PSORIASIS COULD LEAD TO HIGH BP
Patients with severe psoriasis - a common
skin disease - are more likely to have uncontrolled hypertension, found a
study.
The researchers defined uncontrolled hypertension as blood
pressure measured to be at least 140/90 mm Hg.
Additional findings indicated that there is a significant
dose-response relationship, meaning that the likelihood of uncontrolled
hypertension increases with greater psoriasis severity.
The patients with the highest risk of having uncontrolled blood
pressure, are those with moderate to severe psoriasis, which is defined as
having at least three percent of one's body surface affected by the disease,
the findings showed.
"To our knowledge, ours is the first study to evaluate the
effect of objectively determined psoriasis severity on blood pressure
control," said co-first author on the study Junko Takeshita from the
University of Pennsylvania in the US.
The researchers examined data from a random
sample of psoriasis patients included in The Health Improvement Network (THIN),
an electronic medical database based in Britain.
"Over the last several years, studies have shown that
psoriasis, specifically severe psoriasis, is an independent risk factor for a
variety of comorbidities, putting patients suffering with this common skin
disease at an increased risk of other conditions such as heart attack and
stroke," Takeshita added.
"Knowing that psoriasis is tied to other health conditions,
it's vital that we have a better understanding of the systemic effects it has
on other areas of the body so that we can more closely monitor these patients
and provide better and preventative care" Takeshita concluded.
The findings appeared in the journal JAMA Dermatology.
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