Poor lifestyle ups risk of incident psoriasis

Poor lifestyle appears to increase the risk of incident psoriasis irrespective of genetic risk, suggest the results of a recent study. Additionally, lifestyle factors have a greater relative impact than genetic risk.

This study, which was based on data from the UK Biobank, explored the gene-behaviour interaction in association with incident psoriasis. A total of 500,000 participants were recruited.

The authors, led by Dr Minxue Shen from Department of Dermatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, in Hunan, China, categorized genetic risk into low, intermediate, and high groups. The lifestyle score consisted of the following: smoking, diet, physical activity, and body mass index. Lifestyle was also categorized into ideal, intermediate, and poor groups.

Within each genetic risk group, the authors examined and compared the risks of incident psoriasis associated with each lifestyle level to the low genetic risk and ideal lifestyle group.

The poor lifestyle and high genetic risk group had a higher risk of psoriasis (hazard ratio, 4.625, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 2.920‒7.348) compared with the low genetic risk and ideal lifestyle group. No association was observed between lifestyle and genetic risk.

“The population attributable fractions of lifestyle and genetic risk were 32.2 percent (95 percent CI, 25.1‒38.6) and 13.0 percent (95 percent CI, 3.2‒21.8), respectively,” Shen and colleagues said.

Of note, the study was limited by the lack of verification in other independently ascertained populations, according to the authors.