National health concern

• About 2.1 percent of the U.S. population has psoriasis
  
• More than 4.5 million adults in the United States have been diagnosed with psoriasis
  

Age

• Often appears between the ages of 15 and 35, but can develop at any age
• Some infants have psoriasis, although this is considered rare
  

Severity of psoriasis

• Three percent to 10 percent of the body affected by psoriasis is considered to be a moderate case. More than 10 percent is considered severe. The palm of the hand equals 1 percent of the skin. However, the severity of psoriasis is also measured by how psoriasis affects a person's quality of life. Psoriasis can have a serious impact even if it involves a small area, such as the palms of the hands or soles of the feet.
• About 30 percent of people with psoriasis have cases that are considered moderate to severe (generally meaning it covers more than 3 percent of their body)
  
• More than 1.5 million Americans have moderate to severe psoriasis
  
• Severe types of psoriasis can compromise the skin's ability to control body temperature and prevent infections
  

Quality of life impact

• 75 percent of people with moderate to severe psoriasis report that their disease has a moderate to large impact on their everyday lives:
  
  • 26 percent alter their normal daily activities
    
  • 21 percent stop their normal daily activities
    
  • 40 percent say their psoriasis affects their clothing choices (avoiding dark colors, covering up arms and legs)
    
  • 36 percent say it affects how they sleep
    
  • 36 percent report bathing more than normal
    

Facts

• Psoriasis may disqualify a person from serving in the U.S. military
  

Psoriatic arthritis

• About 1 million people in the U.S. population have psoriatic arthritis; that equals about 0.5 percent of the country
  
• Between 10 percent and 30 percent of people with psoriasis develop psoriatic arthritis
  
• Psoriatic arthritis usually develops between the ages of 30 and 50, but it can develop at any time
  
• Generally psoriasis appears before the psoriatic arthritis, but it can develop without the characteristic skin lesions
  
• There are five types of psoriatic arthritis
  

Psoriasis patients

• Psoriasis patients make nearly 2.4 million visits to dermatologists each year
  
• Overall costs of treating psoriasis may exceed $3 billion annually
  
• 150,000 to 260,000 cases of psoriasis are diagnosed each year
  

Genetic

• If one parent has psoriasis, children have a 10 percent to 25 percent chance of developing psoriasis
  
• If both parents have psoriasis, children have a 50 percent chance
  

Worldwide

• Psoriasis affects an estimated 1 percent to 3 percent of the world's population