Does Psoriasis Get Worse with Age?

Many experts believe that a genetic trait may play a key role in psoriasis. Many cases of this chronic skin disorder occur in people with a family history of the same problem. How about with age? Is there a link between age and psoriasis? It can affects people of ages, however there are some groups at higher risk than others to develop it. Will it get worse with age?

This skin problem can begin at any age. However, most cases are found in the ages of 15 and 30. Other common ages for it to begin are 40, 50, and 60. And it is more common in whites than other races.

As mentioned before, having a family history of the same problem may be the most significant factor that affects your chance of developing psoriasis. The risk can be double if you have two parents with the disease.

Other risk factors may include:

1. Overweight, particularly obesity. More excess weight you gain, the greater risk you have to have some skin problems such as psoriasis. In fact, plaques associated with this skin disorder are often found in skin folds or creases.
2. Stress, particularly for high stress or stress that you cannot manage! It’s clear that stress can affect many parts of the body, including your immune system. Some experts believe that frequent high stress may have an effect in increasing the risk of developing psoriasis.
3. Another lifestyle factor that may have an effect is smoking. We know well that there are lots of harmful chemicals and substances from chewing tobacco such as smoking. Even, smoking tobacco may not only increase the risk, it also may worsen the severity of the problem. Furthermore, it even may have a significant effect in the initial development of psoriasis.
4. Infections, either bacterial or viral infections. For instance, teenagers or children with recurring infections such as strep throat are at greater risk of psoriasis. Moreover, people with immune system disorder (such as HIV) also at higher risk than others.

The exact cause of psoriasis is not fully understood yet. Scientists are continuously going to try finding the answer for the cause of the problem.

The good news, we cannot get it from touching. It cannot spread from swimming or through intercourse. It is not contagious!

There are many health problems that can get worse with age. How about with psoriasis?

The answer may vary from sufferer to sufferer. In general, age is the key of the aging. As we get older, there is more likely for skin problems to occur. But with appropriate treatment and lifestyle approaches, the problem should be a manageable condition.

It is clear and we know well that skin aging is one of the natural symptoms when we are growing old. However, age is not the single factor – other factors can be smoking, poor sleeping, getting too much sunlight exposure, bad habit of drinking too much alcohol, etc.

Unfortunately, currently there is still no clearly answer for the actual mechanism of how skin aging develops. Nevertheless, experts believe that it involves a combination of several factors that may also affect vary from person to person.

As we age, naturally the skin changes that reduces its ability in protecting itself. For instance, the collagen of the skin decreases naturally as we get older. The collagen can decrease by one percent every year, and this can thin the skin.

Collagen is so vital for the health of the skin. It’s needed to help tensile and strength the skin. Decreasing collagen means increasing risk of wrinkling.

Another issue is about decreased blood supply to cells of skin as we age. When the dermis doesn’t get adequate blood supply, this can affect the mechanism of the skin in healing damaged cells. As a result, the replacement of the damaged cells in the epidermis doesn’t run as well as it should.

Other things that tend to occur as we age: