What Is Psoriasis? Exploring Disease Causes As Kim Kardashian Opens Up About Her Mat Gala
Kim Kardashian deals with psoriasis, a chronic skin condition causing scaly patches to appear, especially around the scalp, elbows, and knees.
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Kim Kardashian recently talked about how her preparation for a previous Met Gala event was impacted by a psoriasis flare-up. In an interview on Tuesday's episode of the "SHE MD Podcast," the reality TV star talked about her experience with psoriasis and how she once experienced a flare-up in the run-up to the yearly celebrity-filled fundraiser for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Kim Kardashian has opened up about her psoriasis
Reality TV personality Kim Kardashian has been coping with psoriasis, a long-term skin disorder that typically results in scaly patches, particularly on the knees, elbows, and scalp. Different medications can help manage the symptoms, even though there is no cure.
On the July 16 episode of the SHE MD podcast, hosted by Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi and Mary Alice Haney, the 43-year-old discussed her experience with the condition. She revealed that psoriasis began affecting her face, which led her to try numerous home remedies out of desperation.
"A spot very close to her eye caused discomfort," Kardashian mentioned, and she recalled being particularly stressed about it due to an upcoming Met Gala, where the condition was visible on her face.
She didn't mention the year of the Met Gala, but this was the first time psoriasis had affected her face. Mary Alice Haney, the host, asked as to whether the pre-event flare-up was caused by stress. When Kardashian looked back on the time, she acknowledged that it was the first time that her face had been affected.
“There’s a lot I could [say],” she remarked with a smile. For the Met Gala, her makeup artist used concealer to cover the patches, and Kardashian tried various skincare treatments. “Tar patches and homeopathic creams were applied overnight,” she shared. "I was also drinking tar teas and doing everything possible."
Although Kardashian didn't specify which Met Gala year she referred to or elaborate on the potential stressors, she previously mentioned to Allure in 2022 about a psoriasis flare-up before that year's Met Gala.
What is Psoriasis?
As noted by the Mayo Clinic, psoriasis is “a skin disease that causes a rash with itchy, scaly patches, most commonly on the knees, elbows, trunk and scalp”. Symptoms can go through cycles of flaring up for a few weeks or months, to “then subsiding for a while”.
Physical symptoms include "raised plaques" which can look different on different skin types, as well as scales on the skin. Being an immune-mediated condition, psoriasis results from your body's immune system overreacting and creating issues. Immune cells become activated and release chemicals when you have psoriasis, which triggers the skin's rapid cell growth. This explains why the disease causes scaly, inflamed skin in those who have it.
Although the exact cause of the defective immune cell activation remains unknown, scientists do know that a combination of environmental and genetic factors are involved. Numerous psoriasis sufferers have a family history of the condition, and some genes that may play a role in its development have been identified by researchers. A large number of them are involved in immune system function.
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