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Getting To Know The Disease Eczema Closely
The other name of ECZEMA is Atopic dermatitis that means skin inflammation generally or vice a versa.
There are many types of Eczema like Atopic dermatitis, Contact Eczema, Seborrheac Eczema, Nummular Eczema and the list goes on. Childrens up to the age of five years are most vulnerable to the disease. The disease is not infectious but it is seen in people having any other kind of allergic disease in the form of Asthma in the family history. The disease is more likely to be seen in girls than the boys. A number of family members can suffer from the same disease as it is partially inherited.
After years of research till date doctors are not able to know the exact cause of the disease. A defective skin that disrupts the function of the skin acts as a barrier and improper function of the immune system are believed to be the main cause for the disease ECZEMA.
People who suffer from the disease Atopic Dermatitis, gene defects are seen which often creates problems in the secretion of proteins like Filaggrin, which stops the skin to act normally. Some of the other causes for the disease are soaps, cosmetics, ornaments, clothes. Even the climate plays an insignificant role too much humidity or radical changes in the weather can lead up to the disease. It is seen that physiological stress can also be a reason for the disease outbreak.
The symptom for the disease ECZEMA is that it generally dries the skin and causes it to itch or burn. The appearance of the infected skin may differ from person to person reason behind this is the type of ECZEMA the patient is having.
The disease often leads to blisters which secretes lesions. It can also occur in dry skin, itching on the skin repeatedly can produce skin thickening and crusty skin. The disease can affect any part of the body in children and grown ups. The most common affected area in children is the cheeks, forehead, neck, and scalp. Legs and forearms can also be affected. The most common affected areas of the adults are the inner portions of the knees, elbows, ankle, face and neck.
To diagnose this disease doctors goes in for a thorough skin check up. The affected skin may also look like some other skin disease in that case Skin biopsy is recommended. Allergy test or skin patch test is recommended in some of the cases to eliminate the confusion between other skin diseases.
Find more information relating to psoriasis, and psoriasis treatment here.
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Managed Healthcare Executive – Health Management
Dog Disease – Allergic Dermatitis
To some, having a pet that obeys every command you give to it isn’t enough – the physical appearance is just as important. They take pride in being the proud owner of a beautiful dog, in which they show off to friends and family. They do everything to keep their pet looking good on the outside, like give it baths, cut its nails, and style its fur. But what some of these owners fail to do is keep their pets healthy – a dog disease known as Allergic Dermatitis can have devastating effects on the poor pooch, making it look real ugly.
This is no ordinary infection, it’s said that it’s chronic, or in layman’s terms incurable. Yes, that’s right, incurable – want me to say it again? Treatment is only for the symptoms that’s caused by the dog disease, but as of now there is no available cure that can actually destroy the root of all evil. Whoever thought that a simple skin disease could be that tough? Allergic Dermatitis symptoms involves itching – they will scratch more than usual, over and over again. Apparently, it can easily be confused with a flea or tick infestation, so to rule that out as a possibility, I suggest you give it a bath with the best flea and tick killing soap on the market.
After giving it a rich lather and leaving it on for the duration as prescribed on the instructions written cleverly on the back of the box, rinse it off and then use a shampoo that’s specially formulated for the eradication of the little blood suckers. After drying the pooch, apply flea and tick killing powder thoroughly – basically you want to kill every last one of them. When you’ve verified that there are no survivors left, observe the frequency your pet scratching itself. If it eventually stops or decreases significantly, your in luck – it could be a flea and tick infestation.
But if the problem still persists, then there’s a possibility that it has contracted the dog disease Allergic Dermatitis. Even after using the “thorough bathing test”, it’ll still be difficult to determine the exact skin disease it may have. The “thorough bathing test” only serves as the go signal for you to pay a visit to your veterinarian. Why should you be worried about this dog disease in the first place? Well, consistent scratching and gnawing at coat will progressively lead to hair loss patches. That will leave areas of exposed reddish skin with rashes – which kinda makes your pet look like it was salvaged from a burning building.
