Studies show that most people with psoriasis view psoriasis as unrelated to obesity, even though weight loss has been shown to improve the severity of the skin condition.
Psoriasis has long been known to have multiple factors that contribute to its growth, but obesity is a major risk factor contributing to psoriasis. It suffers, and the researchers in this study define it as excessive body fat accumulation that poses a health risk.
The study was led by Dr. Neli T. Pavlova, Health Psychology Section, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London.
“Weight loss has been shown to ameliorate the severity of psoriasis. However, little is known about the factors that may influence weight loss success in relation to obesity and psoriasis,” Pavlova and A colleague wrote. “The current qualitative study aimed to explore obesity-related beliefs, perceptions, and behaviors associated with weight loss in psoriasis.”
Their study evaluated these factors to support future development of personalized weight loss interventions for patients.
Investigators recruited a total of 26 participants from the social media outlets of the UK-based Psoriasis Society. Participants must be 18 years of age or older and were excluded only if they could not speak or provide the appropriate level of English required for the study. informed consent.
Participants were required to have a self-reported diagnosis of psoriasis, but 24 were included in the final sample and 62.5% were male. The research team developed a semi-structured qualitative interview of him ranging from 23 minutes to 54 minutes (mean interview time = 35.1 minutes, SD = 10.6).
An online questionnaire sent by email was used in the study, and demographic data was collected to assess things such as body mass index (BMI).
Interviews were semi-structured and extensive, covering weight loss management, patient cognitive status, etc.
The four main themes of this study discussed in interviews include:
- Effects of psoriasis on preventing weight loss
- Relationship between weight and psoriasis
- program for weight loss
- Motivation Reinforcing Factors for Weight Loss
The results of this study showed that participants generally viewed psoriasis and obesity as unrelated, with the “chicken and egg” paradox being cited as a frequent view of the relationship.
Some of the participants noted that their physicians may have advised them to lose weight as a generally useful behavior, but they never pointed to a direct relationship.
Many of the participants viewed their psoriasis as something they wanted to control before losing weight, and participants believed the link reported that improving symptoms would be a great motivator to lose weight. Only a minority of subjects reported believing in a connection between both conditions.
According to some participants, a frequent means of escaping the negative emotions associated with psoriasis was eating comfort foods.
“Participants shared their frustrations with current weight loss recommendations that are too general,” the researchers wrote. I suggested that both emotional and behavioral support is needed.”
The study, “‘I don’t know which is the chicken and which is the egg’: A qualitative study of weight loss-related beliefs and behaviors in adults with psoriasis and comorbid obesity,” has been published online by the British Psychological Association.
