gourmet dinner with psoriasis

Gourmet dinner with Psoriasis

By David Verveer

In our circle of friends, with whom we meet on regular base, on Friday night, we have a regular ritual which starts out with a gourmet meal (all take turns in cooking and showing off), and after that we start telling the latest about our children and grand kids. The discussion slowly but surely turns to actualities and politics, (which is more or less a repetition, as everybody's political views are known, but it is healthy to clean your frustration with the situation and try to convince our political opponents for believing the utter stupidity of their beliefs).

When we get really exited, we suddenly reach our favorite subject, which is connected to health and mortality, years ago we discussed the problems of childcare, and / or our problems dealing with our parents, but now, with all participants passed the age of 55, most nearing 70, childcare and worry about parents lost its popularity in contest with symptoms of diseases, medicines and treatment.

Diets and vitamins are discussed, together with health cures, but generally we refrain to discuss chronic illnesses suffered by some of the participants as not to embarrass them. Most of us are hypochondriacs, looking for new dangers which could terminate our existence on this earth, generally followed with a visit to our health clinic or doctor, in order to make sure we have not caught it yet.

And indeed, not all health problems can be discussed, for example I suffer from a skin disease called psoriasis, which appears with all weather change. It is irritant, itchy and not pleasant to see, especially when it appears on open skin visible for everyone. Logically, people are frightened to come in contact with somebody who has a skin disease, frightening that it is contagious (it is not), and as child, I preferred bandages than showing my skin to others. Funny enough, 3 to 5 percent of humanity suffers from psoriasis (there are numerous kinds and levels), and apparently there are no cures known. There are of course many treatments, most of them effective only for one or two seasons, after which they turn to be harmful for the patient, but which makes the skin doctor such a wonderful job, most of the patients don't die from the disease instead of that, they die with the disease.

Having psoriasis is unpleasant, not only because the discomfort caused by the itching, and open wounds (which attracts flies), the loss of self-esteem, embarrassed by the pitiful stares at the effected areas, stupid questions and advise to try this or that medicine, because the uncle of the postman's sister, who had the same problem, used it and was cured in one hour (or actually 63 minutes). By the way, did you try to put yogurt on it, no I did not and hate this kind of discussions.

I always felt rather sorry for myself, but now that I know that Stalin suffered of the same, I understand that I was tested as God's Guinea pig, to try it out before he punished that bastard. I am actually lucky that I got it and I am living in this enlightened era as in the middle ages, they considered it a contagious disease and isolated them with the leprosy in concentration camps. Even though, the cause of the disease is unknown, (and because that, there is no cure available), it doesn't seem to be heritable.

After having discussed the above, it became clear to me, why we never have discussed it during our gourmet dinners, as it surely does not promote the apatite.