Full strength beer is bad for the skin

January 01, 0001

Full strength beer is bad for the skin

The aim of this study was to evaluate the independent association between alcohol consumption and risk of developing psoriasis and to determine if this risk is associated with different types of alcoholic beverages. It consisted of a prospective study of female nurses who were followed up from 1991 to 2005. The study population included 82,869 women who reported amount and type of alcohol intake on biennial questionnaires. Participants with a history of psoriasis prior to 1991 were excluded. There were 1150 cases of incident psoriasis, 1069 of which were used for analysis.

Compared with women who did not drink alcohol, the relative risk (RR) of psoriasis was 1.72 for an alcohol consumption of 2.3 drinks/wk or more. When examined by type of alcoholic beverage, there was an association between psoriasis and nonlight beer intake (RR for greater than or equal to 5 drinks/wk); light beer, red wine, white wine, and liquor were not significantly associated with psoriasis risk. The association with nonlight beer intake became stronger in a subset of confirmed psoriasis cases (RR for greater than or equal to 5 drinks/wk, 2.29).

The researchers concluded:  "Nonlight beer intake is associated with an increased risk of developing psoriasis among women. Other alcoholic beverages did not increase the risk of psoriasis in this study."

I hope the title caught your eye. Perhaps women with psoriasis are ‘driven’ to drink. What about men?

For the full abstract, click here.

Arch Dermatol published online 16 August 2010 © 2010 American Medical Association
Alcohol Intake and Risk of Incident Psoriasis in US Women A Prospective Study. Abrar A. Qureshi, Patrick L. Dominguez, Hyon K. Choi, Jiali Han and Gary Curhan.

Category: S. Skin. Keywords: alcohol, risk, psoriasis, women, prospective study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Stephen Wilkinson, Melbourne, Australia. Posted on Global Family Doctor 10 September 2010

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

COVID-19 Resources

WONCA webinars, journal links and more

WONCA position statements

WONCA statements on a variety of issues

PEARLS

577 Individual behavioural counselling helps people to quit smoking 575 Antioxidant vitamin and mineral supplements may be beneficial in age-related macular degeneration 574 Oral antifungals effective for toenail onychomycosis 570 Decision aids beneficial for people facing health treatment or screening decisions 569 Computer-generated reminders on paper benefit quality of care