From the Journals

Smoking linked to increased psoriasis risk

Publish date: September 21, 2017
Author(s):
Richard Franki

 

FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY

Current and former smokers were significantly more likely to have psoriasis than were nonsmokers in an analysis of the Korean National Health Insurance database.

Multivariate analyses produced adjusted incidence rates of 1.14 for current smokers (n = 132,566) and 1.11 for former smokers (n = 47,477), compared with nonsmokers (n = 320,435), indicating “that smoking status is an independent potential risk factor for psoriasis,” reported Eun Joo Lee, PhD, of the National Health Insurance Service in Wonjusi, South Korea, and associates (J Am Acad Dermatol. 2017;77[3]:573-5).

Psoriasis hazard ratios in smokers vs. nonsmokers
The data also “clearly showed that there is a positive correlation between the amount and/or duration of smoking and the occurrence of psoriasis,” they wrote, noting that “the association between duration of smoking and psoriasis has been controversial.” Subjects who smoked 30 years or more had the highest hazard rate for psoriasis, 1.32, as did those who smoked two or more packs of cigarettes per day, 1.25, the investigators said.

The study was supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea that was funded by the Korean government. The investigators did not declare any conflicts of interest.

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