Abstract
Evaluation of: Gelfand JM, Neimann AL, Shin DB, Wang X, Margolis DJ, Troxel AB. Risk of myocardial infarction in patients with psoriasis. JAMA 296(14), 1735–1741 (2006). Neimann AL, Shin DB, Wang X, Margolis DJ, Troxel AB, Gelfand JM. Prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with psoriasis. J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. 55(5), 829–835 (2006).
Psoriasis is a chronic disease characterized by systemic inflammation and inappropriate self-reactivity of the T helper cell (Th)1-mediated immune system. It is well known that, for patients, psoriasis has a significant impact on the quality of life, but recent data also suggest that psoriasis produces significant morbidity and possibly even mortality related to associated cardiovascular effects. We review two recent papers, which provide analysis of cardiovascular risk factors and myocardial infarction rates in patients with mild and severe psoriasis in a large-scale population-based study in the UK. These investigators use multivariate analysis to determine the true independent associations of these risk factors with psoriasis and to examine psoriasis as an independent risk factor for myocardial infarction.