If you deal with the itching and burning of eczema you know all too well how uncomfortable it is. However, a solution may be found in the form of Chinese healing herbs.
Three new studies, presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, suggest that traditional Chinese herbal treatments might be helpful for both children and adults.
Eczema is the name used for a broad range of skin inflammation (dermatitis) and can happen at any age, though its most common in infants. By three years old eczema will disappear in half of infants, the others are stuck with the troublesome condition for life.
Up to 20% of children and from 1-2% of adults are thought to have this very uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing skin problem.
No one knows exactly what causes it, though an issue with the immune system could well be to blame... especially in the case of atopic dermatitis
A different form of eczema, known as contact dermatitis can be caused when the skin comes into contact with something in the environment like soap, clothing, detergent, cosmetics or jewelry (even sweat) that causes a reaction from the skin.
Eczema has also been known to flare because of changes in temperature or humidity, or even psychological stress.
When it comes to treatment, a doctor looks at the patient's age, overall health and type of eczema involved. Creams and ointments are often used to keep the skin hydrated, avoiding over bathing and making other lifestyle changes to stay away from triggers are also important to keeping this condition under control.
There are over the counter antihistamines that can be used to control the itch. Sometimes a short course of oral corticosteroids is used to manage an acute outbreak.
A pair of topical medications have been approved by the U.S. FDA: tacrolimus (Protopic) and pimecrolimus (Elidel). However, an FDA warning in 2005 about these drugs cited animal studies that linked them to some types of cancer. Because of this, your doctor will use these medications only as a second line therapy - after getting no response from other forms of treatment. Even if you are given these medications, you'll only take them for a short time.
Perhaps because of the need for relief not achieved from traditional treatments, as many as 30% of those with eczema have been prescribed traditional Chinese medication, though there are still questions about whether this non-western approach works, and is safe.
In an effort to address these concerns, researcher Julia Wisniewski, MD, of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York studied 14 children who had persistent eczema and were treated with traditional Chinese medicine between August 2006 and May 2008.
All the children drank Erka Shizheng Herbal Tea two times a day, soaked in an herbal bath for at least 20 minutes, and applied an herbal cream to their skin several times a day.
They also had acupuncture treatments. At the beginning of the study, more than half of the children had severe symptoms; after 8 months of this regime, most had mild symptoms. Participants also needed less medication (steroids, antibiotics and antihistamines) after only three months of being treated.
The herbal treatments were safe, and caused no abnormal liver or kidney function.
When it comes to adult eczema, a team of Japanese researchers found that grown ups can also benefit from traditional Chinese medicine.
This work involved 274 men and women who had dealt with eczema for an average of 12 years. About a third had symptoms that were classified as severe or very severe, with patches of chronically dry, itchy, inflamed skin over about ten percent of the body.
After three to four months of treatment with herbal remedies that had been selected and administered based on the subject's symptoms, 87% of the subjects were symptom free. Another 12% were very much improved. One patient in the study had mild abnormalities in liver function that resolved by stopping the herbal therapy.
The third study was conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Cincinnati who tried to find risk factors for developing childhood eczema by following 636 infants of parents with allergies.
By age 4, babies with parents who had eczema had double the risk of having the skin condition than did other infants. Babies who tested positive for egg allergies (a fairly well known link to eczema) at age 1, were four times more likely to have eczema at four years old.
Those who tested positive for cat allergies (and had a cat) at age 1, 2 or 3, were more than 13 times more likely to have eczema by age 4 than other children. Pollen was also shown to be a risk factor for eczema - children who tested positive for elm allergies at age 1, 2 or 3 had about three times the chance of having eczema by age four.
So if your little one has eczema and is around a cat (dogs seem to offer a protective effect) or you live in a wooded area, you may want to consider allergy testing.
In all areas, while more work is needed, these three studies offer encouraging results and suggest if you suffer with eczema, or know someone who does, then there may be answers for them in Chinese healing herbs or TCM.
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