Researchers from Brown University found women suffering from hypertension were at higher risk of developing psoriasis than women who did not have the condition.
The study also found that the beta-blocker, an active component in hypertension medication, also increased women's risk of developing psoriasis.
Shaowei Wu, lead author of the study from Brown University, and his colleagues looked at the records of 77,728 women who also participated in a Nurses' Health Study conducted from 1996 to 2008. More than one percent of 843 of the participants developed psoriasis during the follow-up period.
After careful review of the data, the researchers discovered women suffering from hypertension for more than six years were at the highest risk of developing psoriasis as opposed to women with normal blood pressure rates. Psoriasis risks were also higher for women with hypertension who did not take any kind of medication, but even those who were on a pill regimen were susceptible to the disease. Some antihypertensive drugs with β-blockers even made the psoriasis worse.
"These findings provide novel insights into the association among hypertension, antihypertensive medications and psoriasis. However, further work is necessary to confirm our findings and clarify the biological mechanisms that underlie these associations," the authors wrote in a press release.
Dr April Armstrong, a dermatologist and assistant professor from the University of Colorado, explained in her commentary that there was a gap in identifying other risk factors for psoriasis, including long-term medical conditions. She also warned careful consideration should be taken into account when studying the long-term effects of psoriasis medications in managing the symptoms.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women are just as likely as men to develop high blood pressure. While more men are hypertensive compared to women below 74 years old, more women become hypertensive than men at age 75 and above.
Further details of this study were published in the July 2 issue of Journal of American Medical Association.
