By C. H. Barton
Special to Inside
From the National Institutes of Health to the Cleveland Clinic, many of the nation's top medical authorities have made a link between two conditions that affect millions of children: eczema and asthma. Now, physicians at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital are studying an investigational medication to treat eczema in infants, and to learn if it can help prevent or delay the onset of asthma.
Eczema affects more than 17 percent of children in the U.S., and nearly half of those children develop the condition by the time they are six months old. It is a common disease characterized by red, itchy skin, oozing and blisters. The symptoms of eczema are sometimes triggered by environmental factors such as dust. Sweaty activities, stress or quick changes of temperature also may cause itching.
Children with eczema may experience sleep disturbances, have difficulty adjusting at school, and be excessively shy or dependent. Parents, too, may suffer from greater sleep deprivation as a result.
Asthma, meanwhile, is the most serious chronic childhood illness, affecting nearly five million children in the U.S. Characterized by coughing, chest tightness, shortness of breath and wheezing, asthma is the cause of almost three million physician visits and 200,000 hospitalizations each year. The estimated cost of treating asthma in children under 18 years of age is $3.2 billion.
"The medication we are investigating is approved for treating eczema in children two and older. Now we are studying its effect on infants between three and 18 months," said Amy Paller, M.D., Professor of Dermatology and Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of Dermatology at the Children's Memorial Hospital of Northwestern University Medical School. "We know that babies with eczema and a family history of allergic diseases have a 50 percent chance of developing asthma as they grow older. So, we want to see if we can prevent or delay the asthma by treating the eczema."
Children's Memorial Hospital is seeking families to participate in the study. To be eligible, an infant must be between three and 18 months of age, have had eczema for less than three months, and have a parent or sibling with a history of eczema, allergies or asthma. All study-related care will be provided at no charge to qualified participants, including physical examinations, laboratory services and study medication. For more information, call (773) 327-3326. |
