Skin appearance Moisture loss in infants indicates atopic dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis patients have skin barrier problems as young children
Around four million people in Germany are affected by the chronic inflammatory skin disease eczema. The majority of them are children. Researchers have now found that the risk of atopic dermatitis later in infancy can be shown, namely by a strong loss of moisture of the skin.

Four million Germans suffer from atopic dermatitis
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), eczema is "one of the most common childhood and adolescent diseases". According to the German Skin and Allergy Aid, a total of around four million people in Germany are affected. The chronic inflammatory skin disease is usually associated with severe itching, dry, flaky and reddened skin. Scientists have now discovered that the risk of atopic dermatitis can be detected in infants before they develop typical symptoms.

Researchers have found that the later risk of atopic dermatitis can already be seen in infants. An indication of this is a heavy moisture loss of the skin. (Image: Marco / fotolia.com)

Disruption of the skin barrier
Scottish scientists, who recently reported a revolutionary treatment option for atopic dermatitis, said recent studies have shown how important an intact natural skin barrier is to preventing eczema. This barrier could be affected for example by genetic errors, environmental factors or bacterial infections.

Norwegian researchers have now discovered that even in infants, the skin barrier disorder can be identified as a severe loss of moisture in the skin, even before the symptoms of atopic dermatitis appear.

High moisture loss of the skin
Like the scientists around Dr. Teresa Løvold Berents from the University of Oslo, Norway, in the journal British Journal of Dermatology, reports that eczema patients, even as children, have skin barrier problems, even if they have not yet developed any signs of eczema.

According to this, the skin already suffers at this age from a high loss of moisture, which is probably later cause of the development of eczema.

The Association of Paediatricians (BVKJ) writes on its website "kinderaerzte-im-netz.de" that infants, who are affected by this disorder up to the age of three months, according to the researchers at the age of two years have an increased risk of developing atopic dermatitis.

Good predictive value
The team used data from a cohort of babies from Southeastern Norway for their work. The children's examinations during two visits to the middle age of six and 24 months also recorded the skin's moisture loss.

It was found that 19 out of 116 children (16 percent) had developed eczema at the second appointment. According to the information, the loss of moisture in the skin during the first three months of life was a good predictor of this.

According to a report from the HealthDay web portal, the study authors said, "This suggests that skin barrier dysfunction may be present in infants before signs of atopic dermatitis emerge." (Ad)