Tag Archives: smoking and psoriatic arthritis

Smoking Increases Psoriatic Arthritis

Smoking Increases the Risk of Psoriatic Arthritis

Smoking can have harmful effects on your skin and joints, increasing the risk and severity of the scaling skin disease psoriasis, and the arthritis that often accompanies it – psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Several studies have found an association between smoking and psoriatic arthritis, but further research is needed to gain a better understanding of cause and effect.

In a 2014 study published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, researchers in Denmark investigated the smoking-psoriatic arthritis connection in 1,388 psoriatic arthritis patients from a nationwide registry. They found that compared with non-smoking psoriatic arthritis patients, smoking PsA patients had worse self-reported disease. Smokers also had shorter treatment adherence (meaning they didn’t follow their prescribed treatment plan for as long)  and a poorer response to treatment.

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