Food, Hormones, Associated Diseases, Psoriasis.
No Solid Scientific Proofs Yet on These Psoriasis Triggers!
Dec 24, 2008
Though many anecdotal reports indicate the influence of food, certain hormones and some associated diseases in the causation of psoriasis, there is a need for further clinical and experimental studies regarding these associations.
Food as a Psoriasis Trigger
Many claims have been made on the role of food in triggering or worsening psoriasis. Many sites advocate fad diets that are ‘guaranteed’ to ‘cure’ psoriasis.
Current scientific research does not confirm that eating a certain food or taking a specific supplement could make psoriasis better or worse. Though some studies support that psoriasis seems to improve with omega 3 fatty acid containing fish oils, evening primrose oil etc, others have found no appreciable benefits.
There is also no scientific evidence to support the claim that supplements such as grape seed extract, olive leaf extract, Ester C, shark cartilage etc. benefit psoriasis.
Having said that, the role of food as a psoriasis trigger cannot be fully ruled out, pending scientific evidence, which is very difficult to prove. It has been proven that medications and alcohol does act as psoriasis triggers. Food items, including milk and meat products and sea foods may contain traces of medications like iodides and others, and hence it stands to reason that these may indeed induce, or exacerbate psoriasis in predisposed individuals.
There are anecdotal reports of red meats and some sea foods exacerbating psoriasis. Ayurveda, the Indian system of medicine, advocates avoidance of milk and fish together and warns against all types of non-vegetable foods in psoriasis. As pure vegetarians also suffer from psoriasis, and psoriasis is unheard of amongst Eskimos, who have fish as staple diet, all these remain anecdotal without any hard clinical or immunological evidences so far.
Hormones as Psoriasis Triggers
Science has not uncovered all psoriasis triggers. Certain hormones also appear to trigger psoriasis in some people.
How hormones affect psoriasis is still not well understood. Research shows that many people develop their first psoriatic lesions just after puberty when hormone levels change. When hormones levels fluctuate during pregnancy, psoriasis improves for many women, while in others it worsens.
A recent study showed that 55% of pregnant women with psoriasis reported an improvement, 21% saw no change, and 23% experienced worsening. After delivery, only 9% reported improvement and 65% saw their psoriasis worsen. More research is needed to understand these effects.
Associated Diseases Psoriasis Triggers
Because psoriasis appears to be a multifactorial disease, some epidemiological surveys have been conducted to determine other disease associations in psoriasis as a means of better understanding the pathogenesis of the disease.
In a study of 159,200 Swedes, 372 patients with psoriasis were identified who had higher rates of viral infections, urticaria, alcoholism, hypertension, pneumonia, hepatic cirrhosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Psoriasis also seemed to be more commonly associated with diabetes, obesity, myocardial infarction, and asthma in women than in men, whereas iritis and ankylosing spondylitis were more commonly associated with psoriasis in men.
Some studies have indicated a significantly reduced rate of T-cell-dependent disorders such as contact allergy and atopic dermatitis in psoriasis patients. This may suggest that resistance to infections is genetically determined .
Next : Psoriasis Signs and Symptoms
Reference
Psoriasis, in Rook’s Textbook of Dermatology, 7th Edition, 2004
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