Chronic inflammatory skin diseases can increase the risk for cardiovascular diseases, but alopecia areata (AA) is not a risk factor for heart diseases, according to a recent publication in PLoS One.
“The objective of this study was to determine the risk of heart diseases in Korean patients [with AA],” explained the study authors.
Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study to evaluate the risk of heart diseases in patients with AA using the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort from 2002 to 2013. A total of 3770 cases of AA from 18,850 age-, sex-, and income level-matched controls were reviewed.
The risk of developing at least one heart disease was higher in the AA group, but the difference was not statistically significant. The severity or duration of AA was not related to an increased risk of heart diseases. Patients with AA did not show a significantly higher cumulative incidence of heart diseases than controls during the study period.
“In this retrospective cohort study, we found that AA was not related to an increased risk of [heart disease],” concluded the study authors. –Lisa Kuhns
Reference
Lee H, Kim YC, Choi JW. Alopecia areata is not a risk factor for heart diseases: A 10-year retrospective cohort study. PLoS One. 2021;16(5):e0250216. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0250216
