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Dr Daniel Glass
The Dermatology Clinic London
What is psoriasis?
Dr Daniel Glass explains that psoriasis is a very common inflammatory skin condition that looks like pink, scaly, plaques, and affects up to 2% of the population. It has a genetic component, but also has external causative factors, including a streptococcal infection.
Transcript
So psoriasis is a very common inflammatory skin condition, it affects up to 2% of the population. It's, to some extent, genetically inherited and one in three people who have psoriasis have a first degree relative who also have psoriasis. There are external causative factors. Psoriasis sometimes comes after a streptococcal infection which is a sore throat infection, a bacterial sore throat infection. And in that situation, psoriasis can look like very small, red, scaly patches scattered across the whole skin. More commonly psoriasis looks like pink, scaly, plaques, and it affects the extensors of the skin. It affects the knees, the elbows, commonly affects the scalp, but it can affect anywhere on the skin. And in severe cases, it can affect you from top to toe.