Childhood Eczema Persists for Long and is Lifelong Illness

The symptoms of eczema persist well beyond childhood into the 20s, says a new study that knocks previous claims that children tend to outgrow eczema.

The study, led by David J. Margolis, M.D., Ph.D, of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, claims that children diagnosed with atopic dermatitis (AD or eczema), a chronic skin condition that appears in early childhood and is marked by itchy and inflamed red  skin, may have these symptoms in their 20s too.

The conditions is actually a lifelong illness with the disease showing no symptoms for a long  period and then suddenly flaring up.

 The inherited inflammatory skin condition appears in childhood and varies in both in severity and symptoms.  Children with this chronic skin condition suffer a high risk of developing food allergies, asthma and hay fever. .

For this study, the researchers observed 7,157 children who were a part of the Pediatric Eczema Elective Registry (PEER) study. Using this data they evaluated the frequency of symptoms over time. They noticed that the average age of the onset of AD was 2 years.

The researchers noticed that at every age i.e. 2-26 years, over 80 percent of the study participants developed symptoms of eczema or were using medication to treat the condition. During the five year follow up study, nearly 64 percent of the subjects never reported a six month period when they were free of the symptom while not using any medication. It was at age of 20 that nearly 50 percent of the subjects had a minimum of one six month period free of symptoms and treatment.

The authors recognized that some participants may have suffered from more severe and  persistent eczema.

"In conclusion, symptoms associated with AD seem to persist well into the second decade of a child's life and likely longer. Based on our findings, it is probable that AD does not fully resolve in most children with mild to moderate symptoms. Physicians who treat children with mild to moderate AD should tell children and their caregivers that AD is a lifelong illness with periods of waxing and waning skin problems," says the study authors.

The finding was documented in the JAMA Dermatology.