Patients Talking Website
Patients Talking is a website that allows people to confidentially write a diary about any health condition, and read diaries written by others with similar conditions. It aims to prevent people feeling alone and allow them to compare notes. www.patientstalking.com

The Great British Duck Race!
We would like to thank everybody who sponsored a duck in the Great British Duck Race - £80 was raised for the Psoriasis Association.

Psoriasis Awareness Week 5th-12th November 2007
We are delighted to announce the launch of PsoKids for this years Psoriasis Awareness Week. PsoKids is an interactive, fun-packed CD-ROM designed mainly for children. To receive a free copy of the CD-ROM or to receive a Psoriasis Awareness Week pack to take to your GP surgery, Dermatology Department, school, work, gym, library, please contact us

Medicine and Me: Choices in Psoriasis
The Royal Society of Medicine and the Psoriasis Association are holding a Medicine and Me meeting for people with psoriasis and their families or carers on Tuesday 13th November 2007 with registration and coffee from 12 noon and the first talk at 1pm. These meetings aim to provide a forum for discussion regarding patient's concerns and an opportunity to hear from experts in treatment and research. The topics include key advances in psoriasis research, inherited psoriasis, what research is telling us, lifelong experience of psoriasis, lifelong care, new treatments: the patient's perspective and new treatments: what should be given when?
For further information about the even, please click here or contact Bina Arpino at the Royal Society of Medicine on 0207 290 3946 or email bina.arpino@rsm.ac.uk If you wish to register online, please visit www.rsm.ac.uk/diary

The Psoriasis Association Annual Review 2007 can now be downloaded from the Publications Page

Walk for Skin 2007
We are delighted to announce the return of "the Walk for skin" in 2007. The walks will take place on Sunday May 13th and Sunday May 20th. The venues for 13th May are Beamish, the North of England Open Air Museum, near Newcastle, Wollaton Deer Park, Nottingham, Bramham Park, near Leeds, University of East Anglia, Norwich and Belfast Castle, Belfast. The venues for 20th May are Beaulieu Motor Museum, near Southampton, Cosmeston Lakes County Park, near Cardiff, Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, Tatton Park, near Manchester, Windsor Great Park, Thames Valley, Regents Park, London and Lickey Hills Country Park, Birmingham.
You can register online or by phone from February 2007. For information regarding The Walk for Skin or the venues, please visit the website www.walkforskin.org or contact the British Skin Foundation office on 020 7391 6352 or email bsf@bad.org.uk. Please note that people will be able to sign up for the walks online from the 1st Feb - when you register online, don't forget to state that you wish to donate 50% of your sponsorship money to The Psoriasis Association!

Psoriasis Association Annual Conference and AGM - Saturday 12th May 2007
The Association’s Annual Conference & AGM will take place on Saturday 12 May 2007 at The Park Inn, Northampton from 10 a.m. – 3.15 p.m. Guest speaker in the morning, following the AGM, is Dr Barry Monk, Consultant Dermatologist at Bedford Hospital. His talk is entitled Enough is Enough. There will be a discussion session in the afternoon on the theme of the patient journey. This is an opportunity to find out about the work of the Association, meet trustees and staff and chat to other members. Do join us. For more information and to book contact the office by phone 08456 760 076 or e-mail mail@psoriasis.demon.co.uk

Thank-you to everyone who distributed Awareness Week packs.
Please contact the office if you would like a Psoriasis Awareness pack to take to your Doctors, Hospital, Pharmacy, Health Centre, Work place, Gym, Sports Centre - anywhere where we can raise awareness of the condition! The pack contains the "Children with Psoriasis - A Parents' Guide, three new posters, two new bookmarks, 10 Top Tips infocarte, Childrens Infocarte, Psoriasis What Is It? leaflet, PsoTeen the leaflet for teenagers. These leaflets (and additional leaflets) and posters are available in larger quantities for healthcare professionals and those who feel they may be of benefit to their work, from the office. Should you wish to receive any of these leaflets individually, please do contact us.

