Women who drink two or more beers weekly have a 72 percent greater chance of psoriasis than those that do not drink any alcohol.

That's according to the findings of a study published in the August 16 Online First Articles and the December print edition of the journal Archives of Dermatology.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), "psoriasis is a disease which produces sores and scaling of the skin. It affects 2 to 3 percent of the population and is probably an autoimmune disease; a disease where your immune system attacks your own cells."

Abrar A. Qureshi, MD, MPH, of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and a team of colleagues noted, "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 found that regular beer, not light beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages, upped the risk to developing psoriasis.

Qureshi et al suggest that the gluten in the barley that is used to make beer could be a factor. However until further research is conducted, the authors recommend, "Women with a high risk of psoriasis may consider avoiding higher intake of non-light beer."

In the same edition of Archives of Dermatology, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have found those suffering from psoriasis are more likely to also battle depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.