Psoriasis Risk Effectively Reduced by Bariatric Surgery

Bariatric surgery reduced the risk for psoriasis among individuals with obesity, according to a recent study.

For their study, the researchers analyzed data from the Swedish Obese Subjects study, which included 1991 participants with obesity who underwent bariatric surgery and 2018 participants with obesity who received usual care. Participants did not have psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis (PsA) at baseline and were followed for 26 years. Diagnoses of psoriasis and PsA were identified using data from the Swedish National Patient Register and questionnaires.
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Compared with usual care, bariatric surgery was associated with a lower incidence of psoriasis (hazard ratio [HR] 0.65).

While smoking and a longer duration of obesity were independently associated with a higher risk for psoriasis, baseline confounders did not influence the association between bariatric surgery and lower psoriasis risk. Additionally, the researchers did not find any significant differences between the effects of the 3 surgical procedures on psoriasis risk, and there was no significant difference in the risk of developing PsA between the surgery and control groups.

“This study shows that bariatric surgery is associated with a lower risk of developing psoriasis compared with usual care,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Maglio C, Peltonen M, Rudin A, Carlsson LMS. Bariatric surgery and the incidence of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis in the Swedish Obese Subjects Study [published online November 27, 2017]. Obesity. doi:10.1002/oby.21955.