Scaly lichen, Psoriasis (lat.) Or psoriasis is perhaps the most common skin disease today, characterized in the overwhelming majority of cases by a chronic, severe form of course. According to statistics, psoriasis accounts for 2% to 10% of the total incidence of skin diseases. Moreover, among patients undergoing inpatient treatment, psoriasis accounts for up to 22% of the total number of patients.

The causal factors of the onset of psoriasis, as well as the circumstances contributing to the progression of the disease, have not yet been established. Therefore, great importance is attached to the study of the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease and attention is paid not only in our country, but throughout the world.

Weakened immunity and hereditary predisposition

According to experts, the main causes of psoriasis as a systemic disease are disorders in the functions of the body’s immune system, which are especially clearly manifested at the cellular level in the tissues of the epidermis. So, in the course of studies of patients with psoriasis in the structure of psoriatic scales, antigens were identified that are completely absent in healthy people.

In addition, autoantibodies to these antigenic components were found in the blood serum of patients . This suggests that autoimmune (hereditary) factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease. The blood of patients with psoriasis is characterized by increased circulating immune complexes (CIC), which directly affects the clinical picture of the course of the disease. It was found that the main role in pathological processes is played by monovalent IgG and IgA antibodies , which form small CECs for low molecular weight, weak antigens. According to some data, the antigen b-microglobulin or superantigens , such as, for example, toxins of microbial origin, can be considered the “triggering trigger” of psoriatic changes on the skin .

Pathological ultrastructural changes characteristic of psoriasis are found in the vessels of the skin of both patients with psoriasis and their blood relatives. Moreover, if only one of the parents is sick with psoriasis, the probability of occurrence in children is 14-17%. If both parents are healthy, the risk of developing the disease in offspring, under the influence of certain factors, decreases to 5%, but is never excluded.

Neurogenic factors

If we take for granted the fact that all diseases originate “from the nerves”, then psoriasis, the causes of which are considered multiple, is in the forefront. Indeed, in support of the “nervous theory”, the results of numerous studies are cited, proving that in many patients, inflammatory psoric eruptions appeared precisely after a nervous breakdown, stress, or a disturbance in the functioning of the nervous system. In addition, special neurological studies show that in the body of patients with psoriasis there are obvious dysfunctions of both the central and peripheral nervous systems.  

Such data are not devoid of logic and suggest that psoriasis really has a neurogenic pathogenesis. However, many scientists still refuse to accept the “nervous theory” as fully proven and grounded.

Metabolic disorders

Dermatologists do not exclude that psoriasis, the causes of the disease, are determined by various types of disorders in the metabolic processes of the human body. This can be confirmed by the fact that many patients with psoriasis were found to have dysfunctions of the digestive system, in particular, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, disturbances in the functioning of the pancreas and (less often) the liver.  

The causes of psoriasis in some cases also include malfunctions of the endocrine system. So, in many patients, an increase or decrease in the work of the thyroid gland, a violation of the glucocorticoid functions of the adrenal cortex were revealed.

Thus, when diagnosing a disease of psoriasis, one should take into account not only individual factors of its occurrence, but also carry out comprehensive examinations for the presence of any abnormalities in the work of internal organs and systems. Treatment of the disease is prescribed in accordance with the detected changes in the overall functionality of the body.