New research from Italy reveals that smoking cigarettes is linked to the development of psoriasis in adults.

The report found that the risk of developing psoriasis was higher in smokers than in those people who have never smoked, and this association was found to be particularly significant for women. Smoking more than 15 cigarettes a day was found to be linked with the development of pustular psoriatic lesions.

In the study, outpatients from ten general hospitals and ten teaching hospitals throughout Italy were assessed. All of the patients had a first confirmed diagnosis of psoriasis and had not suffered with symptoms for more than two years.