My intention of this blog is to keep patients up-to-date on my clinical practice, research program, and current literature. This post will focus on advances in psoriasis. A recent study by Mease et al., found that one in eight subjects with psoriasis had a positive result on the screening test PEST for symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. This study shows the importance of screening psoriasis patients for psoriatic arthritis in the dermatology clinic. Approximately 30% of patients with a diagnosis of psoriasis will also have psoriatic arthritis. The recently published NPF psoriasis guideline support the importance of continued screening in patients with psoriasis for hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia. Thus, it is important for dermatologists to work closely with patients and their primary care physicians to monitor for these cardiovascular risk factors that are associated with psoriasis.
