Psoriasis is a medical condition that occurs when skin cells grow too quickly. Faulty signals in the immune system cause new skin cells to form in days rather than weeks. The body does not shed these excess skin cells, so the cells pile up on the surface of the skin and lesions form. This obviously affects the appearance of the skin and can be an embarrassing and frustrating.
Psoriasis is not contagious and it cannot be communicated by touching someone who has it. The cause of it has not been established as yet, but is believed that it is linked to a genetic predisposition. People worldwide develop psoriasis. In the United States, nearly 7.5 million people have psoriasis and about 150,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
Studies have been done to establish a link between hormonal fluctuations and psoriasis. However many women say that their psoriasis improves during pregnancy and gets slightly worse during the menopause. Women who have psoriasis are apprehensive that they will pass it on to their children. But it cannot be passed on by cuddling or breastfeeding as it is not contagious. Since it is caused due to a genetic predisposition, there is an 8% to 15% risk of transmitting it when one of the parents has psoriasis and a 50% to 60% risk when both partners are affected.
But many doctors recommend that women stop their psoriasis treatments completely during pregnancy since it involves taking very strong medications. These medicines would have a severe affect on the fetus if taken during pregnancy. Most antipsoriatic systemic medications should be avoided in pregnancy. Some are known teratogens, i.e. cause birth deformities in a larger number of babies than the normal background rate. Doctors recommend only topical treatments such as creams and oils. Phototherapy with broadband UVB and narrowband UVB appears as safe in pregnancy. But during breastfeeding, topical treatments should not be applied on the breasts or nipples.
During pregnancy women may experience that their psoriasis goes down. It is because of the production of cortisone in the body. The body secretes more cortisone, which has an anti-inflammatory action on psoriatic lesions. But in some rare cases, psoriasis actually increases when a woman is pregnant. Again, the reason for this is not very clear but is it linked to hormonal imbalance. Some women experience their first flares of psoriasis during pregnancy.
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