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Rosacea Tied to Higher Risk of GI Diseases

FRIDAY, Aug. 12, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Rosacea is associated with increased risk of some gastrointestinal diseases, according to a study published online Aug. 8 in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Alexander Egeberg, M.D., Ph.D., from the Herlev and Gentofte Hospital in Hellerup, Denmark, and colleagues conducted a nationwide cohort study of 49,475 patients with rosacea, and 4,312,213 general population controls, identified from administrative registers. The prevalence of celiac disease (CeD), Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), Helicobactor pylori (HP) infection, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) were assessed to determine the risk of new onset of these orders in patients with rosacea.

The researchers found that the prevalence of CeD, CD, UC, HP infection, SIBO, and IBS were higher among patients with rosacea, compared to the control subjects. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) showed significant associations between rosacea and CeD (HR, 1.46; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.11 to 1.93), CD (HR, 1.45; 95 percent CI, 1.19 to 1.77), UC (HR, 1.19; 95 percent CI, 1.02 to 1.39), and IBS (HR, 1.34; 95 percent CI, 1.19 to 1.50), but not between rosacea and HP infection (HR, 1.04; 95 percent CI, 0.96 to 1.13) or SIBO (HR, 0.71; 95 percent CI, 0.18 to 1.86).

"Rosacea is associated with certain gastrointestinal diseases, but the possible pathogenic link is unknown," the authors write. "Gastrointestinal complaints in patients with rosacea should warrant clinical suspicion of disease."

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