Newfoundland and Labrador likely has one of the highest prevalence of psoriasis in the world, says Dr. Wayne Gulliver, professor of medicine and dermatology at Memorial University.

Among the 11 dermatologists who practice here, weve seen about 10,000 patients, which is about two per cent of the population, Gulliver said.

Around the world they say the prevalence is two per cent, and Newfoundland and Labrador is probably four to five per cent because we probably havent seen every patient yet. Weve only seen half of them. And we see a lot of quite severe psoriasis and we see lots of patients with the associated illnesses linked to psoriasis like arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Gulliver noted there have been a number of genes discovered linked to psoriasis, and a theory is that one of those genes produces a protein that is important in fighting tuberculosis (TB).

Our theory is that back in the 1920s we had a lot of TBhere, so the question is, did having psoriasis give you a survival advantage to fight tuberculosis? Gulliver said. We know that patients with psoriasis certainly are resistant to certain types of infection. One of my colleagues from Spain just wrote a paper he does quote this particular theory in that.

Gulliver notes that while they havent reached the point where 100 per cent of patients are having 100 per cent clear skin, the new treatments available are helping reach that goal.

Earlier this month, Health Canada approved a new biologic (injectable) treatment for psoriasis called Cosentyx which is making waves.

Theres a whole bunch of new drugs in the pipeline. Theres actually two other drugs in this class that are under study, Gulliver said. For the psoriasis patient, its not if we are going to get them better, its when we are going to get them better, and the majority of patients should be able to have excellent control of their condition. Did we think wed see it? We all hoped for it and the reality is certainly coming through for us.

gwhiffen@thetelegram.com

Organizations: Health Canada

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High prevalence of psoriasis in province: expert