MedWire News: A large case–control study has revealed that men with psoriasis have an increased likelihood of having osteoporosis, but women do not.

“Osteoporosis among women is usually the result of oestrogen deficiency, and menopause seems to be a stronger risk factor for osteoporosis than psoriasis,” say Jacob Dreiher (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel) and colleagues.

“In contrast, osteoporosis in males is more commonly the result of a systemic disease, which in this case was found to be psoriasis.”

The team studied 7936 psoriasis patients and 14,835 controls, identified in the Clalit Health Services database.

Men with psoriasis were significantly more likely than male controls to have osteoporosis, at 3.1% versus 1.7%. Osteoporosis was much more common in women overall, at corresponding rates of 22.3% and 20.2%. But the small significant increase among women with psoriasis versus controls disappeared after accounting for confounders.

In contrast, men with psoriasis remained 1.7 times more likely to have osteoporosis than controls.

However, the researchers note that the association in men only held up to the age of 80 years, “probably because in this subgroup, age is a stronger risk factor for osteoporosis than psoriasis”.

Men with psoriasis “should be advised to increase their level of physical activity and make sure their calcium and vitamin D intake is adequate”, the researchers conclude in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

© 2009 Current Medicine Group Ltd, a part of Springer Science+Business Media

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