Alex Trelinski
A BIOLOGICAL therapy can help reduce mortality rates among people who suffer from psoriasis according to a medical study.
The Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology says that over a million people have the condition in Spain.
Those who have psoriasis have an increased risk of premature mortality, strongly associated with liver damage, cardiovascular disorders, and psychiatric disorders.
Death rates however can be lowered through systemic biological therapy according to a large retrospective study published by the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects about 3% of Western populations.
According to the study authors, the increased risk of mortality in these patients is possibly explained by the fact that the condition induces systemic inflammation, which in turn is related to comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease or metabolic syndrome.
Based on an analysis of 18,618 psoriasis cases and 55,854 experiments, the survey estimated the risk of comorbidities and subsequent death.
This was especially high in cases in which patients had drug-induced liver damage, bipolar disorder, suicidal tendencies, and major cardiovascular disease (including myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and cerebrovascular disease).
They found that among patients with psoriasis, survival was higher in those treated with biologic agents.
As the authors explain, one of the most interesting aspects of the study is that it confirms previous evidence that had linked the diagnosis of psoriasis with higher mortality due to other comorbidities.
At the same time, they say, this finding is encouraging in that it provides evidence to support treatment with biologic agents and documents a new benefit they can offer to patients.
However, it should be noted that this type of therapy was not observed to reduce the incidence of associated pathologies, so the authors recommend random comparative trials to decide on which psoriasis treatment manages to reduce the risk of other diseases such as psoriatic arthritis or cardiovascular disease.
