Tobacco.org

Current and Past Smoking Linked to Incidence of Psoriasis CME 

Current and past smoking and cumulative measures of smoking were linked to the incidence of psoriasis, according to the results of a prospective analysis reported in the November issue of the American Journal of Medicine. Among former smokers, the risk for incident psoriasis decreased to nearly that of never-smokers 20 years after cessation.

"Smoking may increase the risk of psoriasis, but no prospective data are available on this relation," write Arathi R. Setty, MD, MPH, from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues from the Nurses' Health Study II. "An accurate understanding of the impact of smoking on psoriasis is important from the public health perspective and perhaps for comprehensive management of the condition."

From 1991 to 2005, the investigators prospectively followed 78,532 women from the Nurses' Health Study II to determine the association of smoking status, duration, intensity, cessation, and exposure to secondhand smoke, with the primary outcome of incident, self-reported, physician-diagnosed psoriasis.

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