Surprising Ways Psoriatic Arthritis Affects Your Body
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There is a higher prevalence of fatty liver disease in people with psoriatic arthritis, notes Madsen.
Drugs used to treat psoriatic arthritis, including NSAIDs and methotrexate, can adversely affect your liver. If you’re taking these drugs, your doctor will want to monitor your liver function.
Madsen notes that methotrexate is becoming less commonly used in psoriatic disease since the development of biologic therapies, though it still has a role. It can cause elevations of liver enzymes and, in severe cases, cirrhosis due to chronic liver inflammation. “This is why it is so important that we monitor blood tests in patients on methotrexate and other higher risk medications, to ensure safe use and prevent severe side effects,” says Madsen.
Biologics tend to be safer for the liver, he notes, but there are occasional case reports of liver irritation. “TNF inhibitor biologics can increase the risk of hepatitis B reactivation in people who have previously been infected with it and this can also lead to liver damage and inflammation, without treatment.” All patients should be screened for hepatitis B prior to starting a biologic, especially if they have risk factors, he adds.
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