In Clinical

Follow this topic

Bookmark

Record learning outcomes

Chronic hypertension and long-term, regular use of beta-blockers may increase the risk of psoriasis, JAMA Dermatology reports.

During almost 1.1m personyears of follow-up, 1.1 per cent of 77,728 women developed psoriasis. Compared to women with normal blood pressure, those who had hypertension for at least six years were 27 per cent more likely to develop psoriasis.

Psoriasis risk was 49 per cent higher among hypertensive women who did not use antihypertensives and 31 per cent higher among those who did, compared with normotensive participants who did not take blood pressure lowering medication.

Compared with women who had never taken beta-blockers, those who used beta-blockers for at least six years were 39 per cent more likely to develop psoriasis.

The increased risk after one to two years (11 per cent) and three to five years (6 per cent) did not, however, reach statistical significance. No association emerged with any other antihypertensive.

Further studies need to clarify the underlying mechanisms but inflammation seems to contribute to hypertension and psoriasis.

Beta-blockers can antagonise beta-adrenergic receptors in the skin, triggering certain biochemical changes that can increase the proliferation of the poorly differentiated cells that are typical of psoriasis.