Psoriasis and the metabolic syndrome.

with 19.5% of the controls (p <0.001). Hypertension was present in 44.4% of the patients with psoriasis, compared with 37.2% of the controls (p=0.007). Obesity was pre­ sent in 29.4% of the patients with psoriasis, compared with 23.5% of the controls (p=0.012). Dyslipidaemia was present in 50.9% of the patients with psoriasis, compared with 44.2% of the controls (p=0.015). The association between psoriasis and the metabolic syndrome was pro­ nounced after the age of 50 years and in men. Multivariate models adjusting for age and gender demonstrated that psoriasis was associated with an increased risk for ischae­ mic heart disease (odds ratio (OR) 1.4 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0–1.8), diabetes mellitus (OR 1.5 95% CI 1.2–2.0), hypertension (OR 1.3 95% CI 1.0–1.7), obesity (OR 1.3 95% CI 1.0–1.7) and dyslipidaemia (OR 1.2 95% CI 1.0–1.6). Our findings demonstrate a possible asso ­