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What is Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) | TREMFYA® (guselkumab)

About Active Psoriatic Arthritis

It’s important to learn as much as you can about your condition. That includes understanding your symptoms and how active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) can affect your body. Knowing more can help you talk with your doctor about a treatment option that may be right for you.

WHAT IS PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS?

PsA is a chronic, or long-term, disease. While the exact cause is unknown, when you have PsA, your immune system attacks healthy tissues like the skin and joints. That’s why PsA is called an autoimmune disease.

PsA encompasses two kinds of symptoms—joint and skin. People often mistake these symptoms for two unrelated conditions, but they might be connected. If the pain, stiffness, swelling, and skin symptoms are not caught early, they can worsen over time and permanent joint damage can occur.

There is no definitive test that can determine whether you have the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. Therefore, it can be difficult to diagnose. Discuss your symptoms with your primary care provider and/or consider seeing a rheumatologist to get the right diagnosis and treatment for you. While there is no cure, there are medicines that can help relieve these symptoms. This can help you perform everyday activities with less difficulty.

Who Gets Psoriatic Arthritis?

PsA affects approximately 6 to 25 patients per 10,000 adults in the US.

PsA often appears between ages 30 and 50.

PsA is more common in Caucasians than African Americans, Latino Americans, and South Asian Americans.

Approximately 15.5% of patients with PsO also have undiagnosed PsA.

On average, patients with PsA may experience more than a 2-year delay before receiving the correct diagnosis.

About the same number of women and men have psoriatic arthritis.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS?

The symptoms and appearance of psoriatic arthritis vary from person to person. Although there is no one way to diagnose the condition, some of the most commonly found symptoms among people with psoriatic arthritis are:

Joint pain, stiffness, or swelling in one or more joints

Red or warm joints

“Sausage-like” swelling in your fingers and toes

Pain in and around your feet and ankles

Thick, red, scaly patches on your skin

Lower back pain and stiffness

85%

of people with psoriatic arthritis develop thick, red patches on their skin before experiencing joint symptoms. Source: CreakyJoints

IS THERE A LINK BETWEEN PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS AND PSORIASIS?

Psoriasis is caused by an overactive immune system, and appears as flaky, red, or white scaly patches on your skin. If you have had psoriasis, and are experiencing joint pain, you might be suffering from psoriatic arthritis.