Who is, or can be, afflicted with psoriasis? The answer to this question is plain and simple: anyone! Psoriasis does not care about age, race, or gender. There are, however, certain groups in which it is more prevalent. The latest release by the NIH estimates the number of reported psoriatics in the United States alone to be approximately 4 to 6 million, with 150,000 new cases occurring each year. Worldwide, psoriasis afflicts about 2 percent of the population. In Sweden, however, for reasons yet to be determined, the figure is about 3 percent. In Italy and Russia, the psoriasis population is estimated to be as high as 4 percent.
Get a free trial of Dermasis psoriasis cream. and Read the Quick Action Plan to cure psoriasisThe disease can manifest itself at any time, from infancy (although such cases are rare) to old age. The peak incidence is between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five. Psoriasis appears in both males and females with equal frequency. Dark-skinned people are afflicted less frequently than fair or light-skinned individuals.
Dr. Lin classifies psoriasis as the fourth most common skin disease, exceeded only by acne, warts, and eczema, in that order. According to George Lewis, MD, there is an associated family history in at least half of all psoriasis cases.
Psoriasis is rare in North and South American Indians .. It is common in East African natives and relatively rare in West Africans. It is believed that the reason for the low incidence of psoriasis in African Americans is their ancestral roots in West Africa. Japan is considered a country with a low incidence of the disease, but even there a significant number of citizens are afflicted.
European countries, especially Germany, showed a high incidence of psoriasis just prior to World War II. During the war, the disease practically disappeared when food, especially red meat, was in short supply. After the war, as the economy recovered and the food supply improved, there was a concomitant resurgence of the disease. This in itself tells us something.
Assuming the statisticians are correct, 2 percent of the world’s population (estimated at 6.5 billion people) would mean the number of people afflicted with psoriasis throughout the world approaches 100 million! Of particular concern is the fact that psoriasis is on the increase, especially among the young.
The National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) released the following statistics as they pertain to American psoriasis sufferers:
• 6.4 million Americans ate affected.
• It is slightly more prevalent in women than in men.
• The average age of sufferers is twenty-eight, but psoriasis is seen from birth to age ninety.
• Children under the age of ten constitute IOta 15 percent of
sufferers.
• Psoriatic arthritis affects 10 to 20 percent of psoriasis sufferers.
• From 150,000 to 260,000 new cases are reported each year.
• The annual outlay of outpatient costs is $1.6 to $3.2 billion.
• Four hundred people with psoriasis are granted Social Security disabilities each year.
• Annually, approximately 400 people die of psoriasis-related causes.
• Over 1.5 million people per year are seen by U.S. physicians for psoriasrs.
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