There are some notable similarities and differences between psoriasis and allergy symptoms.
“Psoriasis, seasonal allergies, and eczema are all immune-mediated; they are thought to result from a dysfunctional immune system,” says Lauren Taglia, MD, a dermatologist at Northwestern Medicine in Geneva, Illinois.
However, psoriasis tends to involve different pathways of the immune system compared to allergic conditions. For example, one analysis found that skin biopsies (tissue samples) from people with psoriasis and eczema found different types of immune cell clusters for each condition. What’s more, inflammation was found in different types of cells in blood samples taken from people with each condition.
Both genetic and environmental factors can contribute not only to psoriasis, but also to conditions such as eczema and allergic rhinitis. People with one allergic disease are also more likely to develop another allergic disease, probably due to genetic factors.
For allergy symptoms, treatment usually focuses on preventing exposure to the known allergen and sometimes on taking medications to reduce the immune system’s response and improve symptoms. For psoriasis, there are medications and infusions that can treat flare-ups of the disease and keep some people symptom-free for months or even years.
