The relentless itch, angry red rashes, and scaly skin aren’t the only burdens kids with eczema bear.
New research suggests these children, already at higher risk of asthma and skin infections, are more prone to learning disabilities, memory issues, and other cognitive struggles compared to those without the tormenting skin condition.
The findings shed light on eczema’s potential to disrupt young minds in addition to blemish bodies.
Childhood Eczema Explained
Eczema, or atopic dermatitis (AD), affects 15 percent to 20 percent of children worldwide. While it can occur at any age, symptoms usually start in childhood and persist into adulthood.
AD is an immune system abnormality—the result of an overreaction by the immune system—with a strong genetic component that runs in families. It’s part of the atopic spectrum, including conditions like asthma and hay fever.
Childhood eczema can manifest with various symptoms, including dry, scaly, or rough skin patches, itching, redness, skin cracks or fissures, and oozing or weeping lesions in severe cases.
There is no cure, but treating the symptoms involves “aggressive moisturizing” with gentle washes, creams, and lotions, Dr. Russell J. Kilpatrick, a board-certified dermatologist, told The Epoch Times. Steroid and anti-inflammatory creams and ointments are also prescribed, he added. Severe cases may require systemic treatments like injectable dupilumab (Dupixent) or other immunosuppressive medications.
Previous research has linked childhood eczema to neurodevelopmental conditions like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism but relied on prior diagnoses rather than examining the direct impact of eczema symptoms on cognitive function.
Eczema’s Neurological Impacts in Kids
For the new study, published in March in JAMA Dermatology, researchers directly diagnosed patients with AD, learning disabilities, developmental delays, and ADHD to inform their findings.
Using data from the 2021 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a national household health survey that has been ongoing since 1957, the researchers included everyone 17 years old or younger without an intellectual disability or autism diagnosis.
The participants were diagnosed with AD, learning disabilities, developmental delays, and ADHD based on responses to related direct questions.
Since the NHIS randomly selects one child per surveyed household for whom a parent or caregiver gives information, researchers used weight adjustments to determine population estimates. Using this method, they found that their sample of nearly 8,000 children represented a weighted total of about 70 million children. Using this weighted population, they determined that 9.2 million (13.2 percent) had AD.
The study findings showed that compared to children who didn’t have AD, those with it experienced a greater number of cognitive issues. This included being 11.3 percent more likely to have ADHD, 7.8 percent greater chance of developmental delays, and they had learning disabilities 7.5 percent more often.
Researchers also found that in comparison to children without AD, those with it had up to an 11 percent greater chance of experiencing learning difficulties and memory problems.
The findings also suggest that AD is associated with two to three times greater odds of memory difficulties in children who were also diagnosed with any type of neurodevelopmental disorder. However, no association between AD and memory or learning difficulties in children without these disorders was found.
A significant limitation of this study is that it relied on reports from caregivers, which the researchers noted could be biased. Still, the findings may impact the screening of children with AD. “These findings may improve the risk stratification of children with AD for cognitive impairment and suggest that evaluation for cognitive impairment should be prioritized among children with AD and comorbid ADHD or a learning disability,” the authors wrote.
Eczema’s Ties to Modern Living
One in 10 Americans will develop eczema, a condition that takes up to two years to diagnose in adults. Childhood eczema rates have been rising since 1997. Interestingly, children born outside the United States have a 50 percent lower risk, but living in the United States for over 10 years increases their risk, according to research.
The higher risk of AD in high-income countries may stem from greater exposure to factors prevalent in resource-rich environments, including:
- Increased exposure to environmental allergens: Higher air pollution levels in developed countries expose people to more allergens that can trigger AD flare-ups.
- Lifestyle and diet: Diets high in processed foods and sugar, coupled with sedentary habits, can promote inflammation and disrupt proper immune system function.
- Hygiene hypothesis: Some research has suggested that reduced microbe exposure in early childhood may disrupt the skin and gut microbiomes. Early exposure to microbes helps the immune system develop properly. The immune system must interact with microbes to learn how to tolerate harmless ones while fighting harmful germs. When children don’t get exposed to enough different microbes early on, their immune systems may get thrown off balance, increasing risks for allergies, asthma, and autoimmune diseases.
- Vaccination: Vaccine timing may also play a role, as delaying the first dose of the DTaP-IPV-Hib vaccine—which protects against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, and Haemophilus influenzae type B—by over a month reduced eczema risk by 6 percent in one study.