Eczema atopic dermatitis is a chronic disorder, caused by hyperactive T cells of the immune system and an impaired skin barrier function. This condition is also known as eczema and atopic eczema.

The easiest way to try to explain what atopic dermatitis is is by comparing it to an allergy. In fact, eczema atopic dermatitis is often accompanied by various allergies, including asthma and hey-fever.

Food allergy is known to aggravate eczema in 35% of children. Adults, on the contrary, are not that prone to food allergies, but they are very susceptible to allergies provoked by dust, dust mites, and animal hair. In fact, allergies are found in 75% of patients, contributing to this dermatitis, among many other factors.

Atopic dermatitis looks different in different people, depending on their age, ethnicity, and many other factors. Some sufferers may go into a complete remission, while others may experience frequent flare ups with red skin, blisters, and oozing. If there is no flare up, their skin may look normal, or it may look thick and dry. Even the people who are in remission (complete improvement and disappearance of the visual manifestations of this disease) often have a dry skin that can be easily irritated.

Dry skin, harsh soaps, detergents, seasonal allergies, cold weather, and other factors are known to be able to bring out the skin manifestations again.

The first and foremost essential step to undertake is keeping your skin constantly moisturized. In fact, you might already know that infants rarely develop atopic dermatitis on their diaper area, since their skin in that area is constantly moisturized by the vapor accumulated in their diapers.

This dermatitis has many alternative names, including eczema and atopic dermatitis. However, eczema is a very general term that may refer to any type of skin inflammation and allergic rashes. Various types of eczema include: allergic, irritant, contact and nummular (coin-like) eczema. Atopic dermatitis generally is a more specific term to refer to three conditions that are hand-in-hand: allergies, asthma, and eczema (these components are not always present simultaneously, but the patient is prone to all three of these conditions).

Furthermore, the word dermatitis might also not be the best name for eczema atopic dermatitis, and most likely this name will change in the future. The word dermatitis means “inflammation of the skin”. However, atopic eczema is far from being just a skin inflammation. This skin inflammation is mediated by the genetically transmitted immune system alterations, paired with an altered skin structure. It’s probably better to call this disorder genetic immune dermatitis.

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