That’s bad news for those obsessed with aesthetic aspect of their pooches. Allergic Dermatitis can be contracted directly through the skin, absorbed from food or the consumption allergens like grass and wood pollens, and even through the inhalation of certain things like cigarette smoke, indoor dust, and weed (marijuana). Play it safe and avoid having your pet come into contact with the above stated items. For a more complete list of allergens consult your vet. Observe proper and consistent pet grooming rituals, especially if its been in an area full of dust and pollutants. If you feel you pooch has been infected, go see the same guy – the earlier the better.
The author of this article, Alex De La Cruz, is a Dog Expert who has been successful for many years. Because most people think that Arthritis is a humans-only disease Alex now informs dog owners with his http://dog_arthritis.doggybooks.info Ebook on how to discover this disease and let their dogs live as pain-free as possible.
Earlier diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis will prevent disease progression
Psoriatic arthritis can often go undiagnosed in patients with psoriasis, and an earlier diagnosis is critical to prevent the adverse effects of psoriatic arthritis, according to an expert.
Modern medicine – dermatology
Herbal Treatment For The Hereditary Disease: Eczema
Also known as dermatitis, Eczema is the most chronic skin disease. It is a group of skin disorders. The term”Eczema “is derived from a Greek word meaning “to boil”. Inflammation of the skin results in the formation of pustules and later with discharge of clear fluid that causes itching, redness, dryness and flakiness of the skin. Usually, it appears on hands, wrists, arms, neck, face, upper chest and back of the knees.
Major causes of eczema are allergies, hereditary, varicose veins, faulty body metabolism, cold and dry whether, nutritional deficiencies and deficiency of vitamin B6. Its main symptoms include itching, redness on the skin, dry and flaky skin, itchy blisters, inflammation on skin, rough and thickened skin and small bumps on forehead, neck and cheek.
Eczema can be classified as
Atopic eczema,
Allergic contact dermatitis
Irritant contact dermatitis,
Infantile seborrhoeic eczema,
Adult seborrhoeic eczema,
Varicose eczema and
Discoid eczema
Atopic dermatitis is the most common type of eczema. Mostly it is found in infants. Eczema is also grouped with the classic allergic diseases, asthma and hay fever. The eczema skin cannot protect itself from increased rate of evaporation and hence is always dry. The dry skin gets more irritated and itchy; leading to increased scratching that worsens the rash.
Treatment options:
When it comes to Natural Eczema treatment, it is very important to keep the skin well hydrated and moisturized. Using natural oils for an eczema cure is the best option. To the effected part, coconut oil can be applied as it helps the skin to remain soft. Oatmeal is considered to be one of the best natural eczema treatments that anyone can use. The application of mud packs is another natural Eczema treatment. This home remedy is very beneficial. Sunbathing is also beneficial as it kills the harmful bacteria. You can also use Turmeric powder mixed with the same proportions of bitter neem leaves. Cold wet fomentations or cold compresses are proved useful in Eczema treatment and a relief to any skin irritation.
Carrot and muskmelon are highly beneficial in the eczema treatment. For bathing and cleaning your face, use herbal soap with large block of olive or vegetable oil. Shark cartilage and lotion of blueberry leaves lessen inflammation. Massage your skin gently with this creamy natural exfoliating paste and you can then allow it to remain on your skin for about 10 minutes before you rinse it off. Application of spearmint leaf juice also reduces eczema. Mashed papaya seed on the effected part prevent itching on the skin.
Always avoid cosmetic products as the chemicals in them may aggravate the condition. Keep a good and clean skin together with the natural remedies. Stay away from substances that are allergic to. It is also important to check your diet as it can also be caused by food allergies especially in children. Food allergies are also spread through diet like milk, egg, fish wheat, citrus fruits, peanuts etc in children. To get rid of Eczema, it is necessary to follow the above guidelines strictly.
Archer Hariold, a renowned name in the health care world, writing about various skin ailments and skin conditions. Eczema treatment using natural methods is a very safe and potent means to get rid of it.