NICE Technology Appraisal Documents for Etanercept and Efalizumab for the treatment of psoriasis and Etanercept and Infliximab for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis
The awaited NICE guidelines for the use of the above biological therapies for treatment of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis has been issued. The documents are available to read on the NICE website, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis
The overall summary is as follows:-
• Psoriasis - Etanercept should be offered as an option for treating adults with severe plaque psoriasis when other treatments haven't worked (for example ultraviolet radiation, or drugs given by injection or orally, that is, by mouth), or these other treatments cause side effects, or the person has another condition or uses another medicine that interferes with these other treatments. If the person's psoriasis has not shown a measured response to etanercept after 12 weeks, the treatment should be stopped. Efalizumab should be offered as an option for treating adults with severe plaque psoriasis if etanercept hasn't worked, or etanercept causes side effects which means the person can't take it, or the person has a condition or takes another medicine that interferes with etanercept. Further treatment with efalizumab is not recommended unless the person's psoriasis has shown a measured response at 12 weeks.
• Psoriatic Arthritis - Etanercept should be offered as an option for treating adults with psoriatic arthritis when the person has arthritis with three or more tender joints and three or more swollen joints and at least two other disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), given on their own or together, haven't worked. Infliximab should be offered as an option for treating adults with psoriatic arthritis if etanercept hasn't worked, or etanercept causes side effects which means the person can't take it, or the person has a condition or takes another medicine that interferes with etanercept. If the person's psoriatic arthritis has not shown a measured response at 12 weeks, their treatment with etanercept or infliximab should be stopped.

Discontinuation of Halciderm (Halcinonide 0.1%)
We have received notification from Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Ltd that they are to discontinue Halciderm the very potent steroid cream. This is for commercial reasons.

Discontinuation of Pragmatar® Cream (4% w/w cetyl alcohol-coal tar distillate, 3% w/w precipitated sulphur & 3% w/w salicylic acid), 25g and 100g.
We have just received notification that Pragmatar Cream will be discontinued when current supplies are exhausted. It is currently expected that current supplies will last approximately to March 2007. In a letter from Alliance Pharmaceuticals, they state that "Pragmatar Cream is being discontinued because of problems in sourcing one of the active ingredients, cetyl alcohol-coal tar distillate. Despite an extensive search by Alliance, the Company has been unable to identify a suitable alternative that would not require extensive pre clinical and clinical studies to support a licence renewal.
On behalf of Alliance Pharmaceuticals, please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this discontinuation may cause."

Alphosyl HC
Following a manufacturing problem we are pleased to report that Alphosyl HC has now been sent to Wholesalers and so you should begin to be able to obtain it again shortly. GlaxoSmithKlyne wish to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

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Vacancy for Chief Executive at the Skin Care Campaign
The Skin Care Campaign are currently looking for a highly motivated Chief Executive to lead the organisation through a period of change and development. More... The closing date for applications is the 11th October, and the first interviews will be held on the 26th October, with second interviews held on the 2nd November. For any informal enquiries, please contact Gladys Edwards on 01604 711129. For more information on the Skin Care Campaign, please visit their website www.skincarecampaign.org or for an application pack, please telephone 020 7561 8249 or email infoscc@eczema.org

Art Auction
Following the success of the Inside Out Art Competition the finalists work will be auctioned off on Thursday 7th September at 6.00pm at the Assembly House, Theatre Street, Norwich. The artwork will be auctioned by the BBC's David Dickinson. The artwork can be viewed here. The auction is open to the general public - do come along!

