Psoriasis patients at higher risk for Type 2 Diabetes

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- People with the skin condition psoriasis have a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

And a new study from Penn Medicine says the more skin that's affected, the higher the risk.

"The risk seems to go up substantially once the body surface area is 10 percent of the body," said Dr. Joel Gelfand. "For every more 10% surface area involved, you go up in risk by about 20%."

And that's independent of other diabetes risk factors, such as body weight.

Psoriasis is an immune system disorder already linked to heart disease.

Dr. Gelfand says right now, most doctors don't document the amount of skin affected on psoriasis patients, but he hopes this study will change that.

People with psoriasis should try to control other risk factors and get regular checks of their blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure.

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