An increased risk of stroke for patients with psoriasis

A stroke is an event in somebody’s life which truly can alter the life process of an individual and his or her family. Because of a stroke, a person might have problems with mobility, language, logic and emotions. It may also affect the normal body system of a stroke patient. It may weaken the body’s normal response to stressors. That is the usual turn of events after an acute stroke – a stroke is the cause of “something”. However, a new study has made an interesting discovery which counters the series of events after a stroke. This new study had made a link between psoriasis, an autoimmune disorder, which may cause a stroke in the future. Scientists are now looking at psoriasis as another risk factor of having a brain attack.

What is Psoriasis?

Psoriasis is a chronic or lifelong disease which affects the immune system. Its manifestation varies from person to person and response to the known treatment of psoriasis also differs from one person to another. It usually manifests as red lesions and irritations on the skin. It can manifest anywhere in the body. Lesions can form on the eyelids, on the ears, mouth and lips, skin folds, hands and feet and even on the nails.

It occurs when the body’s immune system sends out incorrect signals which speed up the growth cycle of skin cells.  However, it is neither communicable nor contagious. You could not be “infected” by a person with psoriasis and you could not infect other people if you have the disease because it is an autoimmune disorder.  An autoimmune disorder is a condition that occurs when the immune system mistakenly sees the cells of the body as “aliens” and attacks and destroys normal healthy body tissues.

It is considered as the most common autoimmune disease.  There are approximately 7.5 million people affected with psoriasis in the United States alone while all over the globe, about 125 million people are afflicted with this disorder.

A number of people with psoriasis may experience problems with self-confidence because of the lesions on the skin which is the usual symptom of the disorder.

Finding the link between psoriasis and stroke

A new study made by scientists from Denmark had found that patients with psoriasis have an increased risk of experiencing atrial fibrillation (the most common heart problem where both right and left atrium contract very fast and very irregularly) and an ischemic stroke (a stroke caused by a clot in the blood vessels in the brain) in the future. Their study is an addition to the growing body of research which had linked psoriasis with problems with the heart and blood vessels. The results of their study were published online last August in the European Heart Journal.

The link between psoriasis and stroke as well as other cardiovascular diseases can be attributed to two main reasons. First, individuals with the disorder tend to have more cardiovascular risk factors. These include obesity, smoking and having high lipid levels in the blood. Second, people with psoriasis are in a constant state of inflammation. This natural response of the body is believed to be “the link” between the two conditions.

They said that the link between psoriasis and stroke can be attributed to problems with an individual’s lifestyle. The results of the latest study theorized that all persons who have psoriasis are likely candidates for a change of lifestyle which may include smoking cessation having a healthy weight, increasing physical activity, having a healthy diet, and etc.  The latest paper also said that selected patients with psoriasis need to undergo medical treatment such as reducing hypertension, treatment which can lower lipids (fats in the body) and other medical treatments.

The scientists believe that their latest research is a step towards acknowledging the fact that the role of psoriasis as a risk factor for future cardiovascular event which includes a stroke. They also deem that their findings call for an increased awareness of cardiovascular risk factor management in people afflicted with psoriasis. And since a large number of people have the disorder, there is also a bigger problem of how to modify the lifestyles of these patients to lessen their chances of experiencing AF or a stroke in the future.

The numbers game

Using national registries of inpatient hospitalization and dispensing of medications, the researchers tried to determine the risk of having an AF and an ischemic stroke in patients with varying degrees of psoriasis (36,765 patients with mild psoriasis and 2,793 patients with severe psoriasis) and also from a large number of psoriasis-free individuals (4.5 million).

The researchers said that their study showed alarming results. They found out that the risk of having AF was increased by as much as 50% when a patient is below 50 years old and has mild psoriasis. On the other hand, an increase of 16% was observed on patients who have mild psoriasis and were older than 50. People with severe psoriasis were more prone to having AF. The researchers said that the chances of having AF rose by 198% for patients younger than 50 years of age while the chances of older patients was pegged at 29%.

The chances of having an ischemic stroke were no different from the chances of having AF.  They said that the risk of having a future ischemic stroke grew by 97% for patients who have mild psoriasis and were younger than 50 years. They painted a grim picture for people with severe psoriasis. They said that their chances of experiencing an ischemic stroke in the future were increased by as much as 180%.  They also gave a bleak prediction for older patients with mild and severe psoriasis. They said that their chances of having an ischemic stroke grew by 13% and 14% respectively.

What should be done?

The researchers proposed that patients with psoriasis should be closely monitored for any indicators of cardiovascular disease which includes arrhythmias. They also suggested that these individuals should be considered as potential candidates for interventions which can greatly reduce the risk of having cardiovascular disease. These interventions can include lifestyle modifications such as increasing physical activity, smoking cessation and even taking medications.

The researchers did point out that an important goal for future research is to evaluate the impact of changes in primary cardiovascular prophylaxis in patients with psoriasis, such as medical management.   They also revealed that an important thing to consider is whether improving psoriasis treatment such can modify the risk of having cardiovascular events in the future.

Reference:

Medscape.com

Msnbc.msn.com

Nhlbi.nih.gov

Medterms.com

Psoriasis.org

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