Psoriasis and Other Conditions
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Tuesday October 02, 2012
Psoriasis is not just a disease of the skin. Having psoriasis may also mean you have other conditions, including heart disease, psoriatic arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease.
Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis
About 30% of people with psoriasis also have a condition called psoriatic arthritis. Psoriatic arthritis is an inflammatory condition that causes pain, swelling, stiffness, and tenderness of the joints. People with psoriasis covering larger areas of the skin are more at risk of developing psoriatic arthritis. Both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are believed to involve similar inflammatory processes in the body.
Psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease
There are 2 types of inflammatory bowel disease: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Both of these conditions affect the digestive tract and are characterized by inflammation of the intestines. Crohn’s disease usually affects any area throughout the digestive tract. Ulcerative colitis affects only the colon. Researchers believe both psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease involve similar inflammatory processes in the intestines and the skin. It has been shown that people with psoriasis are almost 3 times more at risk for Crohn’s disease.
Psoriasis and the Heart: What else can I do?
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Friday September 14, 2012
Psoriasis not only affects your skin – it’s an immune disease that can affect your body, including your heart. Psoriasis can increase your risk for heart disease and heart attack. The good news is that you can take steps to reduce this risk.
Exercising, eating healthy, and losing weight can reduce your risk. You can also learn to effectively cope with stress, quit smoking, and control your other medical conditions.
Cope with stress
Stress management is important if you are at risk for heart disease. Small amounts of stress are great to help stimulate your mind and body. But too much stress can increase your blood pressure and cholesterol, which can increase your risk of heart disease. Take these steps to manage stress:
- Exercise. Physical activity can relieve stress and improve your heart health. You can also try meditation and relaxation techniques.
- Find a hobby. Do something you enjoy to keep yourself busy and to give yourself a “mental holiday” from stress.
- Get enough sleep.
- Talk to someone you trust about your feelings and what’s causing your stress.
Quit smoking
Smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke can increase your risk of heart disease. In addition, smoking is a psoriasis trigger for some people with plaque psoriasis, and those who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day may have more than twice the risk of severe psoriasis compared to non-smokers. (To learn more about psoriasis severity, use the Psoriasis Severity Calculator.)
Quit smoking to reduce your risk:
- Ask for help. Your pharmacist, doctor, or other health care provider can help you become smoke-free.
- Deal with cravings using the 4 Ds: drink water, take deep breaths, delay your urge to smoke by just a few minutes (the urge will pass!), and do something different (e.g., go for a walk outside, call a friend).
Manage your conditions
If you have other conditions in addition to psoriasis that put you at risk for heart disease, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol, make sure you are doing all you can to keep these conditions under control. Follow the treatment plan recommended by your doctor, including taking all your medications as prescribed and making lifestyle changes. Make an appointment with your doctor to discuss how you can better manage your other conditions.
Psoriasis: Exercise and Diet for a Healthy Heart
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Tuesday September 04, 2012
Psoriasis can increase the risk of heart disease and heart attack. Psoriasis can also affect the risk of factors that increase your risk of heart disease, such as abdominal obesity (belly fat), high blood pressure, low levels of “good” cholesterol, increased blood sugar levels, and high levels of triglycerides (a type of body fat). Exercising, eating healthy, and losing weight can help reduce these risks. Here’s how you can get started:
Exercise regularly
Getting active can reduce the risk of heart disease and can help you look and feel better. Before starting any exercise, talk to your doctor, especially if you have been inactive.
- You should aim to get at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity each week, in intervals of at least 10 minutes. Moderate-intensity activity gets you sweating a bit and breathing harder. Try brisk walking and bike riding. Vigorous-intensity activity gets you to sweat and be “out of breath.” Try jogging and cross-country skiing to get your heart pumping.
- Stay motivated by joining group activities or asking a friend to be your exercise buddy.
- Physical activity includes housework! Count mowing the lawn, raking leaves, and vacuuming towards your weekly total of exercise hours.
Eat healthy
Healthy eating helps reduce the risk of heart disease, and helps lower other risk factors such as unhealthy levels of cholesterol, high triglycerides, and high blood pressure.
- Adults should aim to have 7 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables, 6 to 8 servings of grain products, 2 to 3 servings of milk and alternatives (such as soy-based drinks), and 2 to 3 servings of meat and alternatives (such as beans, tofu, and lentils).
- Read the ingredient labels of packaged foods you buy. Stay away from foods with high daily values of saturated and trans fat, sodium, calories, and sugar.
- Choose water as your drink instead of pop.
Losing weight
Reaching a healthy weight can help you reduce your risk of problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Lower your risk by:
- Achieving a healthy body mass index (BMI). BMI is calculated using your weight (in kilograms) and divided by the square of your height (in metres squared). A healthy BMI is 18.5 to 24.9.
- Exercising and eating healthy – see “Eat healthy” for tips.
- Learning about portion sizes. For each meal, your plate should be ¾ full of grains and vegetables and ¼ with meat and alternatives (like beans or tofu).
You can read more about healthy living with psoriasis here.
Psoriasis and Your Heart: What’s the Link?
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Wednesday August 15, 2012
You may think of psoriasis as a skin disease but it’s more than that. Psoriasis is actually a disease of the immune system and researchers are finding that some diseases affected by the immune system and inflammation in the body are linked to psoriasis.
People with psoriasis, for example, are at an increased risk of heart disease and heart attack. Scientists believe that the chronic inflammation that occurs in the immune system if you have psoriasis can also cause other problems in the body, such as hardening of the arteries (which is a build-up of substances such as plaque). Hardened arteries increase the risk of heart disease.
Psoriasis can also increase the risk of factors of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of related health risks that increase the risk for heart attack, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. These health risks include abdominal obesity (belly fat), increased blood sugar levels, high levels of triglycerides (a type of body fat), low levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
You can do something about these risk factors. Here’s how you can help protect your heart:
* Find out what your risks are. Talk to your doctor to learn about what risk factors you have for heart disease and the steps you can take to help reduce those risks. Your doctor will help you come up with a plan to monitor and, if necessary, treat these risk factors.
* If you’ve already been diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol, make sure you are doing all you can to keep these conditions under control. Follow the treatment plan recommended by your doctor, including taking all your medications as prescribed and making lifestyle changes.
* Eat a heart-healthy diet. Not only will healthy nutrition reduce your risk for heart disease, it will help with your overall health.
* Exercise regularly. Regular exercise can help you feel better, lose weight, have more energy, and lower blood pressure.
* Quit smoking. Smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke can increase your risk of heart disease by increasing the risk of blood clots and contributing to the narrowing of your arteries due to plaque build-up. Quitting smoking will help reduce the risk of heart disease.
People with psoriasis may also have other conditions including psoriatic arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.
Non-light beer intake and psoriasis risk
Dr. Vender
Monday December 19, 2011
As reported in the Archives of Dermatology, the likelihood that the study group of U.S. women would develop psoriasis over a 14-year follow-up varied by both the amount and type of alcoholic beverage consumed. Overall, the study showed that women who drank more than 2.3 alcoholic beverages a week were at greater relative risk for psoriasis compared with non-drinkers.
However, in the study, non-light beer was the only alcoholic beverage that increased the risk for developing psoriasis—the risk being between 1.8 and 2.3 times higher among women who drank 5 or more non-light beers a week compared with women who abstained from alcohol.
In contrast, drinking light beer, red or white wine or liquor was not significantly associated with the development of psoriasis. The barley in beer may act as a psoriasis trigger as barley contains gluten, which has been associated with psoriasis. A gluten-free diet may improve psoriasis severity in patients with a gluten sensitivity.
