Although it may not significantly affect the 150m case beer market in India, women may like to consider the results of the study which concludes that women who drink beer regularly seem to have a higher risk of developing psoriasis, though the researchers concede that the connection does not apply to light beer or wines or spirits.
The study is published in the Archives of Dermatology, a JAMA/Archives journal, Psoriasis is a chronic, autoimmune disease that appears on the skin. It occurs when the immune system sends out faulty signals that speed up the growth cycle of skin cells. Psoriasis is not contagious.[1] It commonly causes red, scaly patches to appear on the skin, although some patients have no dermatological symptoms. The scaly patches commonly caused by psoriasis, called psoriatic plaques, are areas of inflammation and excessive skin production.
The association between alcohol consumption and increased risk of psoriasis onset and psoriasis worsening has long been suspected. For example, individuals with psoriasis drink more alcohol than individuals without psoriasis, and alcohol intake may exacerbate psoriasis severity.
The researchers led by Abrar Qureshi, of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, assessed data from 82,869 women who were age 27 to 44 years in 1991. The women, participants in the Nurses'' Health Study II, reported the amount and type of alcohol they consumed on biennial questionnaires. They also reported whether they had received a diagnosis of psoriasis.
There were 1,150 cases of psoriasis developed till 2005, out of which 1,069 were used for analysis. Compared with women who did not drink alcohol, the risk of psoriasis was 72 percent greater among women who had an average of 2.3 drinks per week or more, according to several media reports.
When beverages were assessed by type, there was an association between non-light beer drinking and psoriasis, such that women who drank five or more beers per week had a risk for the condition that was 1.8 times higher. Light beer, red wine, white wine and liquor were not associated with psoriasis risk.
When only confirmed psoriasis cases-those in which women provided more details about their condition on a self-assessment basis were considered- the risk for psoriasis was 2.3 times higher for women who drank five or more beers per week than women who did not drink beer.
"Non-light beer was the only alcoholic beverage that increased the risk for psoriasis, suggesting that certain non-alcoholic components of beer, which are not found in wine or liquor, may play an important role in new-onset psoriasis," the authors said.
They wrote that ‘non-light beer was the only alcoholic beverage that increased the risk for psoriasis, suggesting that certain non-alcoholic components of beer, which are not found in wine or liquor, may play an important role in new-onset psoriasis. One of these components may be the starch source used in making beer. Beer is one of the few non-distilled alcoholic beverages that use a starch source for fermentation, which is commonly barley.
The authors recommend that women with a high risk of psoriasis may consider avoiding higher intake of non-light beer, concluding the study with the usual caution, "We suggest conducting further investigations into the potential mechanisms of non-light beer inducing new-onset psoriasis.”
A glass or two of wine drinking-in moderation may be the right solution to avoid diseases like psoriasis for women.
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