Chronic skin diseases such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis affect the professional life of those who live with the pathologies. In addition to the difficulty of finding adequate treatment, patients face constant stigma in the work environment.
“People look for professions where exposure is not great, because there is still a lot of prejudice and marginalization of skin diseases”, says Valéria Aoki, professor and director of the Laboratory of Cutaneous Immunopathology of the Department of Dermatology at USP (University of São Paulo).
Atopic dermatitis is a non-contagious, chronic and hereditary disease that causes inflammation of the skin and manifests itself with the appearance of lesions, redness and itching.
According to a Datafolha survey, released in September 2021, 30% of Brazilians believe that the disease is contagious. For 36% of respondents, people with visible injuries should not leave the house, go to school or work.
The journey of patients with chronic skin pathologies was discussed during the second edition of the Saúde da Pele seminar, promoted by Sheet on Thursday (18).
Mediated by Cláudia Collucci, a special reporter for the newspaper, the event was sponsored by AbbVie.
“When the disease hit me, I had to leave work,” says Fernando Lima, 56, a patient with stage 3 hidradenitis suppurativa.
Inflammatory pathology is characterized by the recurrent presence of painful nodules or lumps on the skin, which appear mainly in areas of folds or friction, such as the armpits and groin.
In stage 3, considered advanced, the disease causes multiple lesions in the same region, with scars.
extensive.
He says he had to take time off work to get treatment. At the time, many colleagues did not understand the gravity of the case and called him lazy. The disease did not manifest itself visibly, as Fernando’s main injuries are in the groin area.
The first signs appeared at age 15, with sores that led to the prescription of antibiotics. The diagnosis only occurred in 2009, at 43.
In 2014, Fernando needed surgery to remove injured areas. With the operation, he started to have a mild mobility disability.
The delay in accessing adequate diagnosis and treatment is an obstacle to the quality of life of those living with a chronic skin disease, says Aoki, from USP.
For André Carvalho, doctor responsible for the National Campaign for Awareness of Psoriasis, of the Brazilian Society of Dermatology, training primary care professionals to identify rare cases of skin diseases is one of the ways to reduce diagnosis time.
In the case of Tatiara Tridico, 31, a patient with very serious atopic dermatitis, the diagnosis took almost ten years.
She claims to have sought out specialists since the first signs, which appeared in 2010, and says she has gone through frustrated treatments and restrictive diets. The first doctors pointed out pathologies such as psoriasis and allergies to carbon and lactose.
For Tatiara, having the support of the family throughout the process was essential, especially in caring for the emotional impact that the disease brought. Unemployed, she worked as a saleswoman, but had to be removed from her job due to the worsening of her illness.
“I had a lot of problems with socializing. People walked away because they believed it was contagious”, he says. To avoid exposing her injuries, she spent a lot of time wearing long clothes even in the heat. With her self-esteem affected, she sought psychological and psychiatric care.
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The patient recalls the importance of disseminating information about the severity of the disease among professionals who treat mental health, because she did not feel welcomed during some consultations.
“I’ve been through professionals who told me ‘you need to accept yourself because it doesn’t interfere with your life’. But I needed three hospitalizations and, in one of them, I had 100% of my body taken over by the disease.”
Doctors agree that the dissemination of information is the way to reduce prejudice. Aoki, from USP, also recommends the creation of multidisciplinary teams to better meet the patient’s needs.
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