Loading...
Alcoholism is common in patients with psoriasis, but the cause-and-effect relation is not clear. Psoriasis and its painful physical and social consequences may drive patients to drink, or alcoholics may perform comparatively less-effective skin care and develop worsened psoriasis. The effect may also be a direct one: Alcohol might alter cutaneous biology.
These authors review the mechanisms by which such a process might operate: Measurable quantities of alcohol are secreted through human skin via both sweat glands and epidermal lipids. Ethanol enhances skin permeability and disrupts the skin barrier. At relevant concentrations, alcohol stimulates keratinocyte proliferation, enhances T helper cell 1 cytokine production, and increases lymphocy…