IPC investigating relationship between BMI and severity of psoriasis in childhood

As people around the world get ready to participate in events for World Psoriasis Day on October 29, the International Psoriasis Council (IPC) is nearing completion with enrollment in a multi-center study on the relationship between obesity and psoriasis in children. The theme of this year’s World Psoriasis Day is childhood psoriasis.

Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital (CMH) Division of Dermatologyn outpatient clinics will serve as a prototype for the multi-center study. The study is being performed under the leadership of Principal Investigator Amy Paller, M.D., of Northwestern University in Chicago and Prof. Wolfram Sterry, M.D, University Hospital Charité in Berlin and incoming President of the IPC.

“In pediatric psoriasis, the natural history of disease, including the relationship between obesity and psoriasis, is not well understood” states Dr. Paller. “A focused registry may provide baseline information about obesity in pediatric psoriasis and help reveal the chronology of psoriasis and weight gain.”

A total of 576 subjects between the ages of 5 and 17 years will be enrolled for the study at 16 sites in 8 countries. Currently 80% of the subjects have been recruited, with full enrollment expected in early 2011.

The goal of the study is to correlate the severity of psoriasis and body mass index (BMI) in the pediatric population. The study is based upon the hypothesis that children and adolescents with moderate to severe psoriasis have a significantly increased BMI than those in the general population without psoriasis. Moreover, the study aims to determine whether the BMI of children and adolescents with moderate to severe psoriasis increases progressively.

With this year’s World Psoriasis Day theme focusing on childhood psoriasis, the timing and relevance of this study is important to many people.

Founded in 2004, International Psoriasis Council is a global non-profit organization dedicated to advancing psoriasis research and treatment by providing a forum for education, collaboration, and innovation among physicians,
researchers, and other professionals interested in psoriasis. IPC convenes key international experts to drive the international dialogue on psoriasis.

World Psoriasis Day is an annual day specially dedicated to people with psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis. The International Federation of Psoriasis Associations coordinates World Psoriasis Day events. Conceived by patients for patients, World Psoriasis Day is a truly global event that sets out to give an international voice to the 125 million people with psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis around the world. The theme for World Psoriasis Day 2010 is Childhood psoriasis - a challenge for all.

Psoriasis is a chronic, currently incurable, inflammatory skin disease that produces profound impairment of life quality and productivity for those it afflicts.