Psoriasis highlights dermatology research news

Psoriasis was a major focus of research presented at the American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting in Denver, as well as in a recent journal study.

Six sessions in the Latest in Dermatology Research Symposia at the AAD meeting focused on recent studies in the treatment of psoriasis. Highlights included:

Psoriasis severity related to poor blood pressure control

Patients with psoriasis and hypertension had a trend toward an increased likelihood of having uncontrolled blood pressure, according to researcher Junko Takeshita, MD, PhD, a clinical instructor and post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.

“There was an increased likelihood of poor blood pressure control with increasing disease severity,” Takeshita, told Healio.com. Read more

QoL different in psoriasis patients with clear vs. almost clear skin

Joel Gelfand, MD, MSCE, presented research on the health-related quality of life for patients with psoriasis who had clear skin compared with those who had almost clear skin.

“The results we thought were quite surprising,” Gelfand, an associate professor of dermatology and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania, told Healio.com. “If you have almost clear skin, which we usually think of as being a very successful outcome, about one in five patients are likely to have moderate or worse impact on their health-related quality of life from their psoriasis, compared with a very low percentage of people who have truly clear skin.” Read more

Psoriasis patients saw major clearing of symptoms with guselkumab

Patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who were treated with guselkumab achieved a physician’s global assessment score of cleared or minimal after 16 weeks of treatment.

“The efficacy of guselkumab in the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis looks promising according to these phase 2b study results,” researcher Kristina Callis Duffin, MD, assistant professor of dermatology, University of Utah School of Medicine, said in a press release. Read more

Obesity in children linked with psoriasis diagnosis

Children who were overweight or obese had an increased chance of developing psoriasis, according to data from a recent study published in JAMA Dermatology.

“In our pilot study, being overweight or obese preceded psoriasis by at least 2 years in 93% of children with psoriasis,” Amy S. Paller, MD, of the department of dermatology and pediatrics at Northwestern University, and colleagues reported. “Weight-loss programs are more successful in children 6 to 12 years old than in adolescents and when healthy diet and physical activity become a family activity.” Read more