#psoriasis - a promising new treatment. Font: CBC News

Dr. Richard Langley, a professor at Dalhousie Medical School in Halifax, headed an international team of researchers in a study which verified the protein that causes psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease which affects roughly 1 - 2% of the world's population. The study also identified a promising new treatment.

Psoriasis causes painful, itchy lesions and has been linked to a host of other medical problems. Patients who have psoriasis are at a higher risk of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, depression, arthritis, even inflammatory bowel disease. Many patients feel stigmatized by the condition. In children, this can result in sufferers not wanting to play sports or go swimming for fear of being teased or having their skin condition exposed. Psoriasis also affects people as they shift into adulthood and some are hesitant to enter relationships because of the condition.

This new research focused on identifying IL-17, the protein which is linked to psoriasis, as well as developing secukinumab, a molecule which targets IL-17 and has had promising results when it comes to treating the skin disease. For the trial, patients received a weekly, and later monthly, injection. The results of the trial found secukinumab was almost twice as effective as some other treatments currently on the market! The study was funded by the drug company Novartis. 

When this treatment might be available to the public is unknown, as approval is currently being sought from Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The cost of treatment is also unknown. The findings of the research appeared in last week's New England Journal of Medicine.