Dr Alan Menter Discusses 2022 Psoriasis Guideline Updates

Alan Menter, MD, chairman of dermatology, Baylor University Medical Center, discussed some of the updated psoriasis guidelines at the 2022 American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting.

Transcript

What are some of the updated psoriasis guidelines and recommendations for 2022, in relation to cardiovascular comorbidities?

The old theory that coronary artery disease is just caused by cholesterol is no longer true; it's caused by inflammation. Inflammation in the coronary artery is very similar to the inflammation in psoriasis, so improving the skin, we do believe, will improve coronary artery disease.

I chaired—co-chaired, there was 2 of us who chaired—the guidelines that we published in 2019 and 2020 in JAAD [Joint American Academy of Dermatology], and we had 6 papers, all of which were about 70 pages long. One of the guidelines related to coronary artery disease. We are relatively up to date with the fact that coronary artery disease is now inflammation driven, very similar inflammation to psoriasis, and not just driven by cholesterol.