Psoriasis may be more severe in smokers

People with psoriasis who smoke tend to have more severe cases than nonsmokers, but it may be a consequence and not a cause of the skin condition, researchers have found.

The condition, which afflicts up to 3% of the world’s population and runs in families, varies in severity though heavy smoking was associated with more severe cases, said Italian researchers from Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico in Rome.

“Specifically, patients who smoked more than a pack of cigarettes [more than 20 cigarettes] daily had twice the risk of more severe psoriasis compared with those who smoked 10 cigarettes or less per day,” lead author Cristina Fortes wrote in the December issue of the journal Archives of Dermatology.

The number of years spent smoking also was associated with more severe forms of the condition, which afflicts between 1% and 3% of the world’s population and usually develops between the ages of 15 and 35.