Patient Opinion. Patient Opinion is a new website where patients can share their experience of hospital services and rank particular aspects of care. There's lots of official information about the NHS available on the internet, which Trust got 2 stars for example. But what people often want is to find out what other patients thought of local services. Patient Opinion have agreed to donate £1 to the Psoriasis Association for each opinion published about hospital services for people with psoriasis in England, up to a total of £50.
Patient Opinion is a new website - www.patientopinion.org.uk (or click on any of the links) - where you can do just that. Patients can share the story of what happened to them at a particular hospital. Or you can rate a service and see what others thought of it.
Patient Opinion now covers all hospitals in England and by the end of March will be able to accept stories and ratings of many private sector providers.
Patient Opinion is free to use and is run on a not-for-profit basis. It aims to make the collective wisdom of patients available to other patients and to the NHS. For Patient Opinion to succeed they need patients to log in and use their website (click on any of the links) and share their opinions about hospitals and services for people with psoriasis in England. If you prefer to share your story over the telephone please call 0845 113 0012 and tell them what happened to you or someone you care for.

Psoriasis - the 'at your fingertips' guide - Second edition Save £5! Only £12.99 plus p&p to members and supporters of the Psoriasis Association. Practical information on day-to-day life with psoriasis. For more information please click here or go to the Publications page of this website

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Research Grant Application packs for 2006 are now available. The Psoriasis Association funds research carried out in the United Kingdom into all aspects of psoriasis. Since 1968 the Association has donated over £2 million to research projects. Applications are invited once a year for research grants which offer advancement in the basic causes of psoriasis and/pr increased understanding about psoriasis and its treatment. For more information please visit the Research page. Closing date for Research Grant applications is Friday 30th June 2006.

Adalimumab - Humira
Adalimumab now has its license for use in the treatment of Psoriatic Arthritis. Please click here for more detailed information.

Diet Doctors. Tiger Aspect, the makers of the Diet Doctors series broadcast on channel 5 are looking to make a second series. They are looking for people with psoriasis, severe acne, eczema, dermatitis, excess sweating, excess hair, boils or hives and nail infections. If you are interested in taking part, please email them on dietdoctors@tigeraspect.co.uk

Calling all people with Psoriatic Arthritis currently on Adalimumab (Humira) in Wales
Please can you contact Hywel Evans at Arthritis Care with regards to the All Wales Medicine Strategy Group (Welsh version of NICE). Hywel would like you to complete a short questionnaire with regards to the treatment. Hywel can be contacted either via email (hywele@arthritiscare.org.uk) or telephone (029 2040 1285)

Psoriasis Association Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting - May 13th 2006
The Association’s Annual Conference & AGM will take place on Saturday 13 May 2006 at The Park Inn, Northampton from 10 a.m. – 3.15 p.m. Guest speaker in the morning, following the AGM, is Dr Mark Goodfield, Consultant Dermatologist at Leeds General Infirmary. His theme will be ‘Patients and their doctors; we’re all in this together’.
There will be informal workshops in the afternoon, including an art workshop run by Rhonda Fenwick, an artist from Newcastle and finalist in the Inside Out Art Competition.
Trade Stands include Dermal Laboratories, Exorex, LeoPharma, Aston Clinica, Typharm and RDC UK Ltd.
This is an opportunity to find out about the work of the Association, meet trustees and staff and chat to other members. Do join us.
For more information and to book contact the office by phone 08456 760 076 or email

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The Walk for Skin The British Skin Foundation will be hosting their biggest ever fundraising event in venues across the UK between the 13th and 21st May 2006. Walks are being held in venues across the UK, all are circular routes of between 3 and 5 miles and are taking place at stately homes (such as Wollaton Hall and Deer Park - Near Nottingham, Himley Hall and Park - Dudley and Belfast Castle) museums (such as Beaulieu - National Motor Museum, Cosmeston Lakes and Medieval Village - Near Cardiff and Beamish - The North of England Open Air Museum - Near Newcastle) and visitor attractions such as Bramham Park - Leeds, Cheddar Gorge - Somerset, Greenwich Park - London and Holyrood Park - Edinburgh. To allow you to make the most of your day many of the venues are offering entry at a reduced rate to those who have taken part in The Walk for Skin so that you can visit after your walk. For information regarding The Walk for Skin or the venues, please visit the website www.walkforskin.org.uk or contact Su at the British Skin Foundation office on 020 7391 6352 or email. Please note that people will be able to sign up for the walks online from the 1st Feb - when you register online, don't forget to state that you wish to donate 50% of your sponsorship money to The Psoriasis Association!

