Psoriasis as a word derived from the Greek word "psora" - "itch".

Psoriasis is the most wide spread chronic dermatitis. According to statistics, about 2-3% of the total population of the Earth has psoriasis - approximately 120 - 180 million people! For instance: Canada - about 1 million people, Great Britain - 1 million, Scandinavian countries - 2 million people, France - 2 million people and the U.S.A. - 7 million people.

There are countries, where psoriasis is encountered less most often - for instance Japan, China - less than 1% of the population.

Psoriasis is also more most often recorded in locations of a moderate and cold climate and it is relatively less frequent in the tropical countries.

In rural areas the frequency of psoriasis is regularly 3-4 times less frequent than in the urban areas.

Psoriasis appears on skin as inflamed lesions, peeling and scales. The scales can be simply removed, and beneath them there lays an yet denser scale. In addition to the skin psoriasis may as well strike the nails and joints.

The average cycle of shedding of normal skin cells occurs approximately in 4 weeks, with psoriasis this process takes only 4-5 days. The course of psoriasis regularly has a sharply expressed seasonality. Psoriasis can be located in any sections of the skin, but predominantly the plaques are located symmetrically on the knees and elbows, on scalp and on the skin of the rest of the body.

Psoriasis is a chronic condition, which stays with a person for their whole life, and is accompanied by the variation of flare-ups and remissions. Psoriasis is a non-contagious disease.

Psoriasis develops owing to many factors, with the prevailing importance of genetic factors.

Psoriasis is not fatal, but it causes loads of problems for the sufferer. Psoriasis may bring serious complications; it causes commonplace inconveniences, which start dominating the life and the thoughts of a person and affect the quality of life. Usually these are cosmetic, which limit the choice of the selection of hair-do, outfit, and the behavior. People with psoriasis frequently experience inferiority complexes. Being bothered by their appearance, they may become "people in a box": rarely in public, wear maximally closed outfits etc.

Countless famous people, including Ben Franklin, Henry Ford, Joseph Stalin and many others had psoriasis. In the 1930’s, Winston Churchill, who as well had psoriasis for many years, proposed a golden monument for the person, who cures this disease.