Management of psoriasis.

Psoriasis is common, affecting about 2-3% of the population, and has major effects on patients' quality of life. Psoriasis varies in its manifestations and in how patients perceive the condition. Successful treatment involves addressing the clinical, psychological, and social aspects of the disease. Treatment options include topical agents, phototherapy and systemic treatment. Topical treatments are only practical for a fairly limited area of involvement. Phototherapy is practical for larger areas of involvement, but office phototherapy treatments are inconvenient. Traditional systemic medications are limited by side effects. New biologic agents that target specific components of the immune system are the most recent addition to our list of medications and provide higher efficacy with an improved safety profile, albeit at a higher cost.