Eczema is an allergy condition characterised by itching and a red rash.
Seven per thousand people in the United States are affected by eczema. Around 90% of these cases appear in children in the age of two months to five years. But nearly half of these affected children will be free from the disease mostly by the time they reach 18 th month. Eczema which is similar to dermatitis in many ways, is actually the advanced form of dermatitis.
Symptoms of Eczema
The following are the most important symptoms of eczema:
- Blisters
- Scabbing
- Oozing
- Discolouration
Types of eczemas
There are mainly two main types of eczema. They include the following:
Eczematous: It is caused by external factors
Endogenous: It occurs without a known outside cause. It is also called atopic eczema. It is the widely prevalent form of eczema.
It is characterised by chronic itching and inflammation of the skin involving primarily the epidermis or outer layer.
The following are the most common affected sites of the body:
- Face
- Side of the neck
- Inside of the elbow
- Wrist
- Back of the knee
- Ankle
Though eczema is mostly similar to that of allergy, one predominant feature that distinguishes it from allergy is the fact that it more inherent than acquired.
Between fifty and eighty percent of young people with the atopic type are most likely to develop allergic rhinitis or asthma in later stages of their life. The patients are affected by elevated IgE antibodies in a large number of cases.
Quite a good number of children affected by eczema are allergic to milk. That is why doctors will sometimes recommend switching from cow’s milk to soy milk.
