June 2021

Hello everyone,

How are you all doing in Psoriasis World ? Why not pop in and give us an update to your existing threads or start a new one, your input could help others in their search for treatment options. And don't forget you are welcome to just have a good old grumble if it helps and you will always find someone willing to listen.

Well here we are half way through the year already and my 6th newsletter since taking it over from Jim. I have played around with it in that time and thank those that have given feedback. Last month I asked for your opinion on some of the non psoriasis content and as a result I have made a few changes to this edition.

This month we have two members taking up my challenge last month where I asked if anyone would like to have a go at their own column. D Foster is telling us all about gin and Caroline is talking about her bike ride to the tulip fields, so scroll on down the left hand side and have a read.

Don't forget to give them some feedback Here

Ok let's get on with the show.

Fred.

New threads on the psoriasis boards

My Journey to halt/end my psoriasis

My commitment to you folks, is to document my journey in hopes that it may help someone else in the future. If I can do that for someone, then ..........
Read the full post and members comments Here

If You Could Have Any Drug For Ps and PsA What Would You Want

I have a derm who is very helpful. I have Ps and maybe PsA. I would like to try a drug that will be good for both ailments. She has given me ..........
Read the full post and members comments Here

Rubber Gloves Won't Keep Dirt From Under My Detaching Fingernails

I am looking for ways to remove the dirt that a nail file won't reach. I have read that it's not good to scrape the areas that the nail is ..........
Read the full post and members comments Here

3 Covid jabs in France for patients on Immunosuppressants

France have recently reviewed their covid jab strategy and have put patients receiving an Immunosuppressant on three jabs of covid vaccine ..........
Read the full post and members comments Here

More studies needed on IL-30 in psoriasis patients

Serum was collected from 26 patients with psoriasis and 26 healthy controls in a case–control setting, and the level of IL-30 was determined using ..........
Read the full post and members comments Here

Sonelokimab for psoriasis Phase 2b study

Sonelokimab is an investigational IL-17A/IL-17F inhibitor with an albumin binding site, which has the potential to facilitate deep tissue ..........
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Various forms of scalp psoriasis

The aim of our study was to create a correlation between the clinical patterns and trichoscopy of scalp psoriasis such in a way to help the ..........
Read the full post and members comments Here

Drug survival for methotrexate in psoriasis patients

We reviewed 3,512 follow-up charts of patients with psoriasis at five tertiary referral centers between January 2012 and January 2020. We analyzed ..........
Read the full post and members comments Here

Nail psoriasis clinician rated severity scale

A literature review, concept elicitation, pilot cognitive debriefing, and clinical expert consultations informed development of the PGA-F. ..........
Read the full post and members comments Here

Otezla effectiveness and safety study

This study in Greece looked at the effectiveness and safety of Otezla (apremilast) in biologic-naïve patients with moderate psoriasis. ..........
Read the full post and members comments Here

Methorexate and Covid vaccine

This is an observational study, and as such, can’t establish causality. The authors also acknowledge that the study had a small sample size, only assessed ..........
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Poll: Have you ever been asked if psoriasis is contaious ?

This poll is open to members and guests and no usernames will be shown. Members can also post in the thread too if they wish ..........
Vote Here

Stats from last month

Music with KatT

Welcome to music with KatT: Where you can test your knowledge on music and see other member's music recommendation!

Music Quiz: Score 1 point for each correct answer.

Match the singers who sang for the same band (multiple choice)

Singer: Singer:

#1: Bon Scott #A: Johnny Van Zant

#2: David Lee Roth #B: John Wetton

#3: Syd Barrett #C: Phil Collins

#4: Paul Di'Anno #D: Lindsey Buckingham

#5: Peter Gabriel #E: Bruce Dickinson

#6: Ronnie Van Zant #F: Ian Gillan

#7: Ozzy Osbourne #G: Brian Johnson

#8: Rod Evans #H: Ronnie James Dio

#9: Peter Greene #I: David Gilmour

#10: Greg Lake #J: Sammy Hagar

D Foster suggested: Hyacinth House by The Doors
Raxyl suggested: Moments by Bliss n Eso
jiml suggested: Build Me Up Buttercup by The Foundations
Kat suggested: She's a Wildflower by Lauren Alaina
wooleyb suggested: Flowers In The Rain by The Move
Turnedlight suggested: Cherry Blossom Clinic by The Move
JohnB suggested: Return of The Giant Hogweed by Genesis
Fred suggested: Rosebud by Jeff Beck
Mrs. Fred suggested: Desert Rose by Sting
Caroline suggested: Spinning in Daffodils by Them Crooked Vultures
KatT suggested: Fields of Marigold by Frank Black and The Catholics

Listen on: Deezer | Spotify

If you would like to leave some feedback you can post in the Newsletter thread Here

Johnb's Recipe Spot

Barbecue side dishes

Well around this time of year I have generally done something for the barbecue, but as I am writing this it is more like Autumn is setting in rather than spring. It hasn’t really stopped lashing down for over a month. If it carries on like this our little island will end up sinking.

With a little hope and being forever the optimist I thought I would carry on with the outdoor eating theme. Rather than a main I figured a few simple side dishes would be a good idea. How many times have you come across a dull bowl of limp lettuce or a potato salad that is a couple of hits with a masher away from being cold mash potato EEUUUGH!

