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Defining Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic (long-lasting) disease that affects the skin. The word “dermatitis” means inflammation of the skin. “Atopic” refers to a group of diseases that are hereditary (that is, run in families) and often occur together, including asthma, allergies such as hay fever, and atopic dermatitis. In atopic dermatitis, the skin becomes extremely itchy and inflamed, causing redness, swelling, cracking, weeping, crusting, and scaling.

Atopic dermatitis most often affects infants and young children, but it can continue into adulthood or first show up later in life. In most cases, there are periods of time when the disease is worse, called exacerbations or flares, followed by periods when the skin improves or clears up entirely, called remissions. Many children with atopic dermatitis will experience a permanent remission of the disease when they get older, although their skin often remains dry and easily irritated. Environmental factors can bring on symptoms of atopic dermatitis at any time in the lives of individuals who have inherited the atopic disease trait.

Atopic dermatitis is often referred to as “eczema,” which is a general term for the many types of dermatitis. Atopic dermatitis is the most common of the many types of eczema. Several have very similar symptoms. Types of eczema are described below.

Types of Eczema (Dermatitis)

• Atopic dermatitis: a chronic skin disease characterized by itchy, inflamed skin
• Contact eczema: a localized reaction that includes redness, itching, and burning where the skin has come into contact with an allergen (an allergy-causing substance) or with an irritant such as an acid, a cleaning agent, or other chemical
• Allergic contact eczema (dermatitis): a red, itchy, weepy reaction where the skin has come into contact with a substance that the immune system recognizes as foreign, such as poison ivy or certain preservatives in creams and lotions
• Seborrheic eczema: yellowish, oily, scaly patches of skin on the scalp, face, and occasionally other parts of the body
• Nummular eczema: coin-shaped patches of irritated skin—most common on the arms, back, buttocks, and lower legs—that may be crusted, scaling, and extremely itchy
• Neurodermatitis: scaly patches of skin on the head, lower legs, wrists, or forearms caused by a localized itch (such as an insect bite) that becomes intensely irritated when scratched
• Stasis dermatitis: a skin irritation on the lower legs, generally related to circulatory problems
• Dyshidrotic eczema: irritation of the skin on the palms of hands and soles of the feet characterized by clear, deep blisters that itch and burn

You might be interested in reading the HealthyNJ section on Dermatitis as well as these pages on Eczema. To read the rest of this excellent article on eczema, please go to the Federal Consumer Information Center, or click here: http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/health/atopic-dermatitis/defining.html