A Holistic Review of Rosacea and Its Association with Cardiovascular Diseases

Abstract

Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory dermatological condition with different clinical phenotypes, usually diagnosed clinically and treated with systemic and topical medications. Rosacea is one of the skin conditions that is often believed to just have cutaneous manifestation, but it is actually a systemic condition that affects many different systems. The correlation between rosacea and a variety of comorbidities, including depression, gastrointestinal disorders, migraines, autoimmune conditions, and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are noted in many different studies. There are numerous risk factors for CVD, including hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), metabolic syndrome (MS), and dyslipidemia. CVD has a high mortality rate and should not be overlooked. Rosacea patients must receive the appropriate education regarding the management of CVD risk factors in addition to rosacea. We thought it was important to conduct a literature review to investigate the association between rosacea and the risk factors associated with CVDs, since both conditions are chronic and involve the interaction of genetic and inflammatory factors. The purpose of this narrative review is to overview rosacea, draw attention to the cardiovascular risk that rosacea patients face, and alert dermatologists, cardiologists, and primary care physicians to the need for immediate risk factor treatment.