Life as a teenager was hell for Kevin Ashley. That’s when psoriasis appeared on his body.

The itchy, scaly skin disease that crept over his arms and legs made stripping for gym class or swim lessons torture. Later, as an adult, he refused to wear shorts and muscle shirts in the summer.

Even on a vacation to the Caribbean with close friends he wore long pants on the beach.

“Everyone would say ‘don’t worry about it,’ but you get so self-conscious about it,” the Sooke resident said. “People look at you in a different way and ask if it is contagious.”

It’s not. About one million Canadians have psoriasis. Severe, or plaque psoriasis is caused by the body’s immune system attacking itself. T-cells which normally help protect the body against infection migrate to the top of the skin and produce proteins which cause the skin to reproduce eight times faster than normal, resulting in a red, scaly rash.

Ashley saw an ad in a local paper asking for volunteers with severe cases of psoriasis to take part in a drug trial, which involved getting four shots a year of the drug.

When he went to be interviewed by the drug company, psoriasis covered 30 per cent of his body. After the second shot the disease receded.

He still has three small patches, but his life has changed. His wife of 22 years saw him this year in shorts for the first time. Not embarrassed about going to the gym, he’s shed 25 pounds through regular exercise.

October is National Psoriasis Month, but Dr. Lorne Albrecht is aware of the skin disease 12 months a year. The Surrey-based dermatologist sees about 10 patients a day living with psoriasis. And although patients can mask the condition with clothing, he said, they can become socially reclusive because they are so wary of being in the open. “It has a huge impact on quality of life comparable to heart or kidney disease,”Albrecht said.

Ashley tried many medications over the years, but none worked. He’s got two years left on the five-year trial, but he wonders what will happen after that.

Ashley belongs to a psoriasis support group which has lobbied B.C.’s Minister of Health to include the drug for Pharmacare coverage. But the drug, Stelara, which has been approved by Health Canada for sale, costs about $18,000 for a year-long treatment – a price that is giving the province pause. A spokesperson said the ministry is investigating coverage.

vmoreau@saanichnews.com