BMJ 1994;308:428-429 (12 February)

Editorials

Smoking and psoriasis

O'Doherty and MacIntyre first drew attention to the strong link between smoking habits and palmoplantar pustular psoriasis in 1985.1 Other studies have suggested that smoking might be an important risk factor for chronic plaque psoriasis as well.*RF 2-5* Most of these studies have recorded information on smoking and psoriasis simultaneously but have also inquired into smoking habits before the onset of the skin disease. There seems little doubt that smoking and psoriasis are associated, but two critical questions remain unanswered: to what extent is the association a causal one, and how important are the implications for the public?

Though four out of six independent studies have suggested a twofold to threefold increased risk of psoriasis in smokers,*RF 2-7* these might all be misleading because of confounding by alcohol consumption - which is known to be associated with the initiation and severity of psoriasis.*RF 4,6,8-10* Only two of the reports linking . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Smoking and psoriasis
E M Higgins, A W P Duvivier, and T J Peters
BMJ 1994 308: 1572. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Poikolainen, K., Karvonen, J., Pukkala, E. (1999). Excess Mortality Related to Alcohol and Smoking Among Hospital-Treated Patients With Psoriasis. Arch Dermatol 135: 1490-1493 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • O'Neill, P., Kelly, P. (1996). Postal questionnaire study of disability in the community associated with psoriasis. BMJ 313: 919-921 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • (1996). The management of psoriasis. DTB 34: 17-19 [Abstract] [Full text]  
  • Higgins, E M, Duvivier, A W P, Peters, T J (1994). Smoking and psoriasis. BMJ 308: 1572-1572 [Full text]  
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