Drinking Beer Linked to Psoriasis

Friday, September 24, 2010 by: Maddie Ellison
Tags: beer, psoriasis, health news

(NewsTarget) Psoriasis is a skin condition that causes patches of scaly, thick skin that can be silvery, white or red. It can appear all over the body but it is most common on the elbows, scalp, lower back and knees. It's estimated that 125 million people throughout the world suffer from psoriasis. Up until recently there was no known cause of this disease. However new research has shown that one culprit might be beer.

82,869 women were involved in a study done by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Every two years the women were sent questionnaires that asked what kind of alcohol they drank and how much of it they consumed. They were also asked if they had been diagnosed with psoriasis.

The researchers found that light beer, red and white wine, and liquor didn't cause an increase in risk for developing psoriasis. However drinking regular beer was a different story. The risk of getting psoriasis was 72% greater for women who drank an average of 2.3 beers per week or more compared to women who didn't drink alcohol at all. That risk went up even higher for women who drank 5 or more beers a week.

The authors in the study state: "Non-light beer was the only alcoholic beverage that increased the risk for psoriasis, suggesting that certain non-alcoholic components of beer, which are not found in wine or liquor, may play an important role in new-onset psoriasis."

So what is it about regular beer that could cause psoriasis? Beer is one of the few non-distilled alcoholic drinks that use a starch source for fermentation and most of the time that source is barley. Barley contains gluten. People who suffer from psoriasis commonly have a sensitivity to gluten. The authors of the study say that "women with a high risk of psoriasis may consider avoiding high intake of non-light beer." Researchers also say that more studies should be done to see if there are any other components of non-light beer, other than barley, that may be causing new cases of psoriasis.

Resources
http:/www.skincarephysicians.com/psoriasisnet/what...
http:/blog.medbroadcast.com/?p=7202&rot=145
http:/webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/psoriasis/news/20100816/beer-linked-psoriasis

About the author

Maddie is a health and fitness enthusiast who likes to research and write about all health and green living topics. She writes about herbal remedies for Sassafras Station, a health and fitness website, and edits the blog at http://www.sassafrasstation.com/blog/ .