Psoriasis is a systemic disease with multiple cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities

Abstract

There is evidence that patients with moderate to severe psoriasis have an increased risk of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome. The precise mechanisms underlying the observed increase in cardiovascular disease in psoriasis remain to be defined but inflammatory pathways mutual to both conditions are probably involved. Suppression of systemic inflammation in psoriasis could help reduce cardiovascular inflammation but robust evidence is still lacking evidence is lacking. This article summarizes the current literature on cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities in psoriasis, identifies research gaps, and suggests management strategies to reduce cardiovascular risk in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis.

Keywords: Cardiovascular; Comorbidities; Diabetes; Metabolic syndrome; Myocardial infarction; Obesity; Psoriasis; Smoking.