Allergic psoriasis: trigger foods, symptoms and treatment

School-aged children, adolescents, and adults may develop an itchy rash that spreads across body and forms bright pink patches, most often on or around the arms, knees, and scalp navel. Eventually, the spots (psoriatic plaques) become covered with thick white scales.

These patches are typical of psoriasis, a non-infectious and non-infectious skin disorder. In psoriasis, the top layer of the skin dies off much faster than in a healthy state.

The condition is chronic in nature, refers to multifactorial (that is, it occurs by coincidence of various circumstances) and appears in both sexes, but is more common in girls. Although the cause of psoriasis remains unknown, factors such as stress, obesity, cold air, injury, certain medications, and excessive consumption of alcohol or tobacco can cause a flare-up psoriasis.

Description of the disease

Human skin is a reflection of what is happening inside the body. The body removes waste through the liver, kidneys, lungs (through breathing), and skin. Food allergies, like stress, can cause psoriasis in some individuals. This is allergic psoriasis. Most people have allergic food reactions in response to ingesting a trigger, such as peanuts. In this case, the person's airways begin to close, swelling of the face or other part of the body occurs, and redness is visible on the skin of the face or body. Food allergy is considered a delayed-type reaction.

That is, from the moment the allergen enters the body and until the onset of symptoms, it can take from 2 to 14 days. The most common types of food allergies are allergies to soy, fatty meats and poultry, shellfish, corn, wheat, dairy products, eggs and gluten. Fatty meats and poultry are high in saturated fat associated with high cholesterol, weight gain, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. National Fund psoriasis (National Psoriasis Foundation) recommends avoiding animal fat sources to improve well-being and weight control.

Avoid deep-fried animal and poultry meats, as well as meat cooked with butter or lard, which increase the saturated fat and calories. Common dishes based on fatty meats and / or poultry include cheeseburgers, sausage pizza, fried chicken, and ham and cheese scrambled eggs. Whole milk is also high in saturated fat. Milk is a food allergen that causes psoriasis in some people, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.

If dairy products cause or worsen psoriasis symptoms, you should buy non-dairy equivalents such as soy milk, and avoid dairy products such as cheese, ice cream, eggnog, heavy cream, and sour cream. Gluten (gluten) is a protein found in wheat, rye, and baked goods. While gluten-containing foods such as whole grain breads provide dietary benefits for people, eliminating gluten from the diet can help reduce psoriasis symptoms.

Common foods containing gluten include:

• fortified white wheat and rye bread;
• cereals - except gluten-free corn and rice;
• biscuits;
• cakes;
• cakes;
• cupcakes;
• pies;
• crackers;
• pretzels;
• couscous;
• muesli;
• creamy canned soups;
• mixtures for making gravy.

Since gluten is found in a wide variety of foods, you should consult with your dietitian for an optimal diet with all the vitamins and minerals you need. Sugar is found in a wide variety of foods (candy, cakes, sweet cereals, soft drinks, jams, syrups, etc.). It gives them a sweet taste but low in nutrients. The National Psoriasis Foundation recommends reducing sugar intake to manage psoriasis symptoms. Avoid foods in which sugar is the main ingredient.

Symptoms

Common symptoms and signs of psoriasis can include:

• Redness and inflammation of the skin.
• The appearance of white, silvery, or yellowish scales that cover the affected skin.
• Small, red, isolated spots with well-defined edges.
• Dry skin that may crack and bleed.
• Itching, burning, or soreness of the skin. Itching makes psoriasis related to various types of dermatitis. However, with severe psoriasis, itching can become extremely irritating and severe and feel like a burn.

What does psoriasis look like?

If we look at psoriasis in close-up in the photo, then you can see large (in the case of plaque-like psoriasis) or small (in the case of guttate psoriasis) bright red or pink rashes of a round forms. There are small scales on these rashes. There are so many rashes that they merge, forming huge red spots of irregular shape.

With pustular psoriasis, raised bumps filled with pus (pustules) appear on the skin. The skin under and around these bumps is reddish. There are cracks on the plaques of psoriasis. They usually occur on the curves of the skin. Dry and chapped skin can bleed and is more susceptible to infections caused by fungi, viruses, and bacteria.

Difference from allergies

Allergic reactions and psoriasis occur in response to a reaction from the immune system and cause inflammation of the skin. However, in each case, the response of the immune system is different. When exposed to an allergen, the immune system releases a substance called histamine into the bloodstream.

This causes typical allergy symptoms such as redness, swelling, and itching. In psoriasis, the immune system is overactive and cellular responses cause the skin to grow at an accelerated rate. It usually takes about a month for new skin cells to reproduce, but in the case of psoriasis, this process takes only three to four days.

The body is unable to get rid of dead skin cells quickly enough, so they accumulate on the surface of the skin, forming red spots covered with white or yellowish scales. Antihistamines are used to treat allergies to block receptors that histamine affects.

Thus, allergy symptoms are reduced. However, antihistamines have little effect on psoriasis and are not part of the recommended treatment for psoriasis. To distinguish psoriasis from allergies, eczema and other pathologies, the patient, in addition to physical examination, is sometimes referred for histological examination.

Treatment

Phototherapy, also known as light therapy, is effective for psoriasis. The use of special lamps that shine ultraviolet light directly on psoriatic plaques can slow down the growth of affected skin cells. Also, the doctor usually prescribes various forms of topical corticosteroids (creams, ointments, gels). They help slow down the growth of skin cells. Salicylic acid helps exfoliate dead skin cells and enhance the effectiveness of topical corticosteroids.

Moisturizers are helpful in reducing itching and dry skin. If the patient has severe psoriasis or the disease is resistant to other treatments, the doctor may prescribe oral or injectable drugs such as retinoids, cyclosporine, methotrexate, and biologics that affect the immune system (etanercept, infliximab, adalimumab, and etc.). Because some of these drugs have serious side effects, they are only used for a short period of time.