Mediterranean Diet Associated With Severity of Psoriasis

Adherence to a Mediterranean diet, an eating plan filled with fruits and vegetables, legumes, cereals, bread, fish, fruit, nuts and extra-virgin olive oil, may be associated with the severity of psoriasis, according to a study published in Jama Dermatology."The Mediterranean diet may slow the progression of psoriasis, so an optimised diet should be part of the multidisciplinary management of moderate to severe psoriasis," said Céline Phan, MD, Hôpital Mondor, Créteil, France, and coauthors.

Psoriasis is a common chronic inflammatory skin condition. Studies have suggested adherence to a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, may reduce the risk of long-term systemic inflammation. This study assessed the association between a score that reflected adherence to the Mediterranean diet and the onset or severity of psoriasis.

The study included 35,735 respondents who are part of an ongoing, observational web-based questionnaire study launched in 2009. Data were collected and analysed between April 2017 and June 2017, with 3,557 participants reporting they had psoriasis; the condition was severe in 878 cases and 299 new cases were recorded as those arising more than 2 years after inclusion in the study group.

Patients with psoriasis were identified via online self-completed questionnaire and categorised by disease severity; data on dietary intake were gathered during the first 2 years of participation in the study group to calculate a score reflecting adherence to a Mediterranean diet from 0 for no adherence to 18 for maximum adherence.

There was an inverse association between adherence to a Mediterranean diet and the severity of psoriasis, which suggests patients with severe psoriasis adhered less strongly to the Mediterranean diet, even after accounting for other potential mitigating factors.

Reference: doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2018.2127

SOURCE: Jama Dermatology

Benjamin Hidalgo-Matlock

Skin Care Physicians of Costa Rica

4000-1054

2101-9574

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