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Psoriasis Linked To Increased Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease By Mechanistic Discovery
AppId is over the quota AppId is over the quota Main Category: Eczema / Psoriasis
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Article Date: 14 May 2012 – 0:00 PST Current ratings for:
Psoriasis Linked To Increased Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease By Mechanistic Discovery 
The link between psoriasis and cardiovascular events has been observed for years, however the mechanics were unknown. For the first time, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers have discovered preclinical evidence demonstrating that the inflammatory skin disease leads to cardiovascular disease. Further, the research demonstrated that aggressive reversal of psoriasis reduces the cardiovascular risk as well. Psoriasis is a chronic disease of the immune system that appears as raised, inflamed, scaly red patches of skin and is often associated with intense itch. In the United States, it affects between two and a half to six million patients. http://www.eczemablog.net/
Published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, the study used a new, innovative mouse model to demonstrate a causal connection between the skin disease and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Ward and her research team demonstrated that mice engineered to overexpress a protein called Tie-2 in the skin, develop a skin condition similar to human psoriasis. Using this model, they showed that persistent, chronic inflammation confined to the skin can result in inflammation in large arteries, such as the aorta.
“This discovery is paradigm shifting. There has been a link between the two diseases but to date we had not been able to show cause. Epidemiologic evidence from thousands of patients was convincing that psoriasis patients had a much greater chance of developing cardiovascular disease and dying from it,” says Nicole Ward, PhD, senior author of the study, assistant professor of dermatology and neurosciences at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and scientist with the Murdough Family Center for Psoriasis at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.
There is a known increased risk of heart, cerebrovascular, and peripheral artery diseases, as well as risk of death, in individuals suffering from a variety of chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), colitis, gum disease, lupus, and psoriasis. Many researchers showed, statistically, that having psoriasis leads to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and heart complications, however it was unclear why this occurs and it was challenging to separate out the significance of other lifestyle factors and their contributions to this risk, she adds.
Based on published clinical reports demonstrating psoriasis patients had increased risk of developing and dying of heart attack and stroke, Dr. Ward and her team set-out to investigate whether their mouse model of psoriasis would also show cardiac complications, mimicking these seen in human disease. They teamed up with experts in the role of inflammation in vessel injury – Yunmei Wang, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the School of Medicine and Daniel I. Simon, MD the Herman K. Hellerstein Professor of Cardiovascular Research at the School of Medicine, and chief, Cardiovascular Medicine at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.
“We believed that chronic inflammation over a large area of the body may be the reason for an increased risk of cardiovascular complications in skin disease patients; however, until now we had no way to model and definitively prove this,” says Dr. Wang.
Dr. Ward and her team measured blood clot formation in the psoriasis mouse model and normal mice, revealing that time was greatly shortened in the diseased mice. This shortened time to vessel blockage is akin to a greater risk for blood vessel blockage in humans that leads to stroke or heart attack. Further examination revealed that mice with the skin disease also exhibited inflammation of the vessel wall similar to that observed with atherosclerotic lesions or plaques.
Importantly, and highly meaningful for patients with psoriasis, Dr. Ward’s work was able to demonstrate that upon reversal of the skin disease, the cardiovascular inflammation and blood clot formation were also decreased.
“Our observations of improved vessel wall inflammation and decreased clot formation following skin-specific repression of disease provide further evidence that skin inflammation promotes vascular inflammation and thrombosis and strongly suggests that aggressive treatment of skin disease may block pathways that produce cardiovascular disease in psoriasis patients,” says Dr. Ward.
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click ‘references’ tab above for source.Visit our eczema / psoriasis section for the latest news on this subject. Dr. Ward presented these findings at the 2012 Society for Investigative Dermatology Annual Meeting in Raleigh, NC.
This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Psoriasis Foundation, and the Murdough Family Center for Psoriasis.
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Eczema Blog
Study casts doubt about link between eczema, cardiovascular disease
For the roughly 7 percent of adults who live with atopic dermatitis, a common form of eczema, a new study reports a little good news: Despite recent findings to the contrary, the skin condition is…
Eczema / Psoriasis News From Medical News Today
Innovative ovarian cancer test detects the disease before symptoms are present
Find out more about the brand new ROCA test, which is helping to detect ovarian cancer at an earlier stage before any symptoms are present.
Ovarian cancer is common in the UK, affecting around 7,000 women each year. It can often be difficult to spot the symptoms, meaning many women are not diagnosed until the disease is in its later stages and has spread to other parts of the body. For this reason, ovarian cancer is often described as the silent killer. There is now a brand new test for ovarian cancer, called the ROCA Test. Here, we explain more about this disease and what the new test means for diagnosis.
