HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE CAN CAUSE PSORIASIS RISK IN WOMEN
Women with high
blood pressure may have an increased risk of developing the skin disease
psoriasis, new research suggests.
Taking blood pressure
medications called beta-blockers also raises the risk for psoriasis, according
to the study that followed nearly 78,000 women for more than a decade.
Psoriasis, which
affects about 3 percent of the U.S. population, is a chronic immune system
disorder that causes red, raised patches on the skin. Previous research has
linked psoriasis with diabetes, heart disease and depression.
“We basically found
those who have high blood pressure of a certain duration — more than six years
in this study — have an increased risk of developing psoriasis,” said study
researcher Dr. Abrar Qureshi, professor of dermatology at the Warren Alpert
Medical School at Brown University in Providence, R.I.
After six years,
their risk for psoriasis was 27 percent greater than that of women with normal
blood pressure, the study found.
And women who used
beta-blockers for six years or more had almost a 40 percent increased risk of
psoriasis compared to women who never used these drugs, he said.
Beta blockers —
including Tenormin (atenolol) and Inderal (propranolol) — reduce blood pressure
by blocking certain receptors.
The new study is
published online July 2 in JAMA Dermatology.
Previous research
also has shown an association between psoriasis and high blood pressure, and
found that some blood pressure medicines appear to make psoriasis worse. But
few large, long-term studies have been done, said Qureshi.
His team analyzed
data on women enrolled in the U.S. Nurses’ Health Study from 1996 to 2008. They
found 843 cases of psoriasis diagnosed during that time.
The researchers
looked at many types of blood pressure medications, but only found the link
with psoriasis for the beta-blockers.
The association
between high blood pressure, medication and psoriasis did not prove
cause-and-effect. And Qureshi can’t explain the link with certainty, but said
the beta-blockers may have a secondary effect on the immune system that gives
rise to psoriasis.
“We can’t say one
[definitely] led to the other,” he said. More research is needed to understand
the association, he added.
The other limitation
of the study, Qureshi said, is that the women were all health care
professionals who might have had a healthier lifestyle than others. “So, the
findings may not apply to the U.S. population,” he said.
He can’t say if the
findings would apply to men. He plans to study that next.
Nor can he say if
those on beta-blockers who developed psoriasis would see their symptoms improve
if they switched to another kind of blood pressure-lowering medication.
Dr. April Armstrong,
author of an accompanying journal editorial, believes that doctors should think
about the role medications might play when psoriasis symptoms flare up.
Besides
beta-blockers, drugs that can make psoriasis worse include lithium,
antimalarial drugs and interferons, said Armstrong, a dermatologist at the
University of Colorado, Denver.
Until more is known,
Qureshi said that those with psoriasis should be screened for high blood
pressure. People with both conditions should stay in close contact with their
primary care doctor and their dermatologist to manage both conditions, he said.
In the United States,
one in three adults has high blood pressure, a leading cause of heart attack
and stroke. Before age 45, more men than women have high blood pressure. After
65, it is more common among women, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
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