People with the skin condition, psoriasis, have a higher risk of developing heart failure, a new study has shown.

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin condition that affects around 2% of the Irish population - some 100,000 people. It appears as pink or red raised patches on the skin. These patches, which are known as plaques, have a well-defined edge around them. They also have a scaly surface and can be large or small.

"Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease with a worldwide prevalence of between 2-4%. Heart failure is also a major global health burden. We investigated the risk of heart failure in patients with psoriasis in the entire adult population in Denmark," explained the study's lead author, Dr Usman Khalid.

The Danish researchers found that people with the skin condition had a higher risk of developing heart failure compared to the general population.

Furthermore, the risk of heart failure increased the more severe the psoriasis was.

"Our findings underline the importance of regular evaluation and treatment of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with psoriasis. Chronic inflammation is a characteristic feature of both psoriasis and heart failure, and may play a significant role in their development and progression," Dr Khalid said.

He insisted that psoriasis should be considered a ‘systemic inflammatory disease that affects the whole body, rather than an isolated skin lesion'.

"Clinicians should consider early screening and treatment of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with psoriasis such as obesity, smoking and a sedentary lifestyle in order to reduce the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease and death.

"Patients with psoriasis need education about the association between their skin condition and cardiovascular disease so that they can adopt heart healthy behaviours," he said.

Responding to the findings, Prof Aldo Maggioni of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) said that it is important that doctors check to see if their psoriasis patients also have heart disease ‘because the two conditions share similar risk factors'.

"Patients with psoriasis need to be aware that their risk factor profile puts them in danger of getting cardiovascular disease and they should improve their lifestyles to avoid getting heart disease," he said.

Details of these findings were presented at the recent ESC Congress and were highlighted to mark World Psoriasis Day 2013 at the end of October.

For more information on psoriasis, see our Psoriasis Clinic here