Could Psoriasis Increase Odds for Type 2 Diabetes?

MONDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) — People suffering from the
autoimmune skin disorder known as psoriasis may face an increased risk of
developing type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.

“People with psoriasis are at increased risk of developing diabetes
that is independent of traditional risk factors like being obese,” said
lead researcher Dr. Joel Gelfand, associate professor of dermatology at
the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

The risk is highest in those with the most severe psoriasis, and these
patients should be screened for diabetes, he said. The reasons for this
risk may be genetic, or psoriasis may cause increased insulin resistance,
Gelfand said.

He also noted that obesity is a risk factor for psoriasis as well as
diabetes. People who develop psoriasis should try to maintain a healthy
weight to help prevent diabetes, he said.

The report was published in the June 18 online edition of the journal
Archives of Dermatology.

For the study, Gelfand’s team collected data on more than 108,000
people with psoriasis listed in the British Health Improvement Network,
and compared it with data on more than 430,000 people without the skin
disorder.

The researchers found that the risk of developing type 2 diabetes was
11 percent higher for those with mild psoriasis and 46 percent higher for
those with severe psoriasis, compared to those who did not have the
disorder.

In addition, the researchers found that people with severe psoriasis
were more likely to be taking medications for diabetes.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin characterized
by scaling; it affects 2 percent to 4 percent of adults, the researchers
said.

Since both psoriasis and diabetes are partially caused by inflammation
in the body, this research may explain the link between them, the
researchers speculated. Inflammation can increase insulin resistance,
which is a cause of type 2 diabetes, they noted.

Dr. Michele Green, a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York
City, said many of her obese psoriasis patients also suffer from
diabetes.

“I can tell you that I have seen patients who are obese and their
psoriasis is worse and their diabetes is worse — they go hand-in-hand,”
she said.

Green said it is not psoriasis that causes diabetes but obesity, which
is the root cause of both conditions. Moreover, psoriasis is harder to
treat in obese patients, she said. The only way to improve both conditions
is to lose weight.

Although this research showed an association between psoriasis and type
2 diabetes, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

More information

For more on diabetes, visit the American Diabetes Association.

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