January 17, 2006 – Smoking Worsens Psoriasis Symptoms, Study Finds1 carried out in Italy among 818 adults suffering from this skin condition.
In people who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day, the risk of worsening symptoms is twice as high as in those who smoke less than ten. Smokers may also see symptoms intensify over time, according to data from this epidemiological study.
According to one of the researchers in the team that conducted the study, these results should prompt dermatologists to advise patients with psoriasis to quit smoking immediately. She believes that this should be done even before prescribing drugs to treat the skin condition.
Simultaneously with the publication of these results, American researchers announced that they had established a link between smoking and the onset of psoriasis following the study of a large cohort of subjects with or without this condition.2. They also found that obesity was common in patients with psoriasis. The weight gain is, according to them, more a consequence of the skin disease rather than a cause of the latter.
Although the mechanism by which tobacco could cause psoriasis or exacerbate its symptoms is still unknown, researchers believe that its use negatively affects the immune system.
Psoriasis is a chronic disease characterized by the appearance of thick, red, dry patches of skin in different parts of the body. It affects over a million Canadians.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
According to The Globe and Mail.
1. Fortes C, Mastroeni S, Leffondre K, et al. Relationship between smoking and the clinical severity of psoriasis, Arch Dermatol, 2005 Dec; 141 (12): 1580-4.
2. Herron MD, Hinckley M, Hoffman MS, et al. Impact of obesity and smoking on psoriasis presentation and management, Arch Dermatol, 2005 Dec; 141 (12): 1527-34.