The skin condition psoriasis affects thousands of men and women across the UK

THE skin condition psoriasis affects thousands of men and women across the UK, with many sufferers believing there is an enormous amount of stigma around the disorder.

Kim Kardashian has revealed she has finally learned to live with the condition which she described as her biggest flaw while model Cara Delevigne is also a sufferer.

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The condition causes red and crusty patches with silvery scales to flare-up on the skin.

They normally appear on the elbows, knees, scalp, and lower back, but can crop up anywhere on the body.

The patches can sometimes be itchy or sore.

Roughly two per cent of the population are affected by psoriasis and and the number is roughly split equally between men and women.

Its severity varies from person to person and for some people it is merely a small irritation.

In more serious cases it can have a crushing impact on a sufferers life.

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Psoriasis isnt fully understood by health professionals but it is thought to be caused by a problem with the immune system.

People with the condition have increased production of skin cells.

Normally skin cells are replaced over a three to four week period.

When someone has psoriasis this process only lasts six or seven days and thats what causes the red patches to emerge.

In people with psoriasis the immune system accidentally attacks healthy skin cells by mistake.

The disorder is thought to run in the family but the precise role genetic plays is unclear.

Many peoples symptoms are triggered meaning the rash will occur when they injure the skin, get a throat infection, or use certain medicines.

Guttate and pustular are two different types of the skin condition psoriasis.

Pustular psoriasis is a rare type of the disease, which causes pustules and pus-filled blisters to form on the skin.

It also makes the skin around the blisters turn red although the pus is not infected and the person is not contagious.

Outbreaks can flare up any time and cases of the condition can include certain medicines, infections and even pregnancy.

Treatment includes using topical creams, light therapy and a combination of therapies.

Meanwhile guttate psoriasis causes pink rashes to form across the chest, arms, legs and scalp.

It is usually caused by an infection and while outbreaks can be a one-off they can also go away and come back.

Infections that cause the condition include tonsillitis and pharyngitis as well as viral infections such as chikenpox and rubella.

The rashes usually go away by themselves, but if not steroid creams and anitibiotics can be prescribed.

A GP can usually spot it simply by its appearance on the skin, but sometimes they will take a small sample to be examined under a microscope.

This will rule out other skin disorders.

Psoriasis has no cure but treatments can reduce the itchiness and the appearance of skin patches.

Topical treatments, meaning creams and ointments, can be rubbed into the skin.

If these arent effective that phototherapy can be used to treat it.

SWNS:South West News Service

This involves the skin being exposed to ultraviolet light.

In truly severe cases oral or injected medicines are available that work throughout the whole body.

One of the more high-profile psoriasis sufferers is Kim Kardashian, who in the past has been seen with big red patches on her arms.

The mum of two,inherited the condition from her mum Kris Jenner and was first diagnosed back in 2010.

Kim told her website: Everyone with psoriasis has different symptoms; sometimes the rashes are itchy, sometimes theyre flaky. Mine flares up from time to time for different reasons.

Model Cara Develvingne also suffers from the skin condition, which is brought on by stress.

Her punishing schedule led her to develop psoriasis which had to be laboriously covered up in thick make-up.

People would put on gloves and not want to touch me because they thought it was, like, leprosy or something, said the 24-year-old.

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What is psoriasis, what are guttate and pustular psoriasis, is there a cure, what causes it and which celebrities ... - The Sun