How texting dermatology patients could improve heart health in an at-risk group

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-05-14 01:00

Australia; NSW

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Regular text messages encouraging healthy lifestyle choices could improve heart health in people seeking treatment for skin problems, according to a small Australian study. Inflammatory skin condition psoriasis has been linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease-related death, so the team investigated a way to incorporate heart disease prevention into care for people seeking dermatology treatment for the condition. The team recruited 111 psoriasis patients from a hospital dermatology clinic, and over six months, gave half the patients a text messaging intervention where they were messaged four times a week with advice around smoking, exercise and diet to protect their hearts. The researchers say after six months, the participants who received the text messages were more likely to have a better diet, higher exercise time, lower BMI, better adherence to their medication and better knowledge of how their skin problems impact their heart risk.