People with the skin condition, psoriasis, may be at an increased risk of suffering a heart attack, the results of a new study indicate.

Psoriasis affects around 2% of the Irish population. It appears as pink or red raised patches on the skin. These patches, which are known as plaques, have a well-defined edge around them. They also have a scaly surface and can be large or small.

Psoriasis has been associated with heart disease in previous studies. As part of this study, a team of US researchers set out to investigate whether the skin condition is a risk factor for heart attack, also known as myocardial infarction (MI).

The researchers looked at over 550,000 people in the UK. Of these, 127,139 had mild psoriasis, while 3,837 had severe psoriasis. The remaining people acted as controls. The patients with the skin condition were aged 20 to 90. Participants were followed up for an average of five years.

The study found that heart attacks were more common among people with psoriasis, compared to those without the condition. Furthermore, the risk of MI was greatest among young adults with severe psoriasis.

However, the risk appeared to decrease slightly as the patient with psoriasis aged. In fact, a 30-year-old with mild or severe psoriasis was more likely to suffer a heart attack than a 60-year-old with the condition.

"Our study suggests that psoriasis is an independent risk factor for MI. The risk of MI associated with psoriasis is greatest in young patients. It is important that additional studies be performed to confirm these results. In the meantime, as part of good medical care, patients with psoriasis should be encouraged to aggressively address their modifiable cardiovascular risk factors", the researchers said.

Details of these findings are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

For more information on heart disease, see our Heart Disease Clinic at...

http://www.heart.ie