Eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, is a chronic condition that affects the skin. This condition is not contagious; it cannot be passed from one person to another. The word dermatitis means skin's inflammation. The term atopic involves a group of conditions where there is usually a genetic tendency to acquire other allergic conditions, like asthma and hay fever. In eczema, the skin turns unusually itchy. Scratching leads to redness, weeping clear fluid, swelling, cracking, and finally, crusting and scaling. As some children with eczema grow older, their skin disease improves or disappears completely, although their skin usually remains dry and easily irritated. In others, eczema continues to be a significant problem in adulthood.

There are no recognized causes for eczema, but the condition seems to appear from a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Children are more prone to acquire this disorder if allergic conditions like asthma or hay fever affect, or have affected, one or both parents. While some individuals outgrow skin symptoms, approximately three out of four children with eczema go on to acquire asthma or hay fever. Environmental elements can bring on symptoms of eczema at any time in individuals who have inherited the atopic condition trait.

Eczema is also associated with a failure of the body's immune system: the system that identifies and helps fight viruses and bacteria that attack the organism. Scientists have found that people with eczema have a low level of a cytokine protein that is essential to the healthy function of the organism's immune mechanism and an elevated level of other cytokines that lead to allergic responses. The immune mechanism can become confused and produce dermatitis even in the absence of a major infection.

In the past, doctors thought that the cause of eczema was an emotional condition. We now know that emotional issues, like stress, can make the condition worse, but they do not cause the condition.

Also, a wide variety of skin care solutions include preservatives. Patients who are sensible to one of such preservatives can have either localized or widespread dermatitis. Antigen-avoidance lists that optimize patient instruction about what chemicals to avoid are available from the manufacturers of patch test allergens. With these printed guidelines alone, people must read skin care product labels carefully, looking for the names of the allergens as recognized by patch tests as well as for any cross-reactors and synonyms of these allergens. After an allergen has been identified, a nurse can play a key role in helping people understand their dermatitis and its treatment. Nurses are in a perfect position to spend time educating people about how to discover the origin of certain allergens and, subsequently, how to avoid them.

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