ns including inflammation, the activation of additional 'T-cells', recruiting more 'T-cells' into the skin, and release of more cytokines. It appears as a vicious cycle with an army of 'T-cells' and cytokins acting in total confusion (in my opinion).

The result of which we who have psoriasis are quite familiar with, a cycle of skin cells growing too fast moving to the surface of the skin and piling up as dead cells (white scales). The epidermal (top) layer of the skin thickens, itches like hell, and as we scratch, we bleed because blood vessels have expanded, multiplied, and the flow of blood to the skin increases. But wait, there are other cytokin proteins that do the opposite (suppress), where have they been hiding? That's the problem. They're lacking or only present in low levels.

I just remembered that prior to my psoriasis, in my late teens and early twenties, I could hardly hold a cup of coffee in my right hand. My index finger was swollen and painful. Eventually the pain and swelling went away, but psoriasis set in. Is there a connection. Again inflammation was involv

If you've read some of my articles you know, that I'm a long time sufferer of psoriasis. Researching the topic further, which I haven't done in years, I came across some information that now says psoriasis is an immune system problem discovered coincidently, while treating a a bone marrow transplant with a drug called 'cyclosporin' which is an immune system suppressant. Not a booster, but a suppressant. A suppressant is used when you don't want the immune system to react to quickly and reject the treatment (as in the case of a transplant).

So I started thinking back as to how my psoriasis began. I was about 23-24 years of age, and I remember specifically that it was not too long after I had scratched my left forearm on a nail or something to that effect. But wait a minute. When I was 26, in 1974, I was hospitalized for a growth on my left optic nerve. After a month of exploration they discovered through my high school pictures, that this growth or inflammation, that was pushing out my left eye, had started when I was about sixteen. How? Because the pupil was not the same size! So they began to treat me with this new drug at the time, called 'prednisone'. Well guess what? The psoriasis I had on my elbows completely disappeared. Of course prednisone is an anti-inflammatory drug as well (a suppressant).

Life goes on, and the psoriasis comes back ten fold. In 1980, I have what they call a relapse due to a trauma caused by my dad passing away. Back on prednisone for the growth and my psoriasis disappears but later comes back in force. In 1992 I'm introduced to a particular brand of beta carotene. After a year on this particular brand all of my psoriasis, from the elbows to the knees, completely disappears. In my financial demise at the time, I stopped taking it thinking I must be cured. But a year later it all starts coming back always a little worse than it was.

Since then, it has spread abundantly to my thighs, calves, and as recently as a year ago starting on my back and sides. Over 7.5 million sufferers in the US, and I think over 2 million in Canada have some form of psoriasis. That's a of a lot of people just in North America. I have plaque, which is the most common form. Knowing that it is not genetics, since genetics only represent about 10% of affected people, I needed to know more.

Now they are saying, that a normal immune system protects the body against 'invaders' by destroying bacteria, viruses, and foreign proteins. However, in a person with psoriasis the immune system 'misfires' and inappropriately causes inflammation and consequently an accelerated growth of skin cells.

If you remember the two drugs above, they were suppressants and caused the psoriasis to go away. But in people with psoriasis, when the immune system is doing its job, as it should to quickly destroy invaders, it's having a negative effect on our skin cells. Pay close attention. The skin cells reproduce too quickly and the skin becomes inflamed (as in inflammation).

Let's take it one step further with 'T-cells'. Psoriasis has frequently been referred to as a 'T-cell mediated disease'. T-cells are a type of immune system cell. Actually, they are white blood cells that naturally circulate throughout the body looking for these little invaders, antigens and other foreign substances, that want to hurt you. They're your natural guardian angels. The moment some form of bacteria or virus wants to invade your body, their sole presence triggers these 'T-cells' to initiate your immune system to attack and destroy. What a marvel they are!

But for some reason, in psoriasis, these 'T-cells' end up in the skin and they don't know why! Now I'm guessing here but can it be, that since it is common knowledge for psoriasis to develop after some sort of skin lesion or wound making us very susceptible to bacteria or virus infection, that these 'T-cells' have a one track mind (sort of speak).

So what they are saying is, that if the 'T-cell' didn't react, the immune response and the cycle of psoriasis would never get started. What's worse is, that the immune system uses proteins to communicate messages through proteins called 'cytokines'. What happens is, that in psoriasis cytokins tell skin cells to reproduce and mature at an accelerated rate (obviously to heal the wound quickly in my opinion). But they also set off other reactions including inflammation, the activation of additional 'T-cells', recruiting more 'T-cells' into the skin, and release of more cytokines. It appears as a vicious cycle with an army of 'T-cells' and cytokins acting in total confusion (in my opinion).

The result of which we who have psoriasis are quite familiar with, a cycle of skin cells growing too fast moving to the surface of the skin and piling up as dead cells (white scales). The epidermal (top) layer of the skin thickens, itches like hell, and as we scratch, we bleed because blood vessels have expanded, multiplied, and the flow of blood to the skin increases. But wait, there are other cytokin proteins that do the opposite (suppress), where have they been hiding? That's the problem. They're lacking or only present in low levels.

