It would be much simpler to provide psoriasis care if there was a definitive answer to the question: what causes psoriasis. As it is, no one is 100% sure, but there are some excellent theories and a lot has been learned from watching the progression of the disease for quite some time. Even without knowing what causes psoriasis, researchers and medical professionals have been able to come up with a few effective treatments. What we do know about psoriasis is that it seems to be caused by multiple factors. Here are a few of the psoriasis connections that have been figured out so far.

• environmental aspects
• family disposition
• may be an autoimmune disorder

When discussing the possibility of the environment playing a role in cases of psoriasis, we aren’t referring so much to air and water pollution as other problems. Some studies have suggested that psoriasis may be caused in part by stresses to the body like injury and serious infection. In some cases, people who never had an outbreak in their lives suddenly developed psoriasis after taking certain medications. There has also been a link found that suggests that extreme stress endured for extended periods of time may trigger outbreaks. As more psoriasis information comes to light, the medical community is better able to formulate effective treatments.

One factor of psoriasis that can’t be avoided is family disposition. It is estimated that over 50% of psoriasis patients have at least one other family member that suffers from the disease as well. Scientists are working to pinpoint which gene is responsible for the skin condition and ways to stop psoriasis from starting. A family history of psoriasis isn’t necessarily an indication that you will have the disease, but it certainly doesn’t help either.

Another current theory about psoriasis is that it may be a form of autoimmune disease. Some researchers’ findings suggest that the skin irritation and white scaly patches may be an over production of skin cells. It is thought that for some unknown reason, the body believes it needs to produce more skin cells at a faster rate. The scales are a pile up of the unneeded skin cells.