Support group sought for psoriasis patients

Up to 240,000 people in the UAE suffer from a skin disease and they suffer in silence and feel stigmatised in society, doctors said yesterday. "There's no national support group for these patients," said Dr Hussain Abdul Dayem, Consultant Dermatologist at Al Noor Hospital, Abu Dhabi. He said the skin condition called psoriasis is a life-long disease and support groups can help the patients psychologically to manage their lives on a day-to-day basis. He said there are no such support groups either in the UAE or the Gulf region. He said an estimated 2.8 per cent of the UAE population had this affliction. "Psoriasis affects all ages but mostly young adults in their 30s," he said, adding he has seen it also in children. The doctor was speaking during the Dubai World Dermatology and Laser Conference and Exhibition (Dubai Derma) which ended yesterday. Leo Pharma, a Danish pharmaceutical firm, yesterday launched a support group called Moment for psoriasis patients in the UAE and the Gulf. The programme will run in partnership with psychologists and dermatologists. Hesham Omar, general manager of the company, said similar support programmes had been running in other countries and some parts of the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) successfully. Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease that affects one to three per cent of the general population across the globe. About 50 to 80 per cent of people suffering from psoriasis have scalp disease. Professor Kristian Reich of the Hamburg-based Dermatologikum, said the affliction was due to a defence mechanism of the skin. He said there were genetic causes for the disease and there was no known cure yet. "But it can be controlled with drugs," he said. "It is not contagious". In psoriasis, special white blood cells called T-cells become overactive and "attack" the skin. This makes skin cells multiply so fast they start to stack up on the surface of the skin.