Abstract
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease which has been considered only as a skin disease for a long period of time. However, recently the major effect of chronic psoriatic inflammation on other organ systems has been revealed.
Increased atherogenesis contributes to a significantly higher risk of serious cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction or stroke. Inflammatory changes also increase the risk of developing metabolic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
Moreover other organ systems including urogenital and central nervous system are affected. All these comorbidities can have a significant effect not only on the quality of life of patients with psoriasis but also on the length of the patientʼs life.
The treatment of comorbidities also represents another significant economic burden that affects the health system. Therefore, current management of patients with psoriasis should not only be focused on skin manifestations of the disease but should also include prevention and treatment of comorbidities.