The psoriasis awareness campaign ‘Pausa screening – Ne vale la pelle’ promoted by Johnson & Johnson in partnership with Apiafco, the Italian Psoriasis Association, friends of the Corazza Foundation, was presented in Rome. In addition to informing and raising awareness among the population about the chronic and recurring inflammatory skin disease – as stated in a note released today – the campaign is aimed at those who already suffer from it or show the first symptoms, offering free screenings in participating centers in Rome, where the campaign starts on October 5, and then reaches Naples and Vercelli in the following weeks. The aim of the initiative is in fact to underline the need to take a break to dedicate to one’s health and skin, without underestimating the symptoms of the disease, so that it does not evolve and force people to stop their lives due to embarrassment and pain.
In our country, almost 2 million people live with psoriasis, a disease that has a strong impact on the quality of life, with physical symptoms such as itching and tingling, and comorbidity at both a physical and psychological level. “Psoriasis is caused by an immune-mediated inflammation and is characterized by erythematous-desquamative skin lesions that can appear in some limited areas or extend over the entire body – explains Luca Bianchi, full professor of Dermatology and director of the Dermatology Unit and Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata – However, it should not be considered only a skin condition, but a systemic disease that can involve various organs and systems, in addition to having heavy psychological and social effects. More than half of people with psoriasis live with other diseases, such as diabetes, some heart diseases, depression and psoriatic arthritis, another immune-mediated disease. The latter represents the main comorbidity of psoriatic disease, so much so that 30% of people with psoriasis risk also developing psoriatic arthritis during their lifetime, if not treated adequately”.
Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis have a common link: an imbalance in the immune system that leads to chronic inflammation. Like psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis is a chronic disease with an uncertain course, although it mainly affects the joints, potentially causing irreversible damage, it can also be associated with vital organs such as the heart and lungs.
“To date, there is no cure – explains Giovanni Pellacani, full professor of Dermatology at La Sapienza University of Rome and director of the Dermatology Clinic of the Policlinico Umberto – but there are many drugs available that can reduce symptoms and thus improve the quality of life of patients. In order to ensure treatment with the most appropriate therapy, it is important to identify the inflammatory mechanism on which to intervene by analyzing the disease as a whole, also considering comorbidities. A key element for effective management of the disease is timely diagnosis – he adds – Unfortunately, one of the critical issues that most characterize the patient with psoriasis is precisely the delay in arriving at the diagnosis. In fact, underestimating the problem and the consequent delay in ascertaining psoriasis, worsen the course of the disease which, if discovered at its onset, could instead be managed in a better and more effective way”.
In this sense, check-ups are a fundamental tool not only for diagnosis, but also for detecting a possible progression of the disease.
“For those suffering from psoriatic disease – underlines Valeria Corazza, president of Apiafco – it is essential to turn to centers specialized in diagnosis and treatment, where dermatologists are specifically trained on this pathology and where there is a multidisciplinary approach, at the basis of the construction of a personalized treatment path based on the specific needs of each patient. In this sense – she continues – it is also essential that the patient is informed about the pathology and the therapies that will have to be performed. For this reason, collaborations and campaigns like this are very important to promote information, but also to network between the various organizations that deal with this problem and give points of reference to patients”.
Immune-mediated diseases, such as psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis – observes Alessandra Baldini, medical director of Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine Italia – have a strong impact on the lives of patients, causing great discomfort in the people who have to live with them every day. With the campaign ‘Pausa screening – Ne vale la pelle’ we want to raise awareness of the risks and manifestations of psoriatic disease and underline the importance of a timely diagnosis and treatment in the management of this disease. As Johnson & Johnson, we have always been pioneers in research, always identifying new and more effective approaches to transform the course of immune-mediated diseases, starting from the introduction of biological therapies, which occurred more than 30 years ago, we developed the first monoclonal antibody that acts directly on the immune system. We have continued to expand our knowledge of the inflammatory process and, thanks to this, we were the first to develop therapies that intercept new inflammatory pathways to substantially improve the lives of patients. Our discoveries – he concludes – have changed the lives of millions of people around the world and we continue to work to find ever better treatments, capable of stopping and even curing immune-mediated diseases”.
More information about the campaign, the dates and the centers participating in the initiative are available on the websites apiafco.org/pausa_screening/ and janssenconte.it/it-it/psoriasi360/campagna-pausa-screening-2024
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