Atopic eczema is a highly
prevalent skin complaint throughout the world and researchers have
been looking for possible underlying causes. A number of studies
across the world have been carried out to determine the numbers of
children suffering with eczema and the likely causes, and these all
point the finger at the environment.
In one study, researchers
reviewed data relating to 1511 children aged 6 years from East and
West Germany and found that 15.7% of the children had had
physician-diagnosed eczema, 14.1% had neurodermatitis and 11.3% had
had an undiagnosed itchy rash for more than 6 months. Although these
results were higher than a comparative survey carried out in
England, the researchers believe that this could be down to the more
sensitive wording of the German questionnaire.
As so little is known about
the prevalence of atopic eczema outside Northern Europe, another
group of researchers in the UK (2) investigated the prevalence of
eczema symptoms throughout 56 countries to obtain an idea what the
different incidence rates were like around the world.
They found that of the 256,410
children aged 6 to 7 years in 90 centers and 458,623 children aged
13 to 14 years in 153 centers, the occurrence of eczema ranged
from
- less than 2 per cent in
Iran to over 16 per cent in Japan and Sweden in the 6 to 7 year
age range and
- less than 1 per cent in
Albania to over 17 per cent in Nigeria for the 13 to 14 year age
range.
The data also revealed that
there is a much higher incidence of childhood atopic eczema in
Australasia and Northern Europe, and lower in Eastern and Central
Europe and Asia.
As atopic eczema is a common
health problem for children and adolescents throughout the world,
these studies indicate that a more detailed investigation into the
environmental factors will provide a greater understanding of the
causes and treatments of this skin condition.
