Is psoriasis contagious or not? This is a common question. We will understand it in more detail.
Psoriasis is a common disease that is characterized by damage to the skin, which is a monomorphic rash in the form of red-pink nodules that have a loose scaly surface. This disease can occur for a rather long period of time, sometimes even for years, and at the same time, there are occurrence of remissions and relapses of the disease.
Description of the disease
The spots that spread through the body of a psoriasis patient are called psoriatic plaques. They are dry areas of the skin, slightly rising above its surface. Most often, they are formed on the surfaces of the knee or elbow joints, on the buttocks and back, but they can also occur in other areas of the body - on the face, head, palms, and so on.
Is psoriasis contagious? More about this below.
This is a chronic disease with a wave-like course. Remissions and relapses of this disease are caused by many factors of both the external environment and the psychosomatic state of a person, for example, various stresses and the use of alcohol strongly affect the exacerbation of the disease.
The severity of the disease in different patients can be completely different - from small local changes in the skin to a complete lesion of the body with psoriatic plaques. In the absence of adequate therapy for this disease, it can actively progress, which is characterized by a rapid increase in the affected area of the body.
Not only the patient’s skin is affected, but also the nails on the legs or arms. It can occur independently, without damage to the skin, and it is possible to change both nails and skin at the same time. Therefore, many are interested in whether psoriasis is contagious or not.
Stages of psoriasis
An extremely important point in the clinical picture, as well as in the course of this disease is its division into stages. For other diseases, this factor sometimes does not matter, but in this case, separation is necessary so that specialists can choose for a particular patient the treatment tactics that will be suitable for his case.
The stages of psoriasis:
- Progressive.
- Stationary.
- Regressive.
So, further we will tell whether psoriasis of the head is contagious.
Symptoms of the disease
The classic symptoms of this disease are red convex spots on the skin, covered with a flaky crust of silver tint. They can occur throughout the body, but can only in some of its areas. In addition, patients have small bleeding areas of the skin, which are observed, as a rule, where the skin is heavily exfoliated. The condition of the patient's nails also worsens. Small indentations form on the nails, and the nail plate itself becomes yellowish. With spontaneous exacerbations of psoriasis, a person may experience severe itching in the area of the location of psoriatic plaques, joint pain, their increased sensitivity and swelling.
With all this in mind, it is imperative for healthy people to know whether psoriasis is contagious or not.
The causes of the disease
The development of psoriasis is associated with an imbalance in the functioning of the immune system, as well as the presence of pathological factors:
- Genetic predisposition. The development of this disease is especially often observed in people whose close relatives suffered from psoriasis.
- Constant psycho-neurological stress and frequent stress.
- Diseases affecting the endocrine system of the body.
- The presence of parasites.
- Viral infections.
- Impaired metabolism, deficiency of certain vitamins and minerals, especially silicon.
Is psoriasis contagious or not?
The clinical picture of the disease is characterized by the appearance of unsightly spots on the body, which scares people who are not familiar with the nature of this disease. They try not to interact with sick people, in fear of contracting this disease, but in this case the fears are not justified.
Household and physical contacts
The fear of contracting psoriasis also occurs in people because another name for this disease is scaly lichen. And the causative agents of lichen, as you know, are numerous fungi, bacteria and viruses.
To find out whether a psoriasis is contagious or not, we learn more about it.
However, in this case, scaly lichen is not dangerous for others, since the causes of its occurrence have nothing to do with either viruses or bacteria. Psoriasis is caused by completely different factors, and with physical contacts this disease is not transmitted. Thousands of people live together with close relatives suffering from this disease, communicate with them and do not become infected. People who are diagnosed with psoriasis can not avoid appearing in society, and, despite hostility from other people, live a completely normal life.
Therefore, when they see red spots on the face, head or on the hands of another person, many people ask the question: "Is psoriasis of the skin contagious to others?"
It is impossible to catch this disease through household items, dishes, and also hygiene items.
So, psoriasis is not contagious, since this disease is not infectious, which means that a sick person is not dangerous for those who are close to him - at home, at work, in public places.
We found out whether psoriasis is contagious to others. But where does he come from?
Infection through sexual intercourse
Sexually transmitted transmission of the disease from person to person has also been disproved in the course of scientific research. The reason for this lies in the fact that psoriasis is not provoked by various pathogenic viruses and microbes. This is a completely independent disease that develops in people regardless of whether they entered into sexual intercourse with a sick person or not. Sexually transmitted infections can be caused by gonorrhea, syphilis, genital lice, chlamydia, ureaplasmosis, mycoplasmosis, herpes, HIV. Infection with one of the above diseases can become the impetus for the occurrence of psoriasis, since these diseases, as well as their therapy, greatly weaken the body's immune defense. But psoriasis cannot be transmitted directly through sexual contact.
Genetic factors for the development of psoriasis
We continue to understand whether psoriasis is contagious or not for others.
Many scientific researchers in the field of medicine have not yet come to a consensus on what is the cause of this disease. The main conclusion that doctors around the world adhere to today is the presence of certain genetic causes that can serve as an impetus for the appearance of psoriasis.
Most scientists believe that heredity is the main such factor, and psoriasis can pass from parents to children. There are some data confirmed by scientific research:
- if one of the parents suffers from a similar disease, then the probability of its development in the offspring is approximately 15%;
- in the presence of diagnosed psoriasis in both parents, the risk of developing this disease in their child increases to 50%.
Other studies in the field of genealogy confirm the fact that even if parents do not suffer from psoriasis, the risk of developing a disease in a child is possible in the presence of this disease in previous generations, for example, grandparents. However, in this case, the risk of a disease will be less pronounced.
Scientists claim that in addition to a genetic predisposition to psoriasis, there are other reasons for the development of this disease. These include climatic factors, as well as the geographical location of the place of residence.
Where do they rarely get sick?
For example, as a result of studies conducted on 25,000 Indians born in South America, it was found that none of these people suffer from this disease. People living in Japan and Korea rarely get psoriasis. This category also includes those who live close to the equator - in Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Egypt. And vice versa - the farther from the equator, the higher the incidence of psoriasis. The highest incidence rates are recorded in the Arctic, where almost 13% of the population suffers from it.
conclusions
Despite the fact that research activities to study psoriasis and the causes of its occurrence are carried out to this day, scientists still can not come to a common opinion on this subject. Moreover, it is still unknown how to treat this disease, and whether there is a certain means to prevent it, because for this you need to know exactly what factors of a genetic, natural or other nature with a probability of 100% are the causes of psoriasis. But already today there are a number of medications that can help reduce the symptoms of this disease, which is a very high stage in the development of medicine.