Surviving psoriasis while in college

By Valerie Westen
The Collegian

David Vartanian, a Fresno State junior in business administration, has lived with psoriasis, a skin disease, since high school. Last week he was chosen to be the national spokesperson for psoriasis in people ages 18-24.

Vartanian is one of the two college students selected to represent their age group in the nation, and will speak at the upcoming Winter American Academy of Dermatology meeting in San Francisco in front of more than 10,000 dermatologists.

“As a representative of the National Psoriasis Foundation, I will have to give a perspective of what it is like to be my age and live with the disease,” he said.

Vartanian was chosen because of his involvement with the Psoriasis Foundation. He attended his first conference in 2004 where he met the CEO, Gail Zimmerman, and realized very few people of his age group were present.

“Now I want to help educate the youth in college. People are more judgmental at ourage and I want to try to bring awareness, and hope we can start something here in Fresno,” Vartanian said.

He believes students with the disease should meet and realize they are not alone.

“It’s more common than they would think. They could educate themselves and meet other people that have it,” Vartanian said.

Vartanian was diagnosed with the disease when he was 16 and attending Clovis West High School.

“I didn’t know what it was. I ran cross-country and track and had to wear shorts, that’s when I became more aware of it. So I went to a dermatologist who prescribed me some topical creams,” he said.

Psoriasis is a hereditary skin disease that affects 2-3 percent of the adult population. It is an acceleration of the usual replacement processes of the skin. It can be developed at any age and does not target any ethnic group in particular.

“I got it from my grandma because it skipped one generation. It’s itchy, like dandruff on your body and it’s extremely painful,” Vartanian said

He only needs to apply topical creams on his body, but some severely affected by the disease need different treatments.

“Some people need to take shots, and it can cost them up to $25,000 a year. It affects their daily life. They might feel helpless, and some won’t even go out in public,” Vartanian said.

The 20-year-old used to work for an Abercrombie and Fitch clothing store and sometimes had to use makeup to cover some of the patches on his face.

“People were very judgmental there and would be staring. I had to quit partly because of that,” Vartanian said.

The sunlight appears to help his condition a lot, and he is grateful to be living in California. During the winter months, Vartanian uses a medical light treatment to improve his skin condition.

“It can come and go and I am in a better stage of my life now, but all I can do is contain it, not cure it, and it is extremely frustrating at times,” He said.

Vartanian hopes to reach other students with the disease, and help them educate themselves about the different treatments available and become proactive.

“Everybody has something, psoriasis is just what I happen to have,” he said.

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