"Kick The Butt" and Avoid Eczema

Smoking can be the cause of adult onset atopic dermatitis or Eczema according to new evidence published in medical journals. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a disease associated with itching dry skin (xerosis) that causes  eczematous lesions, and thickening of the skin and an increase in skin markings (lichenification). It usually starts in early infancy but now its adult-onset variant is also recognized.

In a recent study Dr. Hsin-Su Yu from Department of Dermatology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan and colleagues assessed Environmental Tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure in 83 atopic dermatitis patients, who were diagnosed by physicians in adulthood and 142 age and gender matched controls.

The team found that current and previous smoking definitely increased the relative risk for adult-onset AD, as compared with the people who never smoked. They suggest that there is probability of a lifelong cumulative risk for atopic dermatitis in current smokers as each pack of cigarette per year increased the relative risk for adult-onset AD by 6%. Furthermore, nonsmokers with AD are significantly more likely to have been exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in childhood than those without the condition.

Dr. Yu states, "Although there can be several other potential risk factors contributing to development of adult-onset atopic dermatitis but this study does provide convincing evidence of the association between current smoking, exposure to ETS, and the development of adult-onset AD”.

He concluded by adding, "Further study is needed to understand and correlate the mechanisms underlying these observations and also to look for other risk factors initiating adult-onset AD”.

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http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/739278

Source-Medindia