Rheumatologists, dermatologists, and patient advocates have come together to publish the first-ever international guidelines for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis, a disease that mainly affects people who have psoriasis but also some people without it.

Anecdotal evidence touting the healing power of the Indian spice turmeric for psoriasis received a setback in a prospective study published this month by a leading dermatology journal stating that the low response rate of patients who ingested the active ingredient of the exotic spice was probably a result of the placebo effect.

One-year data from a second double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 study showed therapy with ustekinumab given every 12 weeks provided sustained, clinically meaningful improvement in the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis through one year.

Patients with severe psoriasis appear to have an increased risk of death compared with patients without the skin condition, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.