Wayne Gulliver, from NewLab Research (Newfoundland, Canada), and colleagues have reported findings from an ongoing study involving more than 3,000 Canadians, finding that a diagnosis of psoriasis at an early age predisposes individuals to coexisting conditions that may significantly shorten their lifespans. The team found that men and women who received a diagnosis of psoriasis before the age of 25 died at an average age of 59.3 years, whereas those diagnosed at or after age 25 lived to 70 years or more. The researchers found the proportion of deaths attributed to mental and nervous-system disorders and accidental or other “external causes,” such as injury or poisoning, to be particularly disconcerting. Estimating that the risk of dying from suicide, injury, or poisoning may be as high as 1 in 600 and the risk of death from cardiovascular disease is approximately 1 in 75 in those with psoriasis, the team urges that “physicians initiate therapy that will clear the psoriasis, improve the quality of life, and potentially decrease the risk of premature death from a psoriasis-related comorbidity.”
