Should you try Remicade, Enbrel, or one of the other new biologic therapies for psoriasis?
In the past few years, there has been a surge in new treatments for psoriasis. These new psoriasis treatments include biologic therapies, which use portions of the body s natural immune system to treat a disease. Since 2003, five biologic therapies that target immune system cells and chemicals implicated in psoriasis have been approved for moderate to severe psoriasis. These drugs are Amevive (alefacept), Enbrel (etanercept), Remicade (infliximab), Stelara (ustekinumab), and Humira (adalimumab). In addition, Embrel, Humira, and Remicade are also approved for psoriatic arthritis. Normally, skin cells mature and are shed from the skin s surface every 28 days. In psoriasis, however, skin cells mature every three to four days. As a result, they pile up on the skin surface and form the visible lesions of psoriasis: patches of reddish skin covered with silvery scales. It is now clear that an abnormal immune response spurs the overproduction of skin cells by activating T cells, white blood ce
