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Unlocking The Secret Link Between Asthma and Eczema

Doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO have found the connection between eczema and asthma. It is observed that young children do suffer from asthma after facing eczema attack, a skin disease.

This finding of researchers came into limelight after the publication of article in Public Library of Science Biology. Researchers found that the damaged skin secretes a peculiar substance which triggers symptoms of asthma in the body of children when the substance circulates in the whole body.

The on-going research is trying to see whether asthma development in children can be stopped by offering skin treatment at early stage. As per Raphael Kopan, professor of developmental biology and dermatology at Washington University, almost fifty to seventy percent young children develop asthma after eczema. This is in contrast to overall figures of asthma cases in general citizens where only 7 percent adults have asthma and 9 percent of children suffer from the disease.

The connection between these two diseases has been termed as ‘atopic march’ by Kopan and his fellow researchers. In his statement, Kopan stated that the whole clinical community could not give proper description of this atopic march. He added that his team discovered the connection only after doing a research on mice where they found a substance secreted by its skin. After further investigation, Kopan and his team discovered similar asthma responses in mice showing the substance called TSLP (Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin) as the main link between asthma and eczema.