# Psoriasis Linked to Hypertension, Diabetes



## Ernest Nagel (Apr 22, 2009)

Not especially good news (again) but posting from the premise that forewarned ir forearmed. Seems "inflammation" is so much more effing complicated than we can even begin to understand right now. Autoimmune issues like to run in herds, it appears?

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-...420/psoriasis-linked-to-hypertension-diabetes

*Psoriasis Linked to Hypertension, Diabetes*
Study Shows Women With Psoriasis Have Greater Risk of Hypertension and Diabetes
By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

April 20, 2009 -- Women who have the chronic skin condition psoriasis appear to be at higher risk of getting diabetes and high blood pressure, a new study shows.

"We knew there was some association between psoriasis and diabetes and high blood pressure," says Abrar Qureshi, MD, MPH, assistant professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School and a dermatologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston. "The question was, which came first."

In the study, he tells WebMD, "We were able to show women with psoriasis had a higher risk of developing diabetes and hypertension."

The study is published in the April issue of the Archives of Dermatology.

Qureshi and colleagues studied 78,061 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study II, a long-running study that first collected data in 1989 from more than 116,000 women (all registered nurses) and followed up with questionnaires about their health every two years.

All were free of diabetes and high blood pressure at the study's start. In 2005, the women reported whether they had ever gotten a diagnosis of psoriasis from a doctor. After excluding the women who already had diabetes or hypertension, the researchers focused on 78,061 women, including 1,813 with a diagnosis of psoriasis.

Psoriasis affects up to 3% of the population, according to the researchers. Five types occur, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, with different symptoms and signs. The most common is plaque psoriasis, marked by itchy patches of red, raised skin covered by a silvery-white scale that shows up most often on the elbows, knees, scalp, and lower back. 
Psoriasis and the Link With Hypertension and Diabetes

The researchers followed the women who had a diagnosis of psoriasis for 14 years to determine if those were more likely to develop diabetes and high blood pressure.

The results: the women who had psoriasis were 63% more likely to get diabetes and 17% more likely to get high blood pressure.

This was true even after accounting for such factors that could boost the risks of the other conditions, such as obesity and smoking status.

"We were surprised to see the numbers so high, especially for diabetes," Qureshi says.

Why the link? Qureshi says it may be underlying inflammation, thought to play a role in all three diseases. His team will try to duplicate the study in men to see if the link holds.

Though previous studies have also found a link between the three diseases, Qureshi says they were studies that looked only at one point in time, while his study has a long follow-up period and many participants.

It's not known whether anti-inflammatory treatments can reduce the risk of getting the other diseases, he says. The research does suggest that psoriasis should be viewed as not just a skin disease, but as a systemic disorder, he says.

Qureshi's study was partially funded by the National Cancer Institute. He has served as a consultant and speaker for the drug companies Abbott, Amgen, and Genentech.

(2nd page at link)


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## Tad (Apr 22, 2009)

Great 

Yah, inflammation is.....worrying, it would seem.


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## steely (Apr 22, 2009)

Wonderful

It just keeps getting better.


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## SocialbFly (Apr 26, 2009)

steely said:


> Wonderful
> 
> It just keeps getting better.



I couldnt agree more...ah well, gotta die from something...

i will say that my psoriasis seems to be a little better since i have been taking 3gm of fish oil a day...and so far, no hypertension, except i am pretty sure my pressure is higher at work, just saying...


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## steely (Apr 26, 2009)

I like my eyes,I like my toes,I like my eyes,I like my toes!It's become my mantra.Anytime I feel like slacking,I repeat.Sometimes,I just say it anyway.


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## Miss Vickie (Apr 26, 2009)

steely said:


> I like my eyes,I like my toes,I like my eyes,I like my toes!It's become my mantra.Anytime I feel like slacking,I repeat.Sometimes,I just say it anyway.



Good woman. Your eyes are gorgeous and I'm sure your toes are equally as lovely. Not to mention those cute little kidneys of yours and that lovely, juicy heart. Gotta keep them as well. 

And yes, inflammation is bad juju. Bad for your skin, your heart, your brain. Just badness. My hope is that we can better understand what triggers systemic inflammation and control it safely.


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## steely (Apr 26, 2009)

What is systemic inflamation?Sedimentation rates?I don't seem to have any inflammation at this point.I'm afraid of doctors and the fact they think you are on a need to know basis.I want to know it all.

Thanks,Miss Vickie


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## liz (di-va) (Apr 26, 2009)

oh fug.

yeah, please splain, missaf.


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## MissToodles (Apr 26, 2009)

missaf said:


> Sed rates are tests done on your blood to see how fast your red blood cells settle over the course of an hour. The normal sed rate for a woman is 0-20 millimeters per hour. Mine are now always over 50, and the last one that came back was marked greater than 70, which means they just stop counting, lol.
> 
> Sed rates are not diagnostic for a disease, but they are a marker that something's just not right, and there's inflammation somewhere that's not healthy.



But wouldn't that be most people in Western society? Given the high rates of heart disease, high cholestrol/plaque build up, does anyone have normal rates? Interesting stuff, never heard of the test before. thanks!


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## liz (di-va) (Apr 26, 2009)

thanks a lot for the information, missaf...I appreciate it. helpful.


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## steely (Apr 26, 2009)

Thank you,missaf
The more I read I realise that there is so much that can go wrong with the human body.It gets a little overwhelming at times.


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