First up Chick Pea Salad One of my favourites this. Fortunately it looks like we have some nice produce to thieve borrow from Poly. If you really wanted you could use dried Chickpeas but lets face it life is too short so crack open a tin from the cupboard, rinse thoroughly and set to drain. Meanwhile mix together 3 tablespoons of a good virgin olive oil with a tablespoon of white wine vinegar salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. A tiny dribble of cold water will help the vinaigrette to emulsify. Throw in the chickpeas and gently mix – you don't want to damage the peas. Taking one of Fred’s nice big juicy tomatoes and a similar sized onion, slice and arrange in alternate slices on a serving plate to produce a rosette. Pile the chickpeas in the centre, chop some of Fred’s basil and sprinkle over. Job one done

Next up Kidney (Red) Bean Salad Same again with this, for expediency use a can of beans, they are every bit as good as cooking them yourself – just open the can rinse and drain. So its back in to Poly to raid it for a medium onion (red for preference), a green pepper and a garlic bulb. De-seed the pepper and chop both the onion and pepper finely then on to the vinaigrette. In a bowl add 6 tablespoons of a good virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a couple of crushed garlic bulbs, a good grind of salt and pepper and a few dashes of Tabasco sauce to suit your taste. Mix the whole lot together and into a serving bowl sprinkle a finely sliced spring onion(scallion) over to make it look pretty. Job two – tick

And on to Tuna Rice Salad I really like this but it comes with a bit of a health warning. With it having cooked rice in it, only put it out when it is due to be eaten and don’t leave it out too long. Rice can hold spores of Bacillus cereus, that don’t completely get destroyed by cooking and can grow quickly on cooked rice creating a toxin that can give you nasty food poisoning – so if the chicken don’t get you the rice will! Keep it cold and limit its time out and you will be fine. No rice in Poly and chances are it would drown if I tried to grow it here so its to the store cupboard and cook up a batch of rice. Crack open a 145g tin of your favourite tuna, I prefer mine in oil. Spring water sucks all the flavour out of it – hate the stuff – tastes like cardboard. Mix together with a quantity of rice 3 or 4 rice to 1 tuna? with a healthy dollop of mayonnaise a grind of salt and a grind of white pepper. (You don’t nasty black bits in a whit dish). You need just enough mayo to hold it together, it doesn’t want to be like a cheap supermarket coleslaw – all liquid.

Right now who is cracking the Barbie up? To accompany - The cynic in me would say a Winter ale, but it is supposed to be spring /summer and as we are at a barbie its just got to be an Aperol Spritz. A nicely chilled Zinfandel Rose would do at a push though

To read more recipes or add your own Click here

Talking gin with D Foster

Lets hear it for gin,that clear fragrant and undeniably delicious spirit notable for it’s juniper flavour and curious relationship with London.

The thing with gin is that it can be made from any old neutral spirit-alcohol that has it’s beginning with grain, barley maze or even molasses. The thing that makes it the magical giggle juice of ye old back alleys of the same method as London gin London town is the clever combination of botanicals.

Gin can be distilled in two main ways : column distilled and pot distilled. The most popular are pot still gins, a lot of the curvaceous pots are given female nicknames with vintage ones held in high regard. Distilled gins follow the same method as London gins, except flavourings can be added often in infusion bags to give a softer mellow taste.

In my humble opinion a good gin with a good tonic, both of which is a personal taste, add ice and a slice of lemon and you have the drink of the gods. You do not of course have to follow the silly measures under any circumstances that are used in pubs and bars. A decent sized glass about 400ml with three ice cubes in the bottom is the start to a good G and T.

Hold the glass at the bottom and fill the glass up with three fingers of gin (at least) then top it up with a tonic of your choice to about 5mm from the top so you have room to put a nice slice of lemon. You now have to sit down and enjoy the drink of the gods. Just as an added interest if you have never tried it is exactly the same formula but change the gin for white port, quite good and refreshing.

Cheers.

Tulips by Caroline

This morning I was cycling towards a field of tulips of which I knew that they are very much liked by Fred, to make some last pictures. It is one of the last fields that are flowering.

Arriving I saw that people were working in the field and one of them was walking towards me, while I was taking pictures. She was a blonde girl with her hair in a tress. Her smile almost blinded me and she started to talk about the beautiful flowers and that she so liked working in the open air in the field. Other workers now followed her coming out of the field. A somewhat older guy and a woman with greyish hair. He said to me: “We are taking care of the flowers and you are making beautiful pictures of them, Good cooperations !! And now I am heading for the coffee!”. The woman said cheerfully to me: “He is only 74 and still going strong!”

I asked her if they were enjoying their job. She admitted that and told me they were gathering the flowers to sell them. It has been a very good year for them, because the spring was so cold the availability of the tulips has been much longer than normal, they had been able to spread the harvesting over a longer time and that prices at the auction were very good.

I asked her why the heads of the tulips were being chopped off after they had been blossoming for a while. She explained me that that is necessary to get the bulb growing, they only need a few leaves to keep on growing. Then after a number of weeks they are taken out of the ground and being dried and packaged for sales. And in October, then can then be put in the ground again.

I thanked her for her kind information. Stepping back on my bicycle I felt very good because of this very friendly meeting with these people.

Memos

See you all next month

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