Psoriasis and the metabolic syndrome

Psoriasis is an inflammatory, immune-mediated cutaneous disorder that has recently been recognized as systemic disease that is associated with multiple comorbidities such as depression, obesity, and the metabolic syndrome. The metabolic syndrome is the constellation of abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension and insulin resistance, and presence of the metabolic syndrome significantly increases a patient's risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Recent studies have found that psoriasis patients are at increased risk for metabolic syndrome as well as the individual components of metabolic syndrome, and the two diseases appear linked through a common mechanism of inflammation. Speculation exists as to whether this association is causative or whether it is the result of other habits seen in psoriasis patients, such as increased rates of smoking, alcohol consumption, and sedentary lifestyle, which add to the complexity of the association between psoriasis and the metabolic syndrome. However, psoriasis treatments have been shown to reduce the risk of developing metabolic syndrome components and comorbidities. Future studies are needed to better understand the nature of this relationship and the implications this could have for management and treatment of patients with psoriasis.