Beauty may be only skin deep -- but unfortunately, the risks of psoriasis aren't: The itching, flaking condition can increase the odds of everything from obesity and diabetes to heart disease, stroke, and an early death.
Now, a series of new studies confirm those links and more.
And one new study even finds that people who suffer from psoriasis have a dramatically higher risk of metabolic syndrome, that perfect storm of risk factors that so often leads to diabetes and heart disease.
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Boost in metabolic risk
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Researchers compared 4,065 psoriatic patients to 40,650 patients who did not have the disease, and found that those with the most severe forms of the condition had double the risk of metabolic syndrome.
But even patients who battled less severe versions of the disease had plenty of risk: The researcher said at a recent Society for Investigative Dermatology meeting that mild psoriasis -- covering less than 2 percent of the body -- increased the risk of metabolic syndrome by 22 percent.
And patients with moderate psoriasis, covering between 2 percent and 10 percent of the body, were 56 percent more likely to have the risk factors that mark metabolic syndrome.
The study also found that psoriasis patients are more likely to have high triglycerides and glucose as well as an increased risk for obesity.
But adults aren't the only ones who suffer when they're hit with psoriasis.
Kids also pay the price -- and it goes far beyond the social stigma of a highly visible skin problem.
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Kids face obesity, heart problems
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Children who suffer from psoriasis have a dramatically higher risk of obesity, higher levels of bad cholesterol, and higher levels of liver enzymes.
Not exactly what you want for your teen.
Researchers examined data on 710,949 children and found that obese children were 40 percent more likely to suffer from psoriasis than kids of normal weight -- and the extremely obese had an 80 percent increase in the risk of the skin condition.
Clearly, the two are somehow linked -- especially since other studies have also found a relationship between psoriasis and obesity.
But in the new study, the researchers found that kids with psoriasis had between 4 percent and 16 percent higher levels of LDL cholesterol and liver enzymes than kids without the condition -- no matter how much (or how little) they weighed.
Psoriasis can't be cured -- when it comes to treating this disease, researchers are only just scratching the surface.
But with such strong links to obesity and heart problems, it clearly needs to be controlled -- and the one bright spot when it comes to this condition is that you can keep it in check without drugs.
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Relief from the sun
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One of the most common natural treatments for psoriasis is vitamin D -- and another new study shows why the sunshine vitamin is so effective that even many mainstream docs recommend it.
Researchers compared genetic material found in the skin of psoriasis patients to that of healthy patients, and found that those with the condition have a gene that triggers the disease's inflammatory response.
Vitamin D, however, controls the production of a peptide called cathelicidin, which can actually inhibit that same inflammatory response.
In plain talk, that means D brings honest-to-goodness relief to a condition where any relief at all can be hard to come by.
Naturally, the researchers say the next step is to develop drugs that also control the production of cathelicidin... but why fabricate meds when D already does the job so well?
Just make sure you don't rely on D in pill form for your psoriasis -- it won't do you much good.
Instead, go straight to the source and get some sunlight along with a high-quality vitamin D-based skin cream.
p.s. When you see someone with psoriasis, don't be spooked. It might look contagious... but it's not.
On a mission for your health,
Ed Martin
Editor, House Calls
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