The emotional impact of psoriasis

In recent days, the sixth meeting of the “FarmaImpulso IMID Idea Lab” took place, bringing together about 140 experts in the field of hospital pharmacy. In this case, early interdisciplinary attention to these diseases was emphasized. immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs), such as psoriasisespecially to reduce the emotional impact they may have on patients’ mental health.

The event was organized by Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine and approved by the Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacy (SEFH) and aims to highlight the importance of having early diagnosis and treatment. “Both aspects are crucial to improve the quality of life of patients and change the course of the disease, since we can exercise better control of symptoms, reducing the impact on their quality of life,” said Joaquín Borrás Blasco, head of the Pharmacy Service of the Sagunto Hospital (Valencia).

According to them, Psoriasis affects 2.3% of the Spanish population., about 870,000 people, and may include comorbidities and changes in the physical, mental and emotional health of patients. For this reason, he recommended “an integrated care model that includes various diagnostic specialists, mainly dermatologists, rheumatologists, gastroenterologists and hospital pharmacies.” And this directly affects patients, which impacts better self-care and adherence to treatment.

Avoid complications

The event was also attended by Esther Ramirez, Pharmacy Specialist at La Princesa University Hospital (Madrid), who agreed on many of these aspects. In his opinion, in the approach to psoriasis early actions This can not only avoid serious complications and provide better treatment for the disease, but also help improve the quality of life of patients.

Above all, it will provide greater security, thereby promoting much more satisfying social, work and family relationships. “All this increases your self-esteem and his state of mind,” confirmed Ramirez. On the other hand, the specialist has set other goals related to the emotional health of these patients, including reducing delays in diagnosis and early patient access to a specialist.

Also guarantee fairness in access to treatment in all autonomous communities and the implementation of comprehensive care formulas aimed at addressing common comorbidities in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (diabetes, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, etc.). And combine purely medical needs, taking into account also social needs: family and work needs that affect your emotional state.

The usefulness of artificial intelligence

Another aspect discussed at the meeting was the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data for stimulate innovation and the development of new treatments for this type of disease. Emilio Monte, a specialist in the pharmacy service of the University and Polytechnic Hospital of La Fe (Valencia), this technology can be very useful in diagnosis (identification, classification and segmentation of lesions).

Also in the prognosis (depending on the individual profile of each patient); treatment (prediction of its effectiveness, selection of appropriate drugs depending on each case); management (e-health, preventive medicine); and research, taking into account that more and more research is being carried out in real life based on “machine learning”.

In Monte’s view, predictive models are effective for early identification of patients with poor disease control or problems with their treatment. “And for the pharmaceutical industry, they serve to reduce the time to discover new drugs,” he assured.