Ichthyosis is the so-called fish scale disease. This disease is based on a genetic defect which can be inherited, but can occasionally occur in people without a genetic defect. Approximately every 300th person is affected by ichthyosis, some less severely, others very severely.
Ichthyosis is an incurable skin disease. Nevertheless, there are some things that can be done against keratinization and dehydration of the skin, both symptoms of ichthyosis. It is also important to note that ichthyosis is not an infectious disease and therefore no special precautions should be taken when having physical contact with other people.
Causes
In order to understand the cause of ichthyosis in more detail, one should first understand the structure and the regeneration mechanism of the skin in its basic features: The skin is the largest organ of the human body, which is constantly renewing itself and is therefore able to heal externally inflicted wounds such as cuts or other injuries within a few days to weeks. For this purpose the skin consists of several layers: The lowest skin layer is the so-called basal layer (stratum basale). New skin cells are constantly being formed here, which then migrate upwards through various layers of skin and finally keratinize through various inclusions (including keratin).
The keratinized cells are the highest lying cells in our skin and are already dead. This horny layer ensures that no water can get through the skin, even when we go swimming and take a shower. Within 4 weeks a skin cell migrates from the basal layer through the complete skin layers to end up in the horny layer and is rejected from here and falls off unnoticed, for example when showering.
In the case of ichthyosis, the balance of the skin, which normally ensures that approximately the same number of cells are formed as are rejected, is disturbed. The cause of ichthyosis is therefore a disturbance in the formation of new skin cells. So many new skin cells are produced that there is constantly an excess of keratinized cells, which leads to the formation of skin scales on the skin, which is what ichthyosis ultimately owes its name as fish scale disease.
Depending on which form of ichthyosis is involved, heredity as the cause of the development of ichthyosis must also be taken into account. For example, the vulgar ichthyosis is inherited autosomal-dominantly. This means that one sick parent is sufficient to inherit the disease.
Other forms on the other hand are inherited recessively, which means that a sick parent does not necessarily mean that the child will also suffer from the disease. The cause of ichthyosis is generally always a “too much” of keratinized, dead skin cells on the skin surface. This can be due to the fact that too many cells are produced and it can also be due to the fact that too few cells are rejected on the surface and too many keratinized cells accumulate on the skin surface despite normal production.
