Women's Health

Psoriasis Increases Risk for Diabetes and Hypertension in Women

A nationwide advertisement some time ago cited the “heartbreak of psoriasis,” and those who suffer from the skin disorder find that an apt description. Between 1 and 3 percent of the U.S. population suffer from the chronic skin disease with patches of scaly skin with a red itchy look, or silver dead-looking skin. Psoriasis was long considered a problem for a dermatologist, but recent developments indicate that it is an autoimmune disease with a possible genetic link that can be aggravated by smoking and alcohol consumption. The disease is not contagious, but it is incurable. Some treatments will temporarily alleviate the symptoms, but will not cure the disorder.

A recent study lead by Dr. Abrar A. Qureshi, an assistant professor of dermatology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, has produced more evidence of a connection between psoriasis and the risk of diabetes and hypertension in U.S. women. The link has been long suspected and the results of the study support the suspicion. Dr. Qureshi said “The big question a lot of people have been asking is whether there are common threads in autoimmune diseases, and whether those who develop on autoimmune or inflammatory condition are at risk of developing others.”

The study used data on 78,061 women between the ages of 27 and 44 who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study. The women were followed for 14 years. None had diabetes at the start of the study. Autoimmune diseases cause chronic inflammation within the body and inflammation is a risk factor for high blood pressure and may help foster insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes. The authors considered that chronic inflammation could explain why women with psoriasis had a 63 percent increased risk of developing diabetes and a 17 percent increased risk of developing high blood pressure, compared to women without psoriasis.

The study did not use body-mass index as a criteria between psoriasis and the other conditions, so obesity was not a factor in the findings.

Though the findings are not conclusive they do lead to the question of whether patients with psoriasis should be screened for diabetes, even if they are not obese. Qureshi said “It’s probably too early to jump to that conclusion.” Dr. Spyros Mezitis, an endocrinologist with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City agrees that “We need more research to see if patients you’re seeing with psoriasis should be treated for insulin resistance or at least screened for it.”

The authors conclude “These data illustrate the importance of considering psoriasis a systemic disorder rather than simply a skin disease. Further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying these associations and to find out whether psoriasis therapy can reduce the risk for diabetes and hypertension.”

Because the study was restricted to white women, the findings cannot be generalized to men or other races, according to the researchers.