Impact of Obesity and Smoking on Psoriasis Presentation and Management

National Psoriasis Foundation clinical consensus on psoriasis comorbidities and recommendations for screening

“…They also had higher BMI than patients enrolled in the National Psoriasis Foundation despite the fact that the rates of obesity in the general population in Utah are lower than those in the US population. 9 BMI has also been shown to be a risk factor for psoriasis in an Italian study. 33 In the Nurses Health Study II, increased adipocity and weight gain were shown to be strong risk factors for the development of psoriasis in women.…”

“…30 Smoking has well known links to hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, stroke and myocardial infarction. 31 An increased prevalence of smoking among psoriasis patients has been noted in Finland, 32 Italy, 10, 33 UK, 13,34 Norway, 35 China, 12 and the US 9 . In the Utah Psoriasis Initiative (UPI) database (>800 subjects) it was found that 37% (p<0.001) of psoriatics smoke vs. 13% in the general population.…”

“…These risk factors have been attributed to behaviors such as obesity and smoking which are thought to be provoked by the psychosocial burden of the disease. [7][8][9][10][11][12] However, more recent studies have advanced our understanding of cardiovascular risk in psoriasis. Specifically, a large population-based study demonstrated an increased risk of MI in patients with psoriasis (particularly those with severe disease) even when accounting for major cardiovascular risk factors such as obesity, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and diabetes.…”

“…Most, 78%, started smoking before vs. 22% starting after the onset of psoriasis. 9 The Italian study identified smoking as a risk factor for developing psoriasis. In the Nurses Health Study II, past and current smoking was associated with psoriasis development in women.…”

Psoriasis and Vascular Disease—Risk Factors and Outcomes: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…For example, in a cohort of 550 psoriasis patients, BMI was significantly higher than that for age and sex-matched controls from the same area. 40 The median body image score of normal weight at disease onset transitioned to a perception of overweight at time of enrollment into the study, suggesting obesity follows onset of disease. Interestingly, 98 …”