I just remembered that prior to my psoriasis, in my late teens and early twenties, I could hardly hold a cup of coffee in my right hand. My index finger was swollen and painful. Eventually the pain and swelling went away, but psoriasis set in. Is there a connection. Again inflammation was involve

they began to treat me with this new drug at the time, called 'prednisone'. Well guess what? The psoriasis I had on my elbows completely disappeared. Of course prednisone is an anti-inflammatory drug as well (a suppressant).

Life goes on, and the psoriasis comes back ten fold. In 1980, I have what they call a relapse due to a trauma caused by my dad passing away. Back on prednisone for the growth and my psoriasis disappears but later comes back in force. In 1992 I'm introduced to a particular brand of beta carotene. After a year on this particular brand all of my psoriasis, from the elbows to the knees, completely disappears. In my financial demise at the time, I stopped taking it thinking I must be cured. But a year later it all starts coming back always a little worse than it was.

Since then, it has spread abundantly to my thighs, calves, and as recently as a year ago starting on my back and sides. Over 7.5 million sufferers in the US, and I think over 2 million in Canada have some form of psoriasis. That's a of a lot of people just in North America. I have plaque, which is the most common form. Knowing that it is not genetics, since genetics only represent about 10% of affected people, I needed to know more.

Now they are saying, that a normal immune system protects the body against 'invaders' by destroying bacteria, viruses, and foreign proteins. However, in a person with psoriasis the immune system 'misfires' and inappropriately causes inflammation and consequently an accelerated growth of skin cells.

If you remember the two drugs above, they were suppressants and caused the psoriasis to go away. But in people with psoriasis, when the immune system is doing its job, as it should to quickly destroy invaders, it's having a negative effect on our skin cells. Pay close attention. The skin cells reproduce too quickly and the skin becomes inflamed (as in inflammation).

Let's take it one step further with 'T-cells'. Psoriasis has frequently been referred to as a 'T-cell mediated disease'. T-cells are a type of immune system cell. Actually, they are white blood cells that naturally circulate throughout the body looking for these little invaders, antigens and other foreign substances, that want to hurt you. They're your natural guardian angels. The moment some form of bacteria or virus wants to invade your body, their sole presence triggers these 'T-cells' to initiate your immune system to attack and destroy. What a marvel they are!

But for some reason, in psoriasis, these 'T-cells' end up in the skin and they don't know why! Now I'm guessing here but can it be, that since it is common knowledge for psoriasis to develop after some sort of skin lesion or wound making us very susceptible to bacteria or virus infection, that these 'T-cells' have a one track mind (sort of speak).

So what they are saying is, that if the 'T-cell' didn't react, the immune response and the cycle of psoriasis would never get started. What's worse is, that the immune system uses proteins to communicate messages through proteins called 'cytokines'. What happens is, that in psoriasis cytokins tell skin cells to reproduce and mature at an accelerated rate (obviously to heal the wound quickly in my opinion). But they also set off other reactions including inflammation, the activation of additional 'T-cells', recruiting more 'T-cells' into the skin, and release of more cytokines. It appears as a vicious cycle with an army of 'T-cells' and cytokins acting in total confusion (in my opinion).

The result of which we who have psoriasis are quite familiar with, a cycle of skin cells growing too fast moving to the surface of the skin and piling up as dead cells (white scales). The epidermal (top) layer of the skin thickens, itches like hell, and as we scratch, we bleed because blood vessels have expanded, multiplied, and the flow of blood to the skin increases. But wait, there are other cytokin proteins that do the opposite (suppress), where have they been hiding? That's the problem. They're lacking or only present in low levels.

I just remembered that prior to my psoriasis, in my late teens and early twenties, I could hardly hold a cup of coffee in my right hand. My index finger was swollen and painful. Eventually the pain and swelling went away, but psoriasis set in. Is there a connection. Again inflammation was involv

s the most common form. Knowing that it is not genetics, since genetics only represent about 10% of affected people, I needed to know more.

Now they are saying, that a normal immune system protects the body against 'invaders' by destroying bacteria, viruses, and foreign proteins. However, in a person with psoriasis the immune system 'misfires' and inappropriately causes inflammation and consequently an accelerated growth of skin cells.

If you remember the two drugs above, they were suppressants and caused the psoriasis to go away. But in people with psoriasis, when the immune system is doing its job, as it should to quickly destroy invaders, it's having a negative effect on our skin cells. Pay close attention. The skin cells reproduce too quickly and the skin becomes inflamed (as in inflammation).

Let's take it one step further with 'T-cells'. Psoriasis has frequently been referred to as a 'T-cell mediated disease'. T-cells are a type of immune system cell. Actually, they are white blood cells that naturally circulate throughout the body looking for these little invaders, antigens and other foreign substances, that want to hurt you. They're your natural guardian angels. The moment some form of bacteria or virus wants to invade your body, their sole presence triggers these 'T-cells' to initiate your immune system to attack and destroy. What a marvel they are!

