New Drug For Psoriasis

Main Category: Eczema / Psoriasis
Article Date: 22 Oct 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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A new ointment is helping in treating patients who suffer from psoriasis -- one of the various diseases that affect skin, and that was for more than one thousand years mistakenly confounded with leper (Hansen's disease, differentiated only in 18th century).

Even today, this disease is not very well understood, and, what is worse, it still raises stigma and prejudice, since it is little known and causes restraint in people who are affected by it and in people who see it.

Suffering from a hard-to-control and chronic skin disease is not only distressful, but this may result in personality and behavior changes. The social stigma can be more difficult to deal with than the symptoms of psoriasis itself. Lack of support and understanding can aggravate the evolution, making it chronic, with no definite results, what may arise frustration and loss of self-esteem.

Incidence of skin diseases -- Psoriasis hits around 2% of world population, being more frequent in some regions, such as Finland, with a rate of about 2.8 %. In the USA, there are more than 7 million people, and in Brazil there may be more than 3 million. Even though, it is still little broadcasted in the media and by health services. It hits equally men and women, of any age. There are two peaks of incidence, early from 16 to 22 years old, and late from 57 to 60 years old. In 15% of the cases, it hits children up to 10 years old.

Surely, attitude changes and care, along with medical and scientific therapies, will provide a better quality of life to psoriasis patients. It is worth to remember that another powerful skin disease is vitiligo, which destroys the cells that make the skin's pigmentation. And there are much more diseases to mention, like atopic dermatitis, plain lichen, discoid lupus, eczema, and much more inflammatory skin diseases.

Market -- There is a new medicine, whose active principle is Tacrolimus (recently introduced in the World Congress of Dermatology, Paris), that acts "reviving" the cells that stimulate skin pigmentation (In people with vitiligo, for example, these cells disappear, and melanin production is stopped), with no need of ultraviolet radiation therapy," explains Let�cia R. Rezende, pharmacist in charge of SP Farma's Technical Development Center, specialized in Quality and Pharmaceutical Production (Universidade de S�o Paulo). Tacrolimus' main advantage over other products used in treating skin diseases is the relative lack of side effects. "About 40% of patients show a good response using the substance that, differently from cortisone, do not thins skin, do not cause early aging nor the appearance of small blood vessels. "The ointment is indicated for the treatment of lesions not too large in extension," says Rezende. Its frequent use alleviates itching and inflammation caused by atopic dermatitis.

1st World Psoriasis Day - On October 29, 2004, the world will be "celebrating" this sad date, in Prague, Czech Republic. On the other side, last June, San Francisco, USA, hosted the 2nd International Psoriasis Symposium, with the presence of dermatologists and researchers from 17 countries, including 3 from Brazil. Besides the opportunity to get new information, we could certify how much Brazil is updated on different ways of treatment. A focus change could be noted, more centered on therapies to immune responses, as the new drug, which proved to be safer and less toxic in research studies.

Mona C. Cury
Mtb 16503
5511 9196-9339
monacury@uol.com.br
http://www.spfarma.com.br

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