Who is the enemy of the skin?
Elena Borisovna, how important is the problem of skin diseases for the people of Sverdlovsk?
Elena Koryukina: Dermatoses are one of the most common groups of diseases. There are more than two thousand skin diseases. Some of them are rare, others are very common and cause patients a lot of inconvenience and sometimes suffering.
For example, acne (this is the modern name for acne) is a very common process. This problem accounts for about 10% of the appointments in our clinic. The cause is dysfunction of the sebaceous glands, usually due to a genetic predisposition and amplified by hormonal changes during puberty. Allergic dermatitis is also not uncommon.
The areas of greatest concern are psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Often these diseases have a chronic course; there are extremely acute manifestations that can lead to disability. The number of identified cases has not decreased over the years, and recently we have seen that atopic dermatitis has also changed its structure. Typically, this genetic disease develops in children in the first years of life. The existing inferiority of one of the genes encoding the structure of the skin interferes with the formation of its protective barrier. Very often, by the age of three, the skin “matures”, after which the disease successfully goes into remission. In late childhood and adolescence, other diseases can “grow” from the same root, in particular hay fever, a pollen allergy, and even later – bronchial asthma.
However, atopic dermatitis has now begun to recur more frequently in adults and is more severe in these patients. This is facilitated by stress, which has already become the scourge of our time. Often, stress is also a trigger for the development of psoriasis. Of course, there are other reasons, and not all of them are fully understood.
What does medicine know today about psoriasis?
Elena Koryukina: Psoriasis is also a genetic disease and very common. 2% of the population suffers from it, and that is a huge number. A person can be a carrier of a damaged gene and pass it on to his offspring, or he can get sick himself. And some patients may have single plaques, while others will have a severe course, with joint damage or inflammation of the choroid. And while the skin has the chance to recover over time, the joints can be irreversibly destroyed.
What determines the severity of psoriasis symptoms?
Elena Koryukina: Psoriasis is still a little-known disease. Among the reasons that we know contribute to the exacerbation of the disease are stress, alcohol, to a certain extent smoking, and concomitant diseases. We often see that psoriasis goes hand in hand with diseases such as diabetes, damage to the cardiovascular system, and depression. This property is called comorbidity. And if the patient progresses in the treatment of comorbidities, for example, a diabetic normalizes his weight, the manifestations of psoriasis weaken. And vice versa: the development of a concomitant disease leads to more severe forms of skin pathology.
Medicine never sleeps
Is it possible to protect oneself in any way from the manifestation of these complex diseases?
Elena Koryukina: Fortunately, prevention exists and, in general, it is the same for everyone. You need to worry less, eat properly and, most importantly, in moderation, and take vitamins as prescribed by your doctor. In most cases, trips to the sea will be useful.
Photo by: GBUZ SOKVD
Since psoriasis reacts very strongly to alcohol, it is advisable to lead a sober lifestyle. And for the prevention and treatment of atopic dermatitis, it is very important to use appropriate cosmetics containing emollients, which soften and moisturize the skin. With excessive dryness and lack of fat, the barrier (protective) function of the skin is disturbed and the balance of microbes that each person normally has changes. Those that normally help strengthen the skin’s immunity die off, and staphylococcus, the cause of pustules, begins to dominate.
What methods of combating skin diseases exist in our region?
Elena Koryukina: With a certain degree of severity of the disease, we can prescribe drug therapy, both external and systemic (internal). If there are indications, we will also include physiotherapy. The drugs are very expensive, but they are provided by the state. They can be obtained after passing a medical commission.
At the Sverdlovsk Dermatovenerological Dispensary we offer consultations and treatment for children and adults, medical examinations and various educational events on medical problems. We prescribe highly specialized examinations. There is a day hospital. The appointment is made within the framework of compulsory medical insurance (i.e. free of charge for the patient) and fully complies with the clinical recommendations of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.
THERE ARE CONTRAINDICATIONS. SPECIALIZED CONSULTATION IS REQUIRED.
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