You are more likely to develop ovarian cancer if you are older, as eight in ten cases occur in women who have gone through menopause. In one in ten cases, there is a genetic link so, if two or more of your close family members have a history of ovarian cancer or breast cancer, then you should discuss this with your doctor.
Spotting ovarian cancer
Early diagnosis of ovarian cancer is the most important factor in increasing the chance of successful treatment. However, most women don’t realise they have it until the late stages when the cancer is more aggressive. Currently, three quarters of women with the disease are only diagnosed once the cancer has already spread. Only three percent of women in the UK say they feel very confident about recognising a symptom of ovarian cancer.
The best way to protect yourself is to be vigilant for the signs and symptoms. You should look out for the following:
- increased abdominal size or persistent bloating;
- difficulty eating and feeling full;
- pelvic or abdominal pain; and
- needing to wee more urgently or more often.
These symptoms can be caused by countless other conditions and aren’t usually a cause for concern. However, with ovarian cancer the symptoms happen frequently – typically more than 12 times in a month, and are more persistent. Make sure you see a doctor if you are concerned about any of the symptoms mentioned above.
The ROCA Test
The ROCA Test is a simple blood test and it forms the first part of a multimodal screening for ovarian cancer. The results of the blood test give healthcare professionals an indication of how likely a woman is to have ovarian cancer, and whether she should undergo additional testing. Further tests are often more invasive, but give a more conclusive answer.
The ROCA Test has undergone extensive research by the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (UKTOCS). After 15 years and 670,000 screenings, UKTOCS has announced that the ROCA Test is safe and effective. Multimodal screening using the ROCA Test identified 85 out of 100 cancers, which is twice as many as would have been found by a conventional test.
What does this mean for women?
The ROCA Test could help to prevent one in five deaths from ovarian cancer by diagnosing women earlier. This test is able to detect ovarian cancer before the woman experiences any symptoms and is particularly useful for monitoring women who are known to have a high genetic risk of ovarian cancer. This means that more women can be diagnosed earlier, when the disease is easier to treat.
How can I get tested?
BMI Healthcare is now offering the ROCA Test across the country, but it is not currently available on the NHS. If you choose to have the ROCA Test, you will be cared for by BMI gynaecological consultants at one of their screening clinics. You can find out more about cancer screening and treatments at the cancer care hub.
Content Supplied by BMI Healthcare
Is eczema an autoimmune disease?
Eczema is an itchy skin condition that can be painful and chronic. Eczema sufferers commonly have allergies and consuming a food you are allergic to elicits an IgE immune system response. The result is itchy, inflamed skin.
However avoiding your diagnosed allergy foods does not usually fix your eczema (or it only partially helps). So researchers in Vienna hypothesise that because the immune response can still occur after the allergy foods are avoided eczema “could be autoimmune” (Valenta 2009).
A drug company recently declared that “eczema is an autoimmune disease”. And they stand to profit greatly from their findings. Their patented drug will hit the market (if it passes safety tests) and again we will clamour for the promise of a quick fix, only to find the side-effects are worse than the original skin disorder.
Remember that topical steroids were once the miracle cure eczema sufferers were praying for. Topical steroid addiction has been known of since the 1970s and after using (and stopping) topical steroids your eczema can spread to areas where it previously did not appear. So tread carefully when it comes to taking new drugs for eczema – there is a safer way.
Is eczema an autoimmune disease?
Not usually… there is no conclusive evidence showing that eczema is always an autoimmune disease. Not everyone with eczema has allergies, not everyone with eczema has abnormally high levels of antinuclear antibodies in their blood. So it might be short sighted to categorise all cases of eczema as autoimmune.
Let’s look at the facts: eczema is not only related to allergies and immune-system imbalance, it’s also strongly linked with the following:
- 17 to 33% of eczema sufferers have fatty liver (Kimata, 2001)
- 52% are sensitive to salicylates (Loblay and Swain 2006)
- 36% are sensitive to amines (amines are in probiotics) (Loblay and Swain 2006)
- 35% react to MSG/glutamates (Loblay and Swain 2006)
A widely replicated major risk factor for eczema is also genetic dysfunction: namely the loss-of-function mutations in the structural protein filaggrin. Microbes and infections are also involved in the appearance of eczema.
All of these factors worsen eczema. Avoiding allergies is a good place to start but if it’s your only strategy to prevent eczema, then your skin problem is likely to prevail.
