Archive for May, 2007

Don’t get your garden shears and snorkel out just yet, but researchers are hoping that two compounds they have created will one day help treat psoriasis and other immune system diseases. One, known as ShK(L5), is a synthetic version of a component of sea anemone venom. The other, PAP-1, is derived from a shrub, the
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Celgene announced today that its Phase Two trial of CC-10004 (also known as apremilast) showed promise against psoriasis, and the company pledged to accelerate its development for psoriasis and other inflammatory diseases. The treatment is novel in that it is an oral TNF alpha inhibitor; the TNF alpha inhibitors already available are injected or infused,
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One of the unpleasant features of taking methotrexate for psoriasis is the need for periodic liver biopsies. Methotrexate (MTX) can damage the liver in ways that can be missed by blood tests; a biopsy can detect this damage before it reaches a crisis point. (The fact that physicians do not seem to agree on how
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In January, we brought you Reuters photos of the fish — called Doctor Fish — that actually nibble away at psoriasis lesions. (Those photos are no longer online.) Now we’re back with a great Getty Image from China of the same phenomenon that appeared this week in the Washington Post. The Post
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The U.S. Senate passed a bill on May 9 that would expand the authority of the Food and Drug Administration to ensure drug safety:
The bill calls for a fundamental change in the philosophy and operations of the drug agency, requiring it to focus on the entire life cycle of a drug — not just the
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Take a moment this week (May 6-12, 2007) to think about and thank the nurses who have helped you and your loved ones over the years. People with psoriasis sometimes spend a lot of time with nurses–especially those dermatology nurses helping us with our UV light treatments, infusion nurses, and on and on.
Thanks for
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Abbott today reported strong results in Phase Two testing for its experimental biologic currently known as ABT-874. The treatment, an antibody that targets interleukin-12 and interleukin-23, had a powerful effect in clearing psoriasis symptoms:
At 12 weeks, nine out of 10 patients with moderate to severe psoriasis achieved 75 percent improvement in psoriasis signs and
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CariDee English, recent winner of the Fox TV show America’s Next Top Model, and someone who has had psoriasis since childhood, has agreed to work with the National Psoriasis Foundation to help raise awareness of the disease. It is not clear if it is a paid position.
This is great news. For a disease
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