NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Adding to the list of possible health consequences from smoking, a large study suggests that smokers have an increased risk of developing the chronic skin condition psoriasis.

People with psoriasis develop thick, red, scaly patches on the skin, which are often itchy or sore.

Experts believe the disease is caused by an abnormal immune system attack on the body’s own cells. Some studies have suggested that smokers are more vulnerable to psoriasis, possibly because the habit can affect immune activity.

But most have studied people at only one time-point, which makes it hard to be sure the smoking came before the psoriasis.

So for the new study, researchers used data from three large, long-running studies of U.S. health professionals.

Of nearly 186,000 men and women followed for 12 to 20 years, 2,410 developed psoriasis during that time. And the risk was greater among both current smokers and former smokers.

People who were current smokers at the study’s start were almost twice as likely as lifelong non-smokers to develop psoriasis. And past smokers had a 39 percent higher risk than non-smokers.

The findings, reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, do not prove that smoking, itself, causes psoriasis in some people.

But it is clear that the smoking came before the psoriasis, said senior researcher Dr. Abrar A. Qureshi, of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Past studies have found links between psoriasis and both obesity and heavy drinking. But after accounting for those factors, the smoking-psoriasis link remained, Qureshi told Reuters Health.

“I think if there’s one message, it’s that for now, smoking seems to be a risk factor for new-onset psoriasis,” Qureshi said.

Other studies have pointed to some reasons that smoking could contribute to psoriasis — mainly its effects on immune system activity and inflammation. Smokers, for instance, tend to have higher levels of “autoantibodies” — immune defenses that are mistakenly aimed at the body’s own cells.

About 7.5 million Americans have psoriasis, according to the National Psoriasis Foundation.

Type 1 psoriasis arises in teenagers and young adults, and it’s strongly related to family history of the disease. In contrast, type 2 psoriasis arises later in life, and it tends to be milder and less related to heredity.

The men and women in the current study were middle-aged to older. So it’s likely they had type 2 psoriasis, Qureshi’s team says.

As for people who already have psoriasis, the current findings don’t speak directly to whether quitting will help them, according to Qureshi.

But there are already plenty of reasons for any smoker to quit, he said.

In particular, people with psoriasis have been shown to have an increased risk of heart disease. Since smoking is a major risk factor for heart disease, Qureshi said, quitting seems especially important for people with psoriasis.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/yUGYiX American Journal of Epidemiology, online January 12, 2012.

SATURDAY, Feb. 4 (HealthDay News) — All the food and beverages served at Super Bowl parties can make it a challenging day for people who made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight.

“We know January is the start of lots of new diets. But, then February starts and the first weekend is Super Bowl Sunday, one of the biggest eating days all year,” Alenka Ravnik-List, a registered dietitian and diabetes program coordinator at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, said in a center news release.

“Hours in front of the television can test our willpower. Too often people with good intentions will fail,” she added.

However, by following a few rules you’ll be able to limit the impact Super Bowl Sunday has on your diet plans, Ravnik-List said.

Start by making sure you eat breakfast on game day. Research has shown that people who skip breakfast tend to eat more food than usual at the next meal and munch on high-calorie snacks to ward off hunger. It’s also a good idea to have a light lunch so you won’t be famished by the time the game starts.

The game doesn’t begin until after 6 p.m., so that gives you plenty of time to get out for some exercise that day. During half time, take a walk around the block or toss a football around in the yard.

Use a medium-sized plate, about eight to nine inches wide, in order to limit the amount of food you eat. Half the plate should be loaded with colorful vegetables and the other half with lean protein and whole grain starches. If you suspect your Super Bowl party hosts won’t offer vegetables or other healthy snacks such as popcorn, bring your own, Ravnik-List suggested.

If you drink alcoholic beverages, choose those with fewer calories and carbohydrates, such as light beer, champagne or dry wine. For mixed drinks, use sugar-free mixes such as diet soda, diet tonic, club soda or seltzer.

Instead of chips, use nutritious choices such as broccoli, carrots, celery and tomato grapes for dips. Try lighter versions of your favorite dips. Don’t sit within an arm’s length of the chip and dip bowls or other snacks that you can’t resist.

Limit what you eat during the actual football game. Try to eat only during half-time and have a small snack after the first and third quarters, Ravnik-List suggested.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians offers nutrition advice.

Copyright @2011 HealthDay. All Rights Reserved.

Study: Young People Who Text Frequently Focus on Wealth, Image; Less on Moral, Spiritual Goals

Feb. 3, 2012 — Teens and young adults who text frequently — such as more than 300 text messages a day — may be risking more than sore thumbs, according to a new study.

“Heavy texters do seem to be a little more materialistic and less concerned about inward growth,” says Paul Trapnell, PhD, associate professor of psychology at the University of Winnipeg in Canada.

The frequent texting, he says, is ”weakly correlated with traits, goals, and attitudes that indicate low interest and engagement in reflective thought.” Those who texted very frequently were also more concerned about wealth and image than those who did not text as often.

He conducted the study with Lisa Sinclair, PhD, associate professor of psychology at the University of Winnipeg. She presented the findings in San Diego at the 13th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.

“One can’t say it’s cause and effect,” Trapnell tells WebMD. “There could be a hundred different reasons why these associations exist.”

“Although the overall size of the finding is small in absolute terms, the finding was very reliable across several years,” he tells WebMD. So far, they have looked at five years of data.

Too Much Texting: Study Details

The researchers surveyed more than 2,200 college psychology class students about their texting frequency. They were ages 18 to 22. Data were collected from 2007 through 2011.

Cell phone texting has become the preferred communication method between teens and friends, according to a 2010 report by the Pew Research Center. It found that 72% of all teens surveyed use text messaging. That’s up from 51% in 2006.

For the Canadian study, the students noted how many text messages they got or received (whichever number was higher) on their highest-use day of the month. They reported only non-work-related texts.

About 30% of the students had a peak rate of more than 200 texts a day. Twelve percent had a peak rate of more than 300 a day.

The researchers then gave them a battery of tests. These included:

• A standard personality test to measure such traits as extroversion and openness to experiences.
• A questionnaire that measures tendencies to engage in reflection and self-reflection: The students agreed or disagreed with such statements as, “I often love to look at my life in philosophical ways.”
• A survey that asked students to rate the importance of numerous life goals: Goals included wealth, fame, image, power, achievement, morality, community, family, health, spirituality, and others.

The researchers looked to see if texting frequency had an effect on the test results.

They wanted to test the so-called ”shallowing hypothesis,”  as described in the Nicholas Carr best seller, The Shallows, and by scientists. It suggests that very brief media social interaction such as texting encourages rapid, relatively shallow thought.