UWE Teenager Study
The researchers at the University of West England have now finished collecting their data. Thanks to everyone who has taken part in this important piece of research.

2006 Psoriasis Association Calendar - sold out!
We are pleased to report the success of the Psoriasis Association 2006 calendar which has now sold out - apologies to anyone still wishing to purchase one. The Psoriasis Association would like to thank everyone who has purchased a calendar and supported our christmas appeal - all donations are greatly appreciated.

SMC approves use of Dovobet® in Scotland
The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has announced that Dovobet® has been approved for initial use in the management of stable plaque psoriasis within the NHS Scotland. Dovobet® ointment is a topical treatment containing the vitamin D analogue calcipotriol and the corticosteroid betamethasone dipropionate, which is used to treat plaque psoriasis and is licensed for use in courses of up to four weeks.

Infliximab - Remicade
Infliximab has now received its license for use in moderate to severe psoriasis. Please click here for more detailed information

Cashmere Beauty - The Psoriasis Association had concerns with some claims made in the advert for Cashmere Beauty cream, consequently these concerns have been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority. To read the adjudication details, please click here.

'Breakthrough' in skin treatment - Radio / Newspaper article
A recent press article claiming a breakthrough in treating psoriasis has proved to be rather confusing. The breakthrough by scientists at Newcastle University was in understanding how and why Dithranol works. Dithranol has been used in the treatment of psoriasis since the nineteenth century.


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Calling all young people with psoriasis!! If you are aged between 11 and 18 years and have had psoriasis for at least 1 year then please consider joining the following study.
Fiona Fox from the University of the West of England, Bristol is doing research that explores what it is like for teenagers, growing up with chronic skin conditions, like psoriasis. She hopes to find out about how you cope with changes to your appearance and what support you get. Sharing your experiences will help her to understand the needs of other young people like you.
Fiona is looking for teenagers to join online focus groups. These will be real time discussions, so you can take part from the comfort of your own home. If you are interested please follow this link to her web site and find out more about this research project. Teenager study

Teenagers!
We are in the process of updating the literature we have for teenagers and need some short accounts (no more than 150 words) of what it is like living with psoriasis - the positives and negatives, how you cope, any tips for fellow teenagers etc. Please email your accounts, or write or post them to the office - we will try to use as many as we can in the new literature. Please supply your christian name and age so that we can endeavor to cover the most important issues.

Research Grants - 2005
Applications are now invited for research grants which offer advancement in the basic causes of psoriasis and/or increased understanding about psoriasis and its treatment. Please click here for more details

Are you a runner?!
The Psoriasis Association has secured some places for the British 10K London Run on Sunday 3rd July 2005. The race starts at the Hard Rock Cafe and you will run up Piccadilly, Pall Mall and along the Embankment, taking in such sites as Trafalgar Square, St. Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge, before running back down the Embankment, across Westminster Bridge (taking in The London Eye!) and back across Westminster Bridge, before finishing in Whitehall just past the Cenotaph!
For a pdf version of the route please click here.
If you would like to enter the 10K London run please email or telephone the office.
Telephone 0845 676 0076

