How to keep psoriasis under control for a long time

From breakinglatest.news

It mainly affects the skin and is, for this reason, easily recognizable by the typical red patches covered by scales: it is psoriasis. And it doesn’t stop there: chronic, inflammatory and systemic disease, which can in fact present with extra-cutaneous manifestations and be linked to various comorbidities. Still today, however, the people who suffer from it, around 1.5 million in Italy alone, often find themselves having to change their therapy as they are unable to keep it under control or to turn off the inflammation, with cumulative damage and a significant impact also on the their quality of life. 

In recent years, however, advances in scientific research are yielding promising results, shedding light on therapeutic solutions capable of keeping inflammation blocked over time by reaching Pasi 100, which occurs when a patient’s skin is completely cleansed and as a result, the risk of cumulative damage to other organs is reduced. In other words, having the availability of drugs capable of reaching the Pasi 100 means having tools that can improve the health and quality of life of patients with psoriasis, as well as improve the sustainability of the healthcare system. Among these tools is bimekizumab, a monoclonal antibody, approved in the European Union for the treatment of plaque psoriasis in adults, capable of selectively inhibiting interleukins 17A and 17F, important in driving inflammatory processes.

The latest data from the open-label extension (Ole) Be Bright study, a multicentre trial evaluating the safety, tolerability and long-term efficacy of bimekizumab, showed that this drug has demonstrated long-lasting efficacy, with a Pasi response 100 maintained after three years in 82% of cases. In addition, approximately 92% of patients who achieved complete skin clearance at week 16 reported little or no impact of the disease on their lives up to three years. “The goal of psoriasis treatment is often complete skin clearance, and the availability of long-term data on various treatment options is important, as it allows healthcare professionals and patients to be better informed when making treatment decisions ”, clarifies Bruce Strober, professor of dermatology at Yale University.

While on the one hand the new data demonstrate that bimekizumab has rapid and lasting efficacy, thus improving the quality of life in the majority of patients with psoriasis, on the other it is urgent to direct the Institutions and the Government towards new health policy measures that ensure patients the right to the best course of care. It is precisely for this reason that the first Italian Alliance for patients with psoriasis was born, which includes the scientific societies Apiafco, Sidemast and Adoi and Salutequità, a laboratory for the analysis, innovation and change of health and social policies. The objectives of the Alliance are contained in the initiative “Call to action: psoriasis, the need does not hide”, which is developed in six key points.

Among these, for example, is the request to include psoriasis, in its various forms, in the National Chronicity Plan and to update “the guidelines on psoriasis, with the identification of recommendations capable of leading to an optimal management of patients,” reads the document. “Today we clinicians have tools and therapies which, thanks to innovation, allow us to counteract psoriasis with positive levels of response that were unthinkable until a few years ago”, comments Ketty Peris, president of Sidemast. “It is unacceptable that such an important greater therapeutic potential could be largely compromised by organizational and management deficiencies which could be overcome by following up on requests from both patients and the scientific community”.

https://www.breakinglatest.news/health/how-to-keep-psoriasis-under-control-for-a-long-time/