Researchers led by Dr Heng-Ching Lin from Taipei Medical University Hospital in Taiwan compared the prevalence of comorbidities among 1,685 local adult patients with psoriasis with that among 5,055 control patients.
They found that patients with psoriasis had a 63% greater risk of developing congestive heart failure, a 51% greater risk of heart disease and a 45% greater risk of renal failure. Patients with psoriasis also had a greater than 20% raised risk of developing uncomplicated diabetes, hyperlipidaemia, hypertension and peptic ulcer.
The researchers said doctors should be aware of the risks of comorbidities, assess patients and, when appropriate, provide suitable care to reduce 'the unnecessary development of associated morbidity and mortality'.
Yang YW, Keller JJ, Lin HC. Br J Dermatol 2011; 165: 1037-43
