Dr. Barankin and Dr. Freiman just attended a 2-day psoriasis meeting where they learned about psoriasis diagnosis and treatment, as well as the related health problems (“comorbidities”) that many psoriasis patients face; here are some of the highlights:
- Patients with severe psoriasis live on average 3-4 years less.
- Depression, anxiety and suicide are all increased in psoriasis patients ; it turns out that psoriasis and depression may have common underlying pathways (e.g. inflammation). Interestingly, depression and anxiety have been shown to improve with the biologic drugs (e.g. adalimumab, etanercept, ustekinumab).
- Obesity is a risk factor for developing psoriasis.
- Patients with psoriasis are at higher risk of increased triglycerides and cholesterol.
- Psoriasis has been associated with increased alcohol use
- Biologic drugs such as etanercept and adalimumab significantly reduce heart attacks as compared to methotrexate, and they prevent the progression of psoriatic arthritis.
- Inflammatory bowel disease is 10 times more common in patients with psoriasis.
- Celiac disease is also more common in psoriasis patients.