Complete Medical Guide for Disease Volume VII; Atopic Dermatitis

By Medical Professionals and National Institute of Health

Atopic dermatitis (AD, a type of eczema) is an inflammatory, chronically relapsing, non-contagious and pruritic (that is, itchy) skin disorder. It has been given names like "prurigo Besnier," "neurodermitis," "endogenous eczema," "flexural eczema," "infantile eczema," and "prurigo diathésique".
The skin of a patient with atopic dermatitis reacts abnormally and easily to irritants, food, and environmental allergens and becomes red, flaky and very itchy. It also becomes vulnerable to surface infections caused by bacteria. The skin on the flexural surfaces of the joints (for example inner sides of elbows and knees) are the most commonly affected regions in people.
Atopic dermatitis often occurs together with other atopic diseases like hay fever, asthma and allergic conjunctivitis. It is a familial and chronic disease and its symptoms can increase or disappear over time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781300104971

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Complete Medical Guide for Disease Volume VII; Atopic Dermatitis

Complete Medical Guide for Disease Volume VII; Atopic Dermatitis

By

Medical Professionals

National Institute of Health

Copyright © 2012 MedHealth

ISBN #: 978-1-300-10497-1

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Defining Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic (long-lasting) disease that affects the skin. It is not contagious; it cannot be passed from one person to another. The word dermatitis means inflammation of the skin. Atopic refers to a group of diseases in which there is often an inherited tendency to develop other allergic conditions, such as asthma and hay fever. In atopic dermatitis, the skin becomes extremely itchy. Scratching leads to redness, swelling, cracking, weeping clear fluid, and finally, crusting and scaling. In most cases, there are periods of time when the disease is worse (called exacerbations or flares) followed by periods when the skin improves or clears up entirely (called remissions). As some children with atopic dermatitis grow older, their skin disease improves or disappears altogether, although their skin often remains dry and easily irritated. In others, atopic dermatitis continues to be a significant problem in adulthood.

Atopic dermatitis is often referred to as eczema, which is a general term for the several types of inflammation of the skin. Atopic dermatitis is the most common of the many types of eczema. Several have very similar symptoms. Types of eczema are described below.

Incidence and Prevalence of Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis is very common. It affects males and females at about the same rate. Although atopic dermatitis may occur at any age, it most often begins in infancy and childhood. Scientists estimate that 65