Chronic skin disease linked to greater type 2 diabetes risk

The risk of developing type 2 diabetes may be higher in people who suffer with psoriasis, a chronic skin disorder that affects around 2 per cent of the UK population.
To analyse a possible link between the two conditions, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia reviewed data on over 100,000 people with psoriasis and roughly 430,700 people without the disease aged 18 and over.
Psoriasis patients were divided into three groups – overall, mild and severe psoriasis – and were then followed for incidence of type 2 diabetes.
The results showed that individuals in the severe group had the highest risk of becoming diabetic, and were also more likely to receive diabetic treatment than those who had diabetes but were not affected by psoriasis .
While the researchers stressed that more evidence is needed to confirm these findings, they concluded that psoriasis may well be an independent risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that causes red, flaky, crusty patches of skin covered with silvery scales. The condition is not infectious but is recurring, and, in severe cases, can have a major impact on a person’s quality of life.