Researchers continue to look for reasons why immune cells overreact and what genes may be responsible for psoriasis, hoping to find better treatments, and eventually a cure. Psoriasis research is aided by the visibility of the symptoms on the skin.
"You can see the disease," says Leonardi. "You don't have to do invasive testing to see the effects of therapy." Psoriasis research has a "tremendous spillover into other fields besides dermatology," he adds. "There is a huge need for drugs to suppress the immune system without the side effects."
Multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 1 diabetes are just a few of the diseases that may also benefit from psoriasis research.
