Why have so many kids got eczema?

[Solveitch]

Hi all

I was speaking to my Father-in-law tonight and he asked me why eczema was so predominant in children these days? I couldn't anser him - can anyone? I suppose the more you think, either because it didn't affect us before, it didn't seem such a big problem, whereas now, if we have children with eczema it affects us, therefore is such a part of our life. I'd be interested to hear anyone's views (so I can get back to my father-in-law)

Thanks
Tracey

expatkat...i have exactly the same experience as you. My dd has moderate to bad excema in the uk. It completely disappears within a week of being in the usa. It also disappears within a few days of arriving in Italy. Her diet doesn't change as we cook much the same food in all the different countries (and as many of you know I don't do organic, but do feed them a healthy mediterranean diet with few processed fews). I am fairly sure it has something to do with the water. My dd is always much worse after a bath. Though being on an airplane exacerbates it terribly (in an 11 hour flight she can go from clear skin to bleeding and cracked).

I suspect that it's not necessarily that there are more cases of excema, but rather that it is more recognized/diagnosed. People probably bathe a lot more nowadays than they did 50 years ago. And that may well have something to do with it.

Extraordinary that SofiaAmes and Expatkat both have this eczema/uk thing going on.

SA, the allergy specialists say it's not just better diagnosis, there really has been an explosion in the number of people in this country with asthma/eczema/food allergy.

actually, a few people on the old ezcema group said their kis skin cleared up when on holiday out of the uk.

Eczema is less prevalent in coastal areas and areas with soft water in the UK. I think there is a study into this at the moment in Newcastle.

Toddlerbob, your hunch is one that some allergists are trying to study. I went to a seminar by Janice Joneja and she suggested that if 2 or 3 subsequent generations breastfed that atopic allergies would be reduced. I am also of the early-weaned generation and I wonder ifmthis has any bearing on the next generation. And scientific research is also being carried out into using mare's milk as the base for infant formula given how difficult it is to digest cow's milk. Apparently mare's milk is closer to breastmilk in compostion than cow's milk. Also probiotics in the last trimester of pg and first 6 months of infant life is one of the few 'alternative' treatments that the BMA refer to in their eczema guide as being scientifically proven to reduce the incidence of eczema. My ds's eczema appeared within a few weeks of weaning ...... am told by HPs that this is just coincidence ..?

Dd (3) has eczema, but ds (5) doesn't. Dh has asthma and eczema. He says his grandad had a bad chest, and grandma had bad skin and he got both. So I guess it is genetic for us. I just hope we skip the asthma...

I think dd's excema started to worsen soon after I stopped breastfeeding at about 22 months

The environment gets my vote. Ds developed terrible eczema as a baby in London and we moved to Spain in a desperate bid to heal him. It worked. We chose not to stay in Spain but didnt want to return to London as we were both sure the pollution/air/water quality was a big factor in our ds' health so we moved to Bournemouth - the coastal air is much cleaner than London and the pollen count is much lower - I am convinced this helps us and he is now largely eczema-free. We keep the central heating low to keep the air moist, we have no carpets to cut down on dust, we mostly eat organic unprocessed food too. All these things seem to help.

I always thought it was related to the genetic pool of the English (very white and delicate skin) but I have olive skin and so does my husband and DS had very severe eczema. I think it may be related to the pollution we are exposed to in these days, but I do also suspect there's something with the water. Everytime we have somebody with sensitive skin visiting from abroad, they come out of the shower complaining about the water.

The worst affected child I know is Bangladeshi. There goes the sensitive English skin theory.

I always think asthma rates have risen as a result of indoor air pollution. Don't know enuf about eczema... but I wonder if causes could be similar. Lifesytles in this country have changed a lot in last 50 years -- specifically, people travel by car most the time, shun the outdoors at all costs, get very little fresh air, stink up their (double glazed, well-insulated) houses with "air freshioners" and all the perfumes from cleaning products... The English r pretty prissy & zealous about perceived cleanliness. In public loos today a little girl was complaining about the smell (awful disinfectant). Her mother kept saying what a good smell it was, how that mean the loos were "clean". It meant no such thing, it meant somebody poured lots of some chemical around...

hi solveitch, soory havent read all posts so may be repeating...after speaking to my doc last week about dd's dry sking/baby excema, he said more than one in three babies get it now and is to do with the area we live and the pollution all around us.
i live in the north east and although not as bad as some peoples dd's and ds's on this site is enough to be concerned about.
think i need to move to barbados or somewhere..better air, better quality of life...who's coming?