Patients with coexisting psoriasis and diabetes face elevated all-cause mortality risk: Study
A new study published in the journal of Nature Scientific Reports showed that while cardiovascular mortality was unaltered, adults with psoriasis and diabetes had a 76% higher all-cause mortality and a more than 2-fold elevated cancer-specific mortality.
Systemic inflammation, immunological dysregulation, oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction are among the pathophysiological pathways shared by psoriasis and diabetes, 2 chronic inflammatory illnesses. Both disorders are linked to higher risks of metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and early death. Nonetheless, there is mounting evidence that their cohabitation may have a synergistic or cumulative effect on both cause-specific and total mortality.
Diabetes may increase the severity of psoriasis by compromising immune responses and microcirculation, while the persistent low-grade inflammation associated with psoriasis might aggravate insulin resistance and vascular damage in diabetic individuals. When combined, these diseases can worsen renal and hepatic dysfunction, increase the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke, and hasten atherosclerosis.
Examining the combined impact of psoriasis and diabetes on all-cause and specific-cause mortality can help identify high-risk groups, shed light on shared pathogenic pathways, and direct the creation of integrated therapeutic approaches meant to improve the outcomes of both inflammatory and metabolic diseases. This prospective cohort research investigated the relationships between the co-occurrence of psoriasis and diabetes with all-cause and cause-specific death.
A total of 16,852 individuals in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) provided the data. People with both diabetes and psoriasis showed significantly higher risks of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.76, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04-3.00) and cancer-specific mortality (HR: 2.90, 95% CI: 1.28–6.54) in fully adjusted models (adjusted for age, sex, race, BMI, smoking status, and comorbidities). Elevated risks of cancer and all-cause death were strongly correlated with comorbidity (P<0.05).
Overall, this study shows that having psoriasis and diabetes together is strongly linked to higher death rates from all causes and cancer. Clinical advice are still premature since causation cannot be proved due to the observational methodology. To further understand the underlying biological pathways and determine if certain therapies may reduce the increased mortality risk in people with both psoriasis and diabetes, more study is necessary.
Source:
Liu, N., & Chen, X. (2025). The co-impact of diabetes and psoriasis on mortality risk for all causes and specific causes. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 37463. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-21189-x
