Archive for the ‘treatments’ Category

Reading this article about the placebo effect will make you feel better today

Here’s a very interesting item about the placebo effect. Yes, it is fun to hear about experiments in which people can be fooled into feeling better, or worse. But more importantly, this professor and psychologist discusses how a patient’s attitude, and a physician’s warmth and (apparent) competence, can impact our Continue Reading…

“Fail first” insurance mandates not just a problem for U.S. psoriasis patients

“Fail first” policies are one of the mandates imposed by some U.S. health insurers to reduce their costs. They require that people with psoriasis (and other serious diseases) try older and inferior – and often less safe – treatments before they can access the 21st century treatments that work best. Continue Reading…

Imagine knowing after 4 weeks, how a new psoriasis treatment would be working for you after 6 months…

Here’s an interesting, after-the-fact analysis from clinical trials of the biologic Ilumya (tildrakizumab-asmn), an “IL-23 inhibitor” marketed by Sun Pharma. The researchers looked at psoriasis severity scores used in clinical trials, known as PASI scores (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index), for each patient. Each patient’s score is determined before the Continue Reading…

AbbVie, maker of Humira and Skyrizi, getting closer to third product to fight psoriatic disease

AbbVie, the North Chicago company behind the longtime blockbuster biologic Humira (adalimumab) and a new biologic Skyrizi (risankizumab-rzaa), moved closer this week to having its new rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pill, Rinvoq (upadacitinib), approved for psoriatic arthritis. Rinvoq is a JAK inhibitor being studied for psoriatic arthritis as a once-daily pill. Continue Reading…

More Than 20 Clinical Trials for Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Currently Recruiting Patients

Before a psoriasis treatment reaches patients, it is tested, over a period of years and at great expense, at dermatology clinics and hospitals across the United States and abroad. Volunteers are recruited to participate in these clinical trials. The formats vary; one standard trial is to compare a group of Continue Reading…

Methotrexate by injection, rather than by pill, getting more attention as treatment option

Methotrexate, the decades-old psoriasis treatment still commonly prescribed for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, is getting more attention recently as evidence seems to be building that injecting methotrexate under the skin may be superior to oral administration for psoriasis patients. But as with so many other treatment issues, it is not Continue Reading…