In the study published in the journal Archives of Dermatology, cases of 1,069 women who developed psoriasis in 2005 were studied by Dr. Abrar Qureshi and his colleague at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

The researchers found that the risk of developing the disease was 72 percent greater for those who drank an average 2.3 or more alcoholic drinks a week. The risk of developing the condition was 1.8 times higher in women who drank five or more bottles, cans or small glasses of beer containing 12.8 grams of alcohol per week.

The researchers point to the starchy grains in beer as the trigger because they contain gluten, which is associated with psoriasis.

Beer is one of the few non-distilled alcoholic beverages that use a starch source for fermentation, which is commonly barley, according to the study's authors.

Women with a high risk of psoriasis may consider avoiding higher intake of non-light beer, they advised.

Symptoms of psoriasis are itchy red scaly patches that appear anywhere in the body but most commonly on the knees, elbows and scalp. The condition can be mild or disfiguring.

Medicine