New Eczema App Helps Track and Record Flare-Ups

Help for Eczema Sufferers

People with food allergies often deal with other allergic conditions such as eczema. There is a new app available for Apple and Android users to help track and record symptom. the app also provides the latest news on eczema. This tool is especially helpful for parents of kids with eczema as well as adults with the condition who are trying to determine the cause of skin flare-ups. 

Eczema affects up to 20% of infants and 3% of children and adults. This itchy skin condition can flare-up for a variety of reasons including certain foods, certain materials or fabrics, household products such as soap, animal dander and even temperature changes. By tracking symptoms, people with eczema can more effectively manage and treat this condition.

The Eczema App is sponsored by Bayer Health Care, maker of Desonate, a topical steroid to treat eczema. While the app does promote Desonate as a treatment, users of the app should talk to their doctor about the best treatment for their condition.

Eczema Resources

Treat Eczema

It's a funny word that's easy to misspell, but for those dealing with eczema, there's nothing humorous about it. We've had our share of keeping fingernails super-short so as not to cause cuts when scratching. I once spent a small fortune on the softest sheets imaginable and I think I could buy a pony with all the money I've spent on special laundry detergents and moisturizers over the years.

It is very common for people with food and environmental allergies to also deal with some level of eczema. Here are a few of my favorite eczema related resources:

The National Eczema Association offers support and helpful tips. I really like their suggested list of cleansing and moisturizing products. Their patient conference will be held in Atlanta GA this summer.
The National Eczema Society has a great list of FAQ's.
The Mayo Clinic lists the symptoms, causes, treatments and more for anyone new to eczema.
Penny's World is a cartoon site for kids to learn all about eczema and how to treat it.
It's An Itchy Little World is a blog filled with tips and additional eczema resources.

Did I miss any of your favorite eczema places?

Food Allergy Presentations at Annual Conference in San Francisco

The American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) just wrapped up their annual conference in San Francisco. As always, many presentations addressed food allergy. I always look forward to information from this conference as we get the latest research and data.  Here are a few highlights:

In New Research Continues to Give Hope for Outgrowing Milk Allergy, researchers report that the median age for outgrowing milk allergy is two years of age.  Factors that may best predict the potential resolution of milk allergy include  lower milk IgE, a smaller wheal from the prick skin test and mild-none versus moderate-severe atopic dermatitis.

The presentation, When It Comes to Certain Allergies, Birth Order Matters, revealed that the incidence of food allergy decreased significantly as birth order increased. This would seem to indicate that your firstborn, or older children are more likely to have food allergies. While not the case in our family, this may give some relief to parents of food allergic children who want to have more children.

Children with More Severe Eczema Less Likely to Outgrow Milk, Egg Allergy gave information suggesting that child with no, or mild, atopic dermatitis were more likely to outgrow their egg or milk allergies.  


A presentation, Could Rural Environment Protect Against Food Allergy? showed that rural areas do seem to have less food allergy than urban areas. The next step, researchers say, is to find out what factors seem to provide this protection.


  

New Information About Eczema and Food Allergies

I had a sick feeling in my stomach when I read the discussion on food allergies presented at the 69th annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology last week. Dr. Jon Hanfin discussed the link between eczema and food allergy. He said that people with atopic dermatitis, or eczema, make larger amounts of IgE than any other groups of patients.

IgE is what is tested when we do blood tests for food allergies. In other words, people with eczema are, of course, going to have high IgE levels, indicating they may, or may not, have a food allergy.

Dr. Hanfin went on to say that children with eczema may only have a sensitization to a food, but they are being treated as though it is a food allergy. This leads us back to the recent thought that "only a food challenge can confirm a food allergy".

The sick feeling in my stomach worsened as I read on to the part about "withholding foods may actually be causing more allergies". So, a parent takes her baby with eczema to the doctor. Allergy tests are conducted and show the baby to be allergic to a bunch of foods. The doctor says to avoid all of these foods or the baby could have a severe allergic reaction. The parent(s) re-arrange their lives to avoid the foods and later find out that this avoidance may have caused food allergies.

I know this is all new information, but this has been our lives for over 10 years. We've been fortunate to recently discover that some of the foods my child has avoided (like almonds, shrimp, baked milk and baked egg) do not cause a reaction. I'm grateful for that, but now I wonder if any of the foods we avoided were necessary to avoid.

These "new discoveries" can't come fast enough for me. I want this figured out!

Listen to a podcast about the session and read the discussion of the presentation. What do you think?

Eczema Drugs Linked to Cancer Risk

There is a scary warning about two common drugs used for eczema. The FDA is recommending warning labels for the skin creams Elidel® and Protpic®. They may cause cancer.

I suspect that many of you were told, as we were, that these two creams were the best treatment on the market for our children's eczema, since they were non-steroid based. We switched to these creams when we noticed some loss of pigment on some areas of the leg. "That's from the steroid cream you're using to treat the eczema," our allergist said. Two new (at the time) creams were recommended to us.

Now we find out that these creams have caused cancer in animals involved in a study. Human study results will be unknown for 10 years.

So we wait?

If you are still using either cream, I suggest speaking to your allergist or dermatologist about risks and benefits. They are not being pulled off the market and doctors seem to believe they have a place in eczema treatment.

They are not, though, the "miracle drug" I was led to believe they were...