MONDAY, July 19 (HealthDay News) -- People who are obese at age
18 are at increased risk of developing psoriatic arthritis, a new
study suggests.
Psoriatic arthritis is a type of arthritis that develops in the
joints of 6 percent to 42 percent of people with psoriasis, a
condition that causes itchy or sore patches of skin.
The new study included 943 psoriasis patients who took part in
the Utah Psoriasis Initiative from 2002 to 2008. Of those patients,
26.5 percent had psoriatic arthritis. The researchers found that
predictors of psoriatic arthritis included body mass index (BMI, a
ratio of weight to height) at age 18, younger age at psoriasis
onset, being female, and having larger body surface areas affected
by psoriasis.
The earliest onset of psoriatic arthritis occurred in obese and
overweight participants. Twenty percent of those who were
overweight or obese at age 18 developed psoriatic arthritis by age
35, while 20 percent of normal-weight patients developed psoriatic
arthritis by age 48.
The findings "support a growing concept that patients more prone
to psoriatic arthritis might benefit from more frequent and
meticulous screening measures for early detection and treatment of
psoriatic arthritis, i.e., before the development of irreversible
joint destruction," Dr. Razieh Soltani-Arabshahi, of the University
of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, and colleagues wrote
in a news release issued by the medical school.
The study was published July 19 in the journal
Archives of Dermatology.
More information
The American Academy of Dermatology has more about
psoriatic arthritis.