study |
| » | Study Finds Women in 40s Continue to Undergo Routine Mammograms Despite New Recommendations |
| More Cancer News | |
|
Ask an Expert
