|
Having an infectious illness in the first six months of life slightly increases the risk of developing eczema. The hygiene hypothesis is the theory that allergic diseases like asthma and eczema (atopic dermatitis) are common because our immune systems haven't developed according to plan. And the reason, the proponents say, is that we grow up in such a clean environment, and that we're not exposed to enough germs. So we have white blood cells all dressed up with nowhere to party but our noses, lungs and skin. But with atopic dermatitis, obvious infections may not be the culprits. Over 24,000 pairs of Danish mothers and children were followed from before the child was born until 18 months of age. Having an infectious illness in the first six months was not protective. In fact it slightly increased the risk of developing eczema. What was protective was having more brothers and sisters around, going into day care as a baby, having pets or living on a farm. There is supportive evidence from elsewhere and there's probably more than one explanation if it's real. It still could be infections but with germs that don't cause obvious illness and it could also be early exposure to allergy causing substances which could train the immune system not to get over excited by them.
|
