Without this information, you cannot really make an informed decision about what to discuss with your doctor and what direction you might want to explore in your attempt to control your psoriasis symptoms. One of the newest groups of medicines are biologics, systemic medications (taken orally or injected).
The Latest and Greatest:
Patients with moderate to sever plaque psoriasis have new treatment options, recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: alefacept, efalizumab, and etanercept. One of these, etanercept has also received approval for treatment of psoriatic arthritis, giving new hope to these sufferers as well. The new biologics have been projected to be safer than other, older systemic medications, mainly the kidney or liver failure that long-term use of the older medications can cause.
New injected psoriasis treatments include:
1. Alefacept. The original standard treatment of 12 weeks seems to be more effective with longer remission periods when treatment is administered for a longer period of 16 weeks. Side effects (mild and include infections, injection site reactions, itching, and flu like symptoms) show no significant increase with the longer period versus the standard time table. Repeated courses of alefacept seem to be proving safe and effective as well. Aside from the treatment of plaque psoriasis, this medication seems to be effective on palmoplantar psoriasis after 12 weeks of treatment, allowing the patients to walk without pain and use their hands again. It is also safe to begin alefacept treatment while weaning other therapies.
2. Efalizumab. In studies, this psoriasis treatment has shown to be safe and effective for continuous treatment for up to 60 weeks without fear of toxicity. No new side effects were manifested, while the side effects reported in shorter treatment periods did not worsen. These side effects include: headache, chills, fever, and nausea.
3. Etanercept. This biologic treatment for both plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis has been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and has shown to be safe on long term treatment of these patients. An important factor to note is that there seems to be relapse within three months after discontinuing use in psoriasis treatment although withdrawal does not cause a severe flare of symptoms. Reinstatement of treatment is still as effective without increase in side effects. Unlike treatment methods with Etanercept for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis treatment is suggested to be intermittent or rotated with other treatments.
New oral psoriasis treatments include:
1. Fumaric Acid Ester Therapy. Introduced almost 30 years ago, this is one of Germanys most commonly prescribed oral treatments for sever plaque psoriasis. Common side effects include: flushing, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and nausea. Kidney disorders, decreased white blood cell count, and osteoporosis are more serious side effects of this psoriatic treatment. The gastrointestinal side effects have caused 37% of people taking the original medication to discontinue use; however, recent reformulation offers only rare reports of the gastrointestinal side effects.
2. Oral Pimecrolimus. This psoriasis treatment is two pronged, with both incredible results and a terrifying possible side effect. 2003 studies of the drug treatment showed repeated results in completely clearing symptoms of psoriasis within 28 days, fabulous news for psoriasis sufferers. In June 2006, the FDA released a statement relaying the possibility of a dose dependant connection between oral pimecrolimus and lymphoma. This is based on animal studies which were begun as a result of 10 human cases of patients after beginning this treatment. It has yet to be determined whether this is a direct correlation or not and it may take 10 or more years of human studies to determine whether there is a link between this psoriatic treatment and carcinoma. Due to these findings, the FDA has issued these guidelines concerning the use of this treatment:
A. Use only as second line agent for short term and intermittent treatment in patients unresponsive to, or intolerant of other treatments.
B. Avoid use in children younger than 2 years of age. The effect on the developing immune system in infants and children is not known. In clinical studies, infants and children younger than 2 years old treated had a higher rate of upper respiratory infections than those treated with placebo cream.
C. Use only for short periods of time, not continuously.
D. Do not use in patients with a weakened or compromised immune system.
E. Use the minimum amount needed to control the patients symptoms.
This recent innovation lets experienced marketers painlessly transfer marketing know-how to their entire downlines. A marketer can now provide each of his downline representatives with a follow up autoresponse system that is already packaged with the marketer's pre-written messages.
The result? Just a few minutes of work on the part of an experienced marketer, and each of his reps is set up with the same tried and true marketing messages.
Case Study: Marketer Matt and the New Breed For example, take a look at the case of a fictional network marketer named Matt M:
For years, Matt has been successfully marketing All Natural Pharmaceuticals using a follow up autoresponder. In fact, much of his success can be attributed to the set of seven messages e-mailed to all of his potential customers. Matt has carefully crafted those messages over the years, and they're really great.
Recently, Matt has been trying to pass what he's learned along to his downline representatives. He explains his marketing principles over the phone, and he knows that several of his reps pass his follow up messages around amongst themselves.
However, Matt finds that his pearls of wisdom rarely survive this 'telling and retelling' intact. He knows his reps aren't getting anywhere near what they could out of his knowledge. He wishes there were a way to harness today's technology, and put it to use for the greater good of his downline...
Enter Auto Message Setup Using an Auto Message Setup system, Matt's downline reps can order their own follow up autoresponse accounts that are already packaged with Matt's pre-written messages. They can reap the fruits of Matt's experience with ease.
Each rep will customize Matt's messages for himself by logging in to his new follow up autoresponder account, and entering his own contact information.
Here is Matt's original autoresponse message: Hi LEAD NAME,
Thanks for stopping by the All Natural Pharmaceuticals web site today! We hope you come back soon!
Best Regards, Matt M. matt@all-natural-pharma.com 918 Awl St. Natural, PA 22314
Notice that the message greeting uses a variable, (LEAD NAME). The variable ensures that each of Matt's leads will receive a message personalized with his or her own name. Notice, also, that Matt's name and address are at the end of the message.
Case Study: Downline Dan and the New Breed Dan is one of Matt's downline representatives. He's ordered his own follow up autoresponder through Matt. Since Matt is using Auto Message Setup, Dan's account came pre-packaged with Matt's marketing messages. Dan personalized those messages to himself by answering a few questions in his Online Control Panel. Now Dan is sending his own personalized version of Matt's messages to his customers! All of the basic content is Matt's, but Dan's contact information is on the letters. Here is the autoresponse that Dan sends to his potential customers: Hi, LEAD NAME
Thanks for stopping by the All Natural Pharmaceuticals web site today! We hope you come back soon!
Best Regards, Dan D. dan@pharma-ceuticals.com 5 Farm Way Sootuh, TN 88457
Notice that the contact name and address at the end of the e-mail are Dan's, but that the greeting at the beginning of the message still includes the name of Dan's lead.
Mission Accomplished With Matt's experience in hand, Dan is now marketing more successfully than ever before. And he isn't the only one - Matt's entire downline is now using his marketing messages! Matt's commissions are growing exponentially.
Matt and Dan's situation is not unique. Any network marketer with an established downline can take advantage of the opportunities available in an auto message setup system. There's no better way to put more auto in your autoresponder.
Both Louise Forrest & Ken Charnley are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Louise Forrest has sinced written about articles on various topics from Diabetes Treatment, Spa and Acne Treatment. Louise Forrest has created the ultimate FREE Health & Beauty guide. Find out how you can gain access to FREE articles, tips and techniques at. Louise Forrest's top article generates over 110000 views. to your Favourites.
Ken Charnley has sinced written about articles on various topics from Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, Cooking Tips and Bankruptcy Law. Beka Ruse fights spam as the Business Development Manager at AWeber Communications. Ad tracking, live stats, and a strict anti-spam policy.