Psoriasis is a common, chronic, intractable hyperproliferative skin disease that affects 1 to 3 percent of the American population. This disease accounts for 4.8 percent of office visits for dermatologic reasons, third after warts and acne. Two British dermatologists, however, note that dermatologists tend to pay "more attention to the rash and its transient, occasional removal than to the problems of the patient in the community in relation to that rash."