If you have psoriasis, you have a 30% chance of developing psoriatic arthritis symptoms! This type of psoriasis is notoriously difficult to diagnose because, unlike rheumatoid arthritis, there are no blood tests to easily confirm it. Psoriatic arthritis can be triggered at any age, but its onset is most commonly between 35 and 55 years old. One of the early signs and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis is joint pain that gets worse over time until the joints become swollen and inflamed. It might surprise you, but diet and medication can both trigger psoriatic arthritis, as well as GI tract microbiome imbalances (yes, this includes the mouth microbiome!) Joining me to talk all about signs of psoriatic arthritis is Dr. Jenny Bennett, a naturopathic doctor, acupuncturist, and founder of Aria Integrative Medicine, an autoimmune specialty clinic in Seattle, WA. She utilizes treatments from both Eastern and Western medical practices to find the best approach for treating autoimmune diseases. Dr. Bennett treats a wide variety of conditions such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Graves’ Disease, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, lupus, and scleroderma. In This Episode: Psoriatic arthritis: What is it + what are early signs/symptoms?Joints commonly impacted by psoriatic arthritisPsoriasis + psoriatic arthritis triggers (Don’t ignore these!)Stages of psoriatic arthritis + getting diagnosed (before too much damage is done)Liver-Psoriatic arthritis connectionGut triggers of psoriatic arthritis symptomsTreatment of psoriatic arthritisIf you take methotrexate, get THIS testedExercise + other lifestyle interventions for psoriatic arthritisPros + cons of using a biologic medication for psoriatic arthritisQuotes “There are a number of other medications that can sometimes impact liver function and can ultimately lead to… psoriatic arthritis. And there aren't very many anti-inflammatories that are very effective for psoriatic arthritis and, in fact, some of those anti-inflammatories can trigger psoriatic arthritis.” “If you have psoriasis and you start having joint issues, then the bridge to getting a psoriatic arthritis diagnosis is straightforward. But there are up to 30 to 40% of people with psoriatic arthritis that have never had psoriasis in their life..” Links Find Dr. Bennett online | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok Healthy Skin Show ep. 217: Health Concerns Linked to Psoriasis (You SHOULD Know About) Healthy Skin Show ep. 304: Gut Microbiome Impact On Psoriasis w/ Dr. Fabrizio Galimberti https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5774610/ https://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2019/10/08/jrheum.181312 https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(21)00343-1/fulltext