But for some reason, in psoriasis, these 'T-cells' end up in the skin and they don't know why! Now I'm guessing here but can it be, that since it is common knowledge for psoriasis to develop after some sort of skin lesion or wound making us very susceptible to bacteria or virus infection, that these 'T-cells' have a one track mind (sort of speak).

So what they are saying is, that if the 'T-cell' didn't react, the immune response and the cycle of psoriasis would never get started. What's worse is, that the immune system uses proteins to communicate messages through proteins called 'cytokines'. What happens is, that in psoriasis cytokins tell skin cells to reproduce and mature at an accelerated rate (obviously to heal the wound quickly in my opinion). But they also set off other reactions including inflammation, the activation of additional 'T-cells', recruiting more 'T-cells' into the skin, and release of more cytokines. It appears as a vicious cycle with an army of 'T-cells' and cytokins acting in total confusion (in my opinion).

The result of which we who have psoriasis are quite familiar with, a cycle of skin cells growing too fast moving to the surface of the skin and piling up as dead cells (white scales). The epidermal (top) layer of the skin thickens, itches like hell, and as we scratch, we bleed because blood vessels have expanded, multiplied, and the flow of blood to the skin increases. But wait, there are other cytokin proteins that do the opposite (suppress), where have they been hiding? That's the problem. They're lacking or only present in low levels.

I just remembered that prior to my psoriasis, in my late teens and early twenties, I could hardly hold a cup of coffee in my right hand. My index finger was swollen and painful. Eventually the pain and swelling went away, but psoriasis set in. Is there a connection. Again inflammation was involv

rs, antigens and other foreign substances, that want to hurt you. They're your natural guardian angels. The moment some form of bacteria or virus wants to invade your body, their sole presence triggers these 'T-cells' to initiate your immune system to attack and destroy. What a marvel they are!

But for some reason, in psoriasis, these 'T-cells' end up in the skin and they don't know why! Now I'm guessing here but can it be, that since it is common knowledge for psoriasis to develop after some sort of skin lesion or wound making us very susceptible to bacteria or virus infection, that these 'T-cells' have a one track mind (sort of speak).

So what they are saying is, that if the 'T-cell' didn't react, the immune response and the cycle of psoriasis would never get started. What's worse is, that the immune system uses proteins to communicate messages through proteins called 'cytokines'. What happens is, that in psoriasis cytokins tell skin cells to reproduce and mature at an accelerated rate (obviously to heal the wound quickly in my opinion). But they also set off other reactions including inflammation, the activation of additional 'T-cells', recruiting more 'T-cells' into the skin, and release of more cytokines. It appears as a vicious cycle with an army of 'T-cells' and cytokins acting in total confusion (in my opinion).

The result of which we who have psoriasis are quite familiar with, a cycle of skin cells growing too fast moving to the surface of the skin and piling up as dead cells (white scales). The epidermal (top) layer of the skin thickens, itches like hell, and as we scratch, we bleed because blood vessels have expanded, multiplied, and the flow of blood to the skin increases. But wait, there are other cytokin proteins that do the opposite (suppress), where have they been hiding? That's the problem. They're lacking or only present in low levels.

I just remembered that prior to my psoriasis, in my late teens and early twenties, I could hardly hold a cup of coffee in my right hand. My index finger was swollen and painful. Eventually the pain and swelling went away, but psoriasis set in. Is there a connection. Again inflammation was involv

ns including inflammation, the activation of additional 'T-cells', recruiting more 'T-cells' into the skin, and release of more cytokines. It appears as a vicious cycle with an army of 'T-cells' and cytokins acting in total confusion (in my opinion).

The result of which we who have psoriasis are quite familiar with, a cycle of skin cells growing too fast moving to the surface of the skin and piling up as dead cells (white scales). The epidermal (top) layer of the skin thickens, itches like hell, and as we scratch, we bleed because blood vessels have expanded, multiplied, and the flow of blood to the skin increases. But wait, there are other cytokin proteins that do the opposite (suppress), where have they been hiding? That's the problem. They're lacking or only present in low levels.

I just remembered that prior to my psoriasis, in my late teens and early twenties, I could hardly hold a cup of coffee in my right hand. My index finger was swollen and painful. Eventually the pain and swelling went away, but psoriasis set in. Is there a connection. Again inflammation was involved.

I've come to the conclusion, that we suffer from an imbalance of certain proteins of the anti-inflammation type. The suppressing type. Taking you back to a particular brand of beta carotene, stemming mostly from carrots, can it be possible that this particular brand restored the balance? What caused the imbalance to begin with will always be a mystery, although I have a good idea what did.

So in an effort to cure ourselves of this most embarrassing and annoying disease, I'm hoping that some readers who live with psoriasis will join me in a small experiment.