Psoriasis Risk Linked to Lower Cardiorespiratory Fitness

Lower levels of fitness early in life are associated with increased risk of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis later in life, according to the findings of a recent study.

“Individuals with psoriasis have lower cardiorespiratory fitness compared with individuals without psoriasis,” the researchers wrote. However, “there are no previous studies exploring the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and new-onset psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.”

In order to investigate this association, the researchers conducted a study involving a cohort of Swedish men in compulsory military service from 1968 to 2005. The men were divided into 3 groups based on cardiorespiratory fitness, as measured by maximum capacity cycle ergometer testing: high, medium, and low.

Overall, 20,679 cases of psoriasis and 6133 cases of psoriatic arthritis were observed among 1,228,562 men. The researchers observe a significant association between lower cardiorespiratory fitness and incident psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (hazard ratio [HR] 1.35 95% confidence interval 1.26–1.44 and HR 1.44 95% confidence interval 1.28–1.63, respectively).

“These novel findings suggest that low cardiorespiratory fitness at an early age is associated with increased risk of incident psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis among men, and highlight the importance of assessing cardiorespiratory fitness early in life.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Laskowski M, Schiöler L, Gustafsson H, et al. Cardiorespiratory fitness in late adolescence and long-term risk of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis among Swedish men. PLoS ONE. 16(1): e0243348. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243348