How effective are biologics for psoriasis?

Biologics are drugs that fight inflammation. They do a good job at treating psoriasis, says HealthMaker Ellen Marmur, MD, a leading dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon. Here, she explains more about the medicine's success.

Transcript

00:00

The efficacy in almost all the studies has been anywhere from 48% to 78%.

00:06

So it's not perfect. And often, you use it in conjunction with topical treatments like great moisturizers

00:12

and also topical steroids. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:33

Biologics are extremely effective for psoriasis. And there are so many different kinds of psoriasis. There's psoriasis of the nails.

00:40

There's psoriasis of the joints and bones. There's psoriasis of the scalp. Psoriasis can even affect your eyes.

00:47

There's small plaque psoriasis on your body. There's psoriasis that comes out like little raindrops on your skin, called guttate psoriasis.

00:54

So it really depends on what kind of psoriasis you tend to have to tell you what the efficacy of your biologic will be.

01:02

The efficacy in almost all the studies has been anywhere from 48% to 78%.

01:09

So it's not perfect. And often, you use it in conjunction with topical treatments like great moisturizers

01:15

and also topical steroids. In general, the biologics are extremely effective. But you need to work with your dermatologist to figure out

01:23

the best one for you. [AUDIO LOGO]