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Treating psoriasis: Story of a patient
Digvijay Prasad (not his real name) has seriously considered committing suicide several times! His body is covered with red patches and skin is peeling off. The daily distress caused by people steering clear of him is something he still hasn’t quite come to grips with.
Prasad is suffering from psoriasis, a common skin disease caused by immunological disturbances in the body. Though not infectious, it leads, more often than not, to sufferers being socially ostracized. However, there’s hope. For 15 years, Psolaren Ultra Violet A (PUVA) therapy has been used in India to control skin diseases like Prasad’s. Now, due to the initiative and resolve of the Department of Skin and STD at the BYL Nair Charitable Hospital, there’s an improved and modified therapy available known as the Ultra Violet B (UVB) Photo therapy. The unit is only the second of its kind in India, and the first in a public hospital. The department and the hospital’s engineers, rather than importing the UV machine, have designed and manufactured it indigenously (except for the ultra violet tubes), bringing down the cost by 70 odd per cent.
The unit at Nair has been functional since January but the project took well over two years for the department to put together. Bureaucratic hassles and a lack of such units in India did not help matters. Besides the financial viability, the treatment has proved to be less carcinogenic than PUVA and also obliterates the need to take medication internally. PUVA therapy, though beneficial in controlling the growth of the diseases, was riddled with side effects like nausea, vomiting and headaches. UVB is free from these, so it can easily be used by pregnant women, children and elderly people. Another advantage is that with UVB, a patient has to spend only a few seconds in the chamber receiving the ultra violet radiation unlike PUVA therapy where it can be as long as 30 minutes, which is frightening for some patients. Also, with the cut–down in time, many more patients can be attended to. UVB therapy is also effective for Leucoderma in certain conditions.
A 70 year old man who has psoriasis, comes from Kamathipura thrice a week for his treatment. He was one of the first patients to be administered UVB therapy. His wrinkled face breaks into a smile when asked how he feels. Since the machine has been in operation only for the last two months, doctors don’t have an exact idea of how well the system will work. Finally, both PUVA and UVB therapy cannot cure Psoriasis or Leucoderma completely. However, they can successfully control them.
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