Psoriasis And Heart Disease: Inflammation In Blood Vessels Higher With Skin Condition

First Posted: Oct 12, 2015 12:53 PM EDT
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The inflammatory skin condition psoriasis has now shown evidence of an increased risk of heart disease, according to recent findings published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.

"This is strong evidence for psoriasis being important in the development of vascular inflammation," said Dr. Nehal Mehta, an investigator at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the senior author on the study, via Live Science.

During this recent study, researchers looked at 60 patients with psoriasis and 20 participants without. They used a scoring system to determine each patient's psoriasis based on a scale from mild to severe-measuring blood vessel inflammation levels via PET/CT scans. The participants were injected with radioactive sugar to make inflamed blood vessels appear as bright spots on the scan.

The scorecards were used to determine the severity of psoriasis among the participants. From there, researchers found that while some had mild psoriasis, others had much more severe cases, covering 10 percent of their skin.

Furthermore, no matter how high the levels of psoriasis were, researchers found increased levels of inflammation in blood vessels from all the participants. Furthermore, they also noted that links between psoriasis did not significantly change when other risk factors were considered, including cholesterol, blood pressure, weight and smoking.

Though researchers are still uncertain if treating psoriasis could help reduce a patient's risk of cardiovascular disease, stressed patients with psoriasis should try to work on their heart health. Health officials note that eating a well-balanced diet, exercising and never smoking can help with this.

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