Psoriasis rheumatism or psoriatic arthritis with its medical name is an inflammatory rheumatism that affects 7-40% of psoriasis patients. As the name suggests, the disease is seen in psoriasis patients. However, psoriasis rheumatism is not seen in every psoriasis patient.
In most of the patients, rheumatic symptoms occur after psoriasis. However, psoriasis findings occur at the same time as psoriasis or after joint findings in a smaller proportion.
Psoriasis rheumatism can be seen in the hand joints as well as in the knee joint alone. In some patients, the disease progresses alone with low back and hip pain and morning stiffness. In fact, morning stiffness, which is one of the most important findings of rheumatic diseases, is also one of the important findings of psoriasis rheumatism.
Psoriasis is often accompanied by pin-pricked pits called pitting on the nails. In addition, yellowing of the nails may also accompany separation from the nail bed.
There is no clear relationship between the disorganization or excessive presence of psoriasis sores and the severity of psoriasis. In other words, a patient may have severe joint symptoms despite having a single psoriasis lesion, and may not have any joint complaints despite having psoriasis lesions all over his body.
The genetic transmission of psoriasis is very high. Therefore, having psoriasis in one person in the family is an important sign that psoriasis may occur in other people as well.
The question of whether there is a blood test to diagnose psoriasis is frequently asked. Inflammation tests in the blood may increase, especially when joint symptoms are severe. Apart from this, the diagnosis is made according to the clinical condition of the patient. There is no specific blood test for the disease.
Treatment of the disease completely depends on the severity of the disease. Medications such as methotrexate are often the first choice drugs. In addition, biologic therapies can be considered as an alternative therapy in patients who do not respond to this drug or do not respond to treatment. It is very difficult to comment on the duration of treatment because each patient’s situation is different. It is generally correct to review the treatment again after a 2-year treatment period.
The biggest advantage of the drugs given for psoriasis rheumatism is that they are effective both in psoriasis lesions and in psoriasis rheumatism.
