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Introduction: History of psoriasis and psoriasis therapy

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Book cover Treatment of Psoriasis

Part of the book series: Milestones in Drug Therapy ((MDT))

Abstract

This chronicle of psoriasis begins in ancient times when psoriasis, leprosy, and other inflammatory skin disorders were thought to be the same condition. The identification of psoriasis as a distinct entity did not occur until the 19th century, when clinical descriptions distinguished it from other cutaneous disorders. Histopathologic descriptions in the 1960s and 1970s shed some light on the pathophysiology of psoriasis, but many aspects of the disease remain unknown to this day. As Bechet expressed, “Psoriasis is an antidote for dermatologists’ ego” [1].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Alissa Cowden & Abby S. Van Voorhees

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  1. Alissa Cowden
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  2. Abby S. Van Voorhees
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, 1090 Amsterdam Avenue, Suite 11 D, New York, NY, 10025, USA

    Jeffrey M. Weinberg

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© 2008 Birkhäuser Verlag/Switzerland

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Cowden, A., Van Voorhees, A.S. (2008). Introduction: History of psoriasis and psoriasis therapy. In: Weinberg, J.M. (eds) Treatment of Psoriasis. Milestones in Drug Therapy. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-7724-3_1

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