Association between Psoriasis and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Korean Patients.
BACKGROUND
Previous studies have shown a possible association between psoriasis and cardiovascular risk factors.


OBJECTIVE
We wanted to study the association between psoriasis and cardiovascular risk factors, including metabolic syndrome.


METHODS
We determined the relationship of psoriasis with the cardiovascular risk factors, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. For the proper level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, we calculated the proportion of psoriasis patients who needed lifestyle changes or drug therapy.


RESULTS
This study included 197 patients with psoriasis and 401 controls. We found a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (17.8%, p=0.021), cardiovascular disease (4.6%, p=0.044), hypertension (32.5%, p=0.000) and hyperlipidemia (22.3%, p=0.025) in patients with psoriasis, as compared with that of the controls. To maintain proper LDL levels, 25.3% of the psoriasis patients needed lifestyle changes and 11.7% needed drug therapy.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results demonstrate a possible association between psoriasis and cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors (metabolic syndrome, hypertension and hyperlipidemia) in Korean patients. We also demonstrated that a substantial portion of patients with psoriasis need lifestyle changes and drug therapy to prevent cardiovascular events. Further studies will be necessary to establish the association and causality between psoriasis and the cardiovascular risk factors.
Choi
Woo Jin
WJ
Department of Dermatology, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang, Korea.
Park
Eun Joo
EJ
Kwon
In Ho
IH
Kim
Kwang Ho
KH
Kim
Kwang Joong
KJ