Case & reviewGastric bypass surgery improves psoriasis
Section snippets
Case 1
A 34-year-old woman was followed in our dermatology clinic for many years with severe plaque psoriasis involving up to 75% of her body requiring superpotent topical steroids, ultraviolet (UV)B phototherapy, and psoralen plus UVA treatment. Her medical history included morbid obesity, with a peak body weight of 294 lb (body mass index [BMI] 52 kg/m2), type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, hypothyroidism, and mild mental retardation. Despite enrollment in a comprehensive weight
Discussion
Obesity is more common in patients with psoriasis,4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and obese patients with psoriasis are more likely to have severe skin disease.4 In addition, obesity is a significant risk factor for the onset of psoriasis, with a significant trend toward higher risk with increasing BMI.9
We report two patients with psoriasis and comorbid obesity who experienced dramatic improvement in their skin disease after weight loss surgery. Both of our patients subjectively noted improvement with weight
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