PSOR minorities? You Versus THEM? Are They YOU?
randall
I read this a few days ago.
And my thinking kicked in to gear or did i go in reverse?
First review it:
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS107702+20-Oct-2009+PRN20091020
Study Says Minorities Suffer More From Psoriasis
Tue Oct 20, 2009 7:00am EDT
Minorities experience more severe disease and greater emotional and
social
distress than their Caucasian peers
PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Data from a
comprehensive
survey of nearly 5,000 people with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis
reveal
that African Americans, Asians and Latinos are more likely than
Caucasians to
suffer psychological effects from the diseases. The study also found
very
severe disease to be more common among members of these groups.
Psoriasis is the most prevalent autoimmune disease in the country,
affecting
as many as 7.5 million Americans. Appearing on the skin most often as
red
scaly patches that itch and bleed, psoriasis is chronic, painful,
disfiguring
and disabling. Up to 30 percent of people with psoriasis develop
psoriatic
arthritis, a related joint disease. There is no cure for psoriasis.
The study, released earlier this month by the National Psoriasis
Foundation,
is the largest effort to date to gather information on the
psychological,
emotional and social effects of the diseases. The results detail the
extensive
impact of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis on patients' participation
in the
workforce as well as their emotional and social well-being.
Psoriasis is generally prevalent in people of Asian and some African
descents,
according to clinical findings. However, the National Psoriasis
Foundation
study found that people of minority descent who do develop psoriasis
are more
likely to experience very severe disease. While only 8 percent of
Caucasians
reported having very severe psoriasis, 10-23 percent in other racial
groups
had very severe disease. Nearly a quarter of African American (23
percent)
respondents had very severe psoriasis.
"The prevalence of very severe psoriasis among minority respondents to
the
survey may both explain and be reinforced by the negative
psychological and
social effects they experience," said Mark Lebwohl, M.D., professor
and
chairman of dermatology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and
chair of the
National Psoriasis Foundation Medical Board. "In psoriasis, emotional
and
physical distress feed off each other, and emotional stress is a
documented
trigger for flares of both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis."
The psychological and social effects reported by minority respondents
in the
study included:
-- 72 percent of minority respondents said psoriasis interfered
with
their
capacity to enjoy life, compared with just 54 percent of
Caucasian
respondents.
-- 75 percent said psoriasis impacted their overall emotional
well-being,
compared with 62 percent of Caucasian respondents.
-- Minority respondents were also more likely than Caucasian
respondents
to
feel self-conscious, embarrassed, angry or frustrated, and
helpless
with
regard to their psoriasis.
-- Minority respondents were more likely to say that psoriasis
made their
appearance unsightly, and that they choose clothing to conceal
psoriasis.
"It is disturbing to learn the extent of the emotional and social
implications
of the disease in minority populations," said Randy Beranek, president
and CEO
of the National Psoriasis Foundation. "We are committed to ensuring
that
everyone, regardless of their race or ethnicity, has access to
treatment that
will reduce both physical and emotional effects of psoriatic disease."
The data in the survey were gathered by the National Psoriasis in 11
rounds of
telephone and internet surveys over six years. Nearly 5,000 people
with
psoriasis participated, making this the largest study of its kind
conducted
with the psoriasis population. Eighty-seven percent of respondents
identified
their race as Caucasian; 2 percent African American; 2 percent Asian
American;
4 percent Hispanic/Latino/Mixed ethnicity and 1 percent Native
American.
========================
First OFF if you have psoriasis, regardless of your race, YOU ARE in A
MINORITY.
Only 1.5- 3% of the population at large gets psoriasis.
So their talking about a minority within a minority.
And for this sample to mean anything, i'd think they'd need a much
larger
sample of the minority of the minority. Are there any folks in this
demographic with mild to moderate that simply won't come forward?
Or it's a waste of time?
Which it looks like to me anyway. LOL
I better not say that...
But
Right off the BAT the NPF says that psoriasis is an autoimmune (Ai)
disease.
But wikipedia says it's still suspected of being an Ai disease.
Is that the function of this? Get some non white people on board so
we can upgrade psoriasis to a REAL disease?
Does it only take: 2% of blacks or 100 of them
or 1% of native americans or 50 of them
or 4% of Latino's or 200 of them
or 2% of Asiatic or 100 of them
To sway anything significantly?
And while i'm MILD pasi wise NOW i can game my diet and be nearly
covered in short order.
Just drinking GT;s (gin and tonic with quinine) will get that ball
rolling.
Or drinking grapefruit juice with any alcoholic over a period days,
same response.
But I KNOW that, so am I a severe psoriatic in a MILD pasi state of
being?
Because if so then my answers to their questions would be much less
then a few hundred of them folks who are just like me and can't DRINK
perhaps.
But they DON't KNOW it yet?
This study means more about personal responsibility then anything.
Are we wasting our donations to the NPF?
I wonder NOW.
Surely they can do better then this thing.