New drug can clear all psoriasis symptoms

Since I am currently suffering from a small case of poison ivy, I am even more happy that they have decreased itching.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-06/uom-ndc061015.php

Public Release: 10-Jun-2015
New drug can clear all psoriasis symptoms

University of Manchester

A University of Manchester led trial of a new psoriasis drug has resulted in 40 percent of people showing a complete clearance of psoriatic plaques after 12 weeks of treatment and over 90 percent showing improvement.

The research tested 2,500 people with psoriasis. Half were given a new drug - ixekizumab - either once every two or four weeks. The other half were given a placebo or a widely used drug for psoriasis called etanercept.

The ixekizumab groups showed quick and extensive improvements in their condition, outperforming the groups on placebo or etanercept. Around half of these patients showed improvement as early as week four of the trial and up to 71% had shown a high level of improvement, as measured using a scale called the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, by week 12.

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"What we saw in this trial was not just the physical aspects of the disease clearing up, but people on the new drug also reporting a marked improvement in their quality of life as they felt more confident and suffered less from itching - far more than in the other two groups."

Ixekizumab is a monoclonal antibody - a cloned antibody - which neutralises the inflammatory effects of an interleukin (IL) a protein in the skin which carries signals to cells - known as (IL)-17A. This protein is increasingly becoming recognised as one of the causes of the characteristic red, scaly plaques of psoriasis which affect around 2% of people in the UK.

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