Liver health and eczema – the forgotten link
Dr Kimata from the Department of Pediatrics and Allergy at the Ujitakeda Hospital in Kyoto (Japan) 17% to 33% of children with eczema have non-alcoholic fatty liver. Your liver health is important to detoxify toxins and chemicals, and food sensitivities and allergies can result. So while treating allergies and the immune system is useful, we can also look at the underlying cause of allergies which is liver dysfunction and gut dysbiosis.
Leaky gut is related to coeliac disease and gluten intolerance. Fatty liver can be caused by nutritional deficiencies, low antioxidants in your diet, and high sugar and high fat intake. Fatty liver is reversed with supplementation and a change in diet but scarring and damage can occur from frequent drug use.
“Should I avoid garlic as it boosts the immune system?”
Garlic is low in salicylates and it is one of the few flavourings people with eczema and salicylate sensitivity can enjoy. While garlic may not be suitable for everyone, many are fine with it. If you are allergic or sensitive to garlic then avoid it and if you have diagnosed autoimmune disease you can avoid using garlic if you have been instructed to do so.
I encourage people to omit anything they don’t like (from The Eczema Diet), but don’t avoid garlic unnecessarily.
“If I have eczema should I take drugs to suppress my immune system?”
My opinion differs to many medical professionals but most would agree that eczema is not an autoimmune disease. Some people with eczema also have autoimmune disease (i.e. an overactive immune system) but that is not the rule for everyone with eczema.
I have worked with eczema patients who have had overactive immune systems, which were overactive because they were eating foods they were highly sensitive to and they had nutritional deficiencies.
Long-term use of topical steroids can also cause problems, and often topical steroid withdrawal is involved and causes the eczema to be stubborn and hard to treat.
Their calcium levels were also very low and this caused insomnia (which caused more stress). Once these patients changed their diets and took Skin Friend supplements their immune systems gradually normalised. This took about 8 months.
For those with eczema and immune system issues, I find they need to be healthy long-term. For other eczema sufferers who have no autoimmune issues and no topical withdrawal symptoms, their eczema clears a lot faster.
“Is the immune system incompetent and should it be silenced with drugs?”
In most cases, no. The immune system is usually an intelligent mechanism which alerts us when something is not right within the body. Just because you cannot identify the trigger/s does not mean you should presume the immune system is faulty (of course it may be faulty in some cases but we cannot assume this in all cases of eczema).
Often a radical change in diet and environment, plus nutritional support are needed to get the body back in balance. Sleep and laughter also help eczema according to Japanese researcher Dr Kimata.
Changing the diet is hard work and some people like taking pills as it is the easy option. But drugs often come with side-effects and you need to weight up if the side-effects are worth the short-term relief.
Some people absolutely need to take immunosuppressant drugs in order to live without pain so I’m not saying never take the medical option. I’m saying do both if you have to. But do your research on side-effects first as the drugs can end up worsening your eczema symptoms in the long-term so what begins as mild eczema can end up covering your whole body.
A natural approach to eczema
At the Eczema Life Clinic in Sydney we see a lot of new eczema patients with symptoms such as loss of hair and eyebrows, cracks at the corners of their mouth, insomnia, itchy skin and chronic dry and flaking skin and these are common nutritional deficiency signs, that are easily reversed with the right supplementation.
The Eczema Diet and the Skin Friend supplements were initially designed for my two-year-old daughter who had eczema. I no longer wanted to use topical steroids and a nurse had advised us to avoid salicylates (which are in most supplements, in ingredients such as herbs and fruit extracts).
After following the diet and taking the supplements for about 3 months, patients have reported renewed hair growth, less inflammation, softer skin, healing of mouth ulcers and cracks around the mouth, and their skin is no longer itchy.
When you change your diet you are changing your body’s biochemistry, improving your genetic health and normalising your immune system – this does not happen overnight. We need to change our mentality about seeking quick-fixes for eczema. Take the time to feed your skin from the inside out – you’ll look and feel better for it.
SHOP THE STORY
Karen is a nutritionist and award-winning author of The Healthy Skin Diet and The Eczema Diet; and a frequent guest nutritionist on Today Extra (Nine Network). Karen’s “breakthrough diet for eczema” featured on prime-time 7 News in June 2016.