Study: Psoriasis can increase risk of heart disease

A Dubai-based doctor has stressed the importance of psoriasis sufferers to seek early treatment – following a recent study that suggests the skin condition is related to increasing the risk of heart disease.

Dr Ashraf Reda, a Specialist Dermatologist and Laser Specialist at Welcare Hospital, suggests that the key is to educate sufferers about the risks associated with the disease in order for them to obtain the correct treatment.

“Patients with moderate to severe psoriasis have greater prevalence of coronary heart disease risk factors, such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes and lipid disorders, compared with the general population,” he said. “Because patients with psoriasis might be under-diagnosed and under-treated, providing counseling about their increased risk factors for coronary heart disease is critical to proper management of these patients.”

In a recent study conducted by doctors at  Harvard Medical School in the United States, findings found an association between psoriasis and the risk of developing coronary heart disease. 

Psoriasis is a debilitating skin condition that affects the quality of life for an estimated 2 to 3 per cent of men, women and children in the UAE. It can impair patients’ physical and psychologic well-being, leading to reduced health-related quality of life and work productivity.

Report author Dr Alexa Boer Kimball said: “The most common physical symptom of psoriasis is the appearance of thick, dry, red skin lesions known as plaques, covered with silvery scales. Plaques frequently occur on the scalp, face, elbows, knees, palms, and soles of the feet.

“The level of disease severity varies: mild cases of psoriasis are frequently disturbing and uncomfortable, but moderate and severe cases are generally painful, disfiguring, and disabling.”

The prevalence of all types of heart diseases in patients with psoriasis in the UAE has been estimated at 14.3 per cent, therefore, as a result it is estimated that nearly 20,000 residents in the UAE have an increased risk of heart disease solely as a result of having psoriasis.

Traditional treatment for psoriasis includes topical steroid creams, ultraviolet light therapy, and systemic drugs. The latter medications were limited by potentially serious long-term side effects.

Dr Reda continued: “Over the last several years however, a breakthrough in psoriasis research has been the development of biological therapies used to treat this disease. These new therapies aim to provide selective, more effective, immunologically directed intervention with fewer side effects than traditional therapies.

“Biological therapies have offered new hope for patients suffering from moderate to severe psoriasis, and have resulted in thousands of patients experiencing significant improvements in their symptoms.”

Experts suggest that biologics work by suppressing the overactive immune system response that triggers psoriasis. Biologics target a protein in the body called tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), which is a key player in the inflammatory process that triggers psoriasis.