Pregnant Women With Psoriasis May Be At Increased Risk For Pregnancy Complications

July 28, 2010 - PRLog -- SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Pregnant women with psoriasis may be at increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes, according to research just published in the British Journal of Dermatology.

The Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) Autoimmune Diseases in Pregnancy Project compared the prevalence of selected risk factors between 170 pregnant women with psoriasis and 158 non-diseased pregnant women. The research study was coordinated at the University of California, San Diego.

“What we found was women with psoriasis were more likely to be overweight or obese before becoming pregnant,” said Dr. Christina Chambers, an epidemiologist with a special focus in the areas of birth defects who also serves as program director of the CTIS Pregnancy Health Information Line, the California affiliate of OTIS, and associate professor of Pediatrics at UCSD. “We also found they were more likely to smoke, have a diagnosis of depression, and were less likely to have been taking the recommended prenatal vitamin supplement,” she added.

Researchers involved with the study concluded that pregnant women with psoriasis might be at increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes due to health behaviors associated with the disease, such as obesity and smoking.  “These findings are not only important for a pregnant woman with psoriasis to be aware of, but also for health physicians who should take these risk factors into consideration during the treatment of a psoriasis sufferer of childbearing age,” explained Dr. Chambers.

OTIS is a North American non-profit dedicated to providing accurate evidence-based, clinical information to patients and health care professionals about exposures during pregnancy and lactation through its toll-free (866) 626-6847 hotline and website, www.otispregnancy.org. Nearly 100,000 women seek information about birth defect prevention from OTIS every year.

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OTIS, the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists, is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing accurate evidence-based, clinical information to patients and health care professionals about exposures during pregnancy and breastfeeding.