Monday was global Psoriasis Awareness Day which lead me to research for today’s post.
Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that causes redness, itching, scaling and inflammation of the skin and inflammation of the joints, a condition known as psoriatic arthritis. Psoriatic arthritis affects up to 15% of people with psoriasis. Psoriasis is not contagious but it is a chronic condition which can appear as localized red, scaly patches or can cover the entire body.
Recent studies have shown that smoking increases the risk of psoriasis. In a report published in the American Journal of Medicine, one such study reflected the experience of 78,500 nurses from 15 states that participated in the Nurses Health Study II. This group provided baseline health information in 1989 and updates for the next 14 years. During that time the researchers documented 887 cases of psoriasis.
In order to measure the lifetime smoking exposure the researchers assigned a “pack-year” value to their analysis. A pack-year is calculated as the number of packs smoked per day times the number of years the person has been a smoker. Researchers discovered that, when compared to those who have never smoked, current smokers have a 78% higher risk of psoriasis and for former smokers the risk is 37% higher. They also found that the more a person smoked, the risk was even higher.
Specifically, they found that the risk for those with 1-10 pack-years was 20% higher, 11-20 pack-years was 60% higher and was more than double for those with 21 or more pack-years.
They also found that the risk of psoriasis due to exposure to second hand smoke during pregnancy or childhood was also higher by nearly to 20%.
Cigarettes are known to contain over 4000 chemicals, of which 51 have been determined to be carcinogenic. They scientists believe that these toxins affect the part of the immune system that is associated with psoriasis.
There was also some good news. The risk to former smokers decreases to nearly that of non-smokers 20 years after quitting.
So if you are a smoker you can reduce your risk of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, as well as a host of other diseases, substantially by quitting.
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