Art Competition Launched to Help Banish Stigma of Psoriasis
A national art competition, launched this month, is aiming to tackle the stigma and misunderstanding surrounding psoriasis. The Inside Out competition, sponsored by Wyeth and in collaboration with The Psoriasis Association, encourages those affected by the disease to express the personal impact of the condition via artwork.
The competition is exclusively for people with psoriasis, their families, friends and carers. Entries can be submitted in a variety of formats from painting to collage and photography. The competition theme Inside Out represents the dual impact of skin diseases; both the physical effect on the outside of the body and the impact on how people feel about themselves on the inside .Twelve short listed entrants will have their work displayed at an exhibition in London and will have the chance to win a cash prize and a place on a weekend art course. The prizes will be presented by Changing Rooms designer Anna Ryder Richardson at a ceremony in 2005.
For more information and details of how to enter please visit www.insideoutartcompetition.co.uk
or click on the inside out logo. Alternatively you can call 020 8392 8040 for an entry form. Closing date Friday 6th May 2005.

Research Grants
National council recently agreed to fund five projects recommended by the Research Committee in September. This brings the total grants awarded over the last five years to £658 824. To read about the individual projects please visit the Research page and click on the relevant links.

Response to Launch of Raptiva
The Psoriasis Association welcome all developments in the treatment of the complex condition of psoriasis, and the licensing of Raptiva represents a notable step forward.
Raptiva is intended for patients with the most severe forms of psoriasis and for those people for whom all other treatments seem to have failed. Raptiva offers the possibility of a way forward. The overwhelming majority of people with psoriasis will neither need nor be eligible for Raptiva. They will continue using the topical and systemic treatments currently available.
The early results of studies monitoring patients' progress on Raptiva are encouraging. We would, however, urge careful monitoring, longer term investigation and comparison with other treatment options in soundly conducted studies, to establish real long term safety, efficacy and acceptability. The establishment of a national register would be a helpful step.
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New Information Worker
We welcome Helen McAteer to the team as the new Information Worker. Helen started at the beginning of November and is finding her feet in the office. Helen will be available for those complex queries and questions as well as keeping the web site and our information up to date. Helen has a degree in psychology and experience of nursing. She also had an exciting year out in New Zealand where she experienced the thrills of bungy jumping and sky diving! Helen is a keen rugby union fan and follows the local team - Northampton Saints - home and away.

Clinical Trials - Potential New Psoriasis Treatment Soon To Be Tested at a Leeds Research Unit
Covance is one of the world's leading contract research organisations and is based in Leeds. They have been dedicated to helping the pharmaceutical industry develop medicines of tomorrow since 1986 including blockbuster drugs such as Viagra and Nurofen. They play a vital part in the drug development process by testing medicines for safety and effectiveness.
In their latest trial they required volunteers who have moderate to severe psoriasis to help test a potential new treatment that is currently under development by one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies.
The clinical trial will be starting in late 2004. For further information you can contact them on 0800 591 570, or visit them on line at www.testwiththebest.com

Psoriasis Association Calendar 2004
Thank you to all the members who took part in our photography competition and shared their experiences of psoriasis with us in the form of a short testimonial. From the 90 entrants we received, twelve lucky winners were selected to be models for the day and have their photograph taken by a professional photographer. The results of the day’s photoshoot can now be seen in our 2004 calendar. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone (winners, their friends and families) who spared the time to come to London and attend the photoshoot and LEO Pharma who kindly sponsored the initiative.

British 10k Road Race 2003
The Association had 7 people taking part in the British 10K Road Race which took place on Sunday 13 July. It was a very hot day and so all of the runners did especially well to get round. So far £2110 has been raised as a result of this event which is fantastic.

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Two new prescription treatments
2002 saw the launch of two new prescription treatments for psoriasis – the first for ten years

Silkis – launched by Galderma is a vitamin D derivative containing calcitriol.It is suitable for use on the face.

Dovobet – from Leo Pharmaceuticals is a combination of calcipotriol and betamethasone and is indicated for mild to moderate plaque psoriasis. It is a four week treatment with a once daily application.

I’m A Celebrity
The Association was delighted to be one of the recipient charities in the recent Granada television programme. Nominated by Rhona Cameron whose mother is a long standing member of the Association the amount received to date is £33,400.
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