Carolina Gomez Mena
Newspaper La Jornada
Friday June 10, 2022, p. 12
Atopic dermatitis is mistakenly related only to a skin problem, but it can become a systemic condition, warned José Antonio Ortega Martell, academic coordinator of the Mexican College of Pediatric Specialists in Clinical Immunology and Allergy (Compedia), who warned that this disease has been on the rise.
At a press conference, he stated that atopic dermatitis not only damages the skin, but is a systemic condition that damages other organs. Also, by having an allergic component, it is common for the patient to have other diseases that have the same origin, such as asthma or allergic rhinitis, which further complicates their quality of life.
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He explained that atopic dermatitis affects the basic functions of healthy skin
what is it like to give protection, sensitivity, stop excessive water evaporation, help us absorb compounds, vitamin production and temperature regulation
. All of them they can be lost if the skin becomes inflamed, and this is what happens with atopic dermatitis
.
admitted that we still have many doubts about the disease. It is estimated that up to 20 percent of the world population may have it and it is a little more frequent in children, since up to 30 percent of them may present it. In Latin America, up to 25 percent of children between 6 and 7 years old can have it and up to 30 percent in those between 13 and 14 years old.
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Atopic dermatitis is characterized by dry and sensitive skin; it is very easily irritated and very itchy, and this creates a vicious circle, because the itching can cause more irritation and that irritation more damage and itching
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Furthermore, it is multifactorial; this alteration in the skin barrier and a failure in the immune system favors inflammation, initially acute, but later it becomes chronic”.
It manifests with lesions called eczema, it is a skin that weeps, that oozes liquid, and that is irritated and sensitive, and very itchy; there may be exacerbations and remissions, it appears in the childhood stage, but it also does so in the adult
.
