How This Outdoor Enthusiast Successfully Managed Backpacking with Eczema
Amanda Campbell shares how she successfully managed her eczema during one of the toughest backpacking hikes in the United States.
Published On: Aug 28, 2024
Last Updated On: Aug 28, 2024
Eczema research continues to advance rapidly with new treatments and groundbreaking studies underway. Part of our mission at the National Eczema Association (NEA) is to support and contribute to these critical advances in how we understand and treat this complex condition.
To inform our Research Trend Report, we asked members of our research team what recent developments in the broader eczema world they’re most excited about, helping everyone stay up to date on the latest news in eczema research. Here’s what they had to say:
Exciting new research: Recently, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a new database called the All of Us Research Program. The All of Us Research Program collects health data from over 800,000 people across the United States, with an aim to reach one million. This data includes electronic health records (the digital records kept by doctors), biosamples like bloodwork and urine tests, genomic data, surveys and data from wearable devices, like FitBit.
Why this matters: With over 80% of participants coming from groups traditionally underrepresented in biomedical research, the All of Us project ensures a diverse and representative sample that promises to unveil new and impactful connections in health research.
Large-scale databases like these help researchers to consider different angles, uncover exciting new connections and answer broader questions for patient communities. “Currently, there are over 10,000 All of Us participants with atopic dermatitis (AD). This is going to lead to an exciting new wave of discoveries and insights!” said Allison Loiselle, PhD, senior manager of data science and research at NEA.
Exciting new research: Three recent articles utilizing the All of Us Research Program found associations between AD and contact dermatitis, hypertension and hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol) and inflammatory bowel disease.1–3
“One of the most exciting ways that databases like these can be used is to find out if different health conditions are related to each other,” said Loiselle. Researchers do this “cross-sectionally,” or by looking at data from a population at a specific point in time. “For example, they can see which conditions seem to occur more frequently in people with AD than those without AD. Typically, they use the large amount of supporting data to ‘control’ for any other factors that might influence whether or not someone gets the condition in question (like sex, race or smoking),” said Loiselle.
What they found: Researchers found that people with AD had over four times the odds of having contact dermatitis than people without AD. This is important because the relationship between these two conditions is poorly understood. There are theories that AD patients might have an increased contact sensitivity or that the immune dysregulation and skin barrier disruption of AD makes them more susceptible to contact dermatitis.
People with AD were also found to be around twice as likely to have hypertension and hyperlipidemia than people without AD. Previous studies on these associations have shown conflicting results. The study authors propose that systemic inflammation and sleep disturbances may contribute to the development of these two conditions.
Another study demonstrated that individuals with AD have an approximately twofold increase in odds of having inflammatory bowel disease, and were also more likely to have Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. The authors proposed that stress, inflammation and certain genes identified in both conditions may be the cause of the association.
Why this matters: Identifying associations with other health conditions demonstrates the multifaceted burdens that patients with AD face, and helps to inform a holistic treatment approach. By understanding these relationships, researchers can start to understand more about what causes or contributes to AD, and to potentially identify targets for future therapies.
“Since AD patients may only be seeing a dermatologist regularly and not a primary care doctor, there may be a need for appropriate screening of certain conditions in AD care settings to improve clinical outcomes overall,” said Loiselle.
Exciting new research: Several studies have identified disparities in medical care based on race, ethnicity and sexual and gender status for various chronic inflammatory skin diseases, including AD. However, the impact of these factors on health-related quality of life has not been well-studied.
Using the All of Us database, one paper looked at the quality of life impact from both financial (cost-related) barriers and non-financial (non-cost related) barriers to receiving care across multiple chronic inflammatory skin diseases (acne, AD, hidradenitis suppurativa, psoriasis and rosacea).4
The study looked at factors that participants reported as ‘cost barriers,’ such as delaying physician care (i.e., not filling a prescription due to not being able to afford the cost). It also studied ‘non-cost’ barriers, which included transportation issues, not being able to take time off from work for care visits, delaying care because a provider does not share the same race, religion or language or not always being treated with respect by providers.
What they found: Overall they found that patients who experienced one or more of these barriers had twice the likelihood of poorer health-related quality of life across all the diseases examined.
Why this matters: Understanding what contributes to negative health-related quality of life impact is important to address health disparities. “Healthcare providers, and in particular dermatologists who see many patients affected by chronic inflammatory skin diseases should be aware of these real-world cost and non-cost factors that affect care and outcomes,” said Wendy Smith Begolka, MBS, chief strategy officer of research, medical and community affairs at NEA.
If you have eczema or love someone who does, don’t miss your chance to take part in ongoing eczema research and help inform what happens next. Learn more about opportunities to get involved in eczema research.
References:
1. Sandler M, Chen LC, Yu J. The Association Between Atopic Dermatitis and Allergic Contact Dermatitis: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Using the All of Us Research Program. Dermatitis. 2024. doi:10.1089/derm.2024.0033
2. Craver AE, Chen GF, Cohen JM. Association between atopic dermatitis and hypertension and hyperlipidemia: A cross-sectional study in the All of Us Research Program. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2024;90(4):819-821. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2023.11.026
3. Marina Z Joel, William Damsky, Jeffrey M Cohen, Mitchel Wride, Association between atopic dermatitis and inflammatory bowel disease among US adults in the All of Us Research Program, Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, 2024;49(4):390–392. doi:10.1093/ced/llad397
4. Nock, M.R., Barbieri, J.S. & Cohen, J.M. Barriers to care and health-related quality of life among US adults with several common chronic inflammatory skin diseases: a cross-sectional analysis of the NIH All of Us Research Program. Arch Dermatol Res. 2024;316(201). doi:10.1007/s00403-024-02954-w
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