Get the tools and support you need to best manage your eczema Improvement with Vitamin D SupplementsDear NEA Scratch Pad: Since my recent diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency and subsequent therapy with supplements, my eczema flares have disappeared and my rash is clearing! My diagnosis was made in March and coincided with your article “Vitamin D: Hype or Healer?” by Peter A. Lio, MD, published in the first quarter 2011 issue of The Advocate, I was skeptical! But now, with vitamin D supplements of 4000 per day and my health improving, I have hope for the first time in my life. I feel better now than I have felt in over 30 years. I am 69 years old and have had eczema my whole life. I live in a sunny climate, in Texas, and have had a lifetime of exposure to the sun. Thanks for continuing to inform for the sake of people like me, who have suffered all their life with this disease. Do you have a story or tip to share about what’s helped with your eczema? Email us your Scratch Pad tip so that we may publish it and help others!
The recommendations contained in the Scratch Pad are those of the contributor. NEA provides health information from a variety of sources; this information is not intended as medical advice. Persons with questions regarding specific symptoms or treatments should consult a professional health-care provider. Please click here to return to the Scratch Pad main page The latest eczema news and research, delivered straight to your inbox ZIP / Postal Code Related to Children's Health Vitamin D Might Help Kids With Eczema Researchers saw some improvement in winter-related symptoms By Mary Elizabeth Dallas FRIDAY, Oct. 17, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Daily vitamin D supplements might help children with eczema that gets worse in the winter, a new study suggests. When eczema, a chronic inflammatory skin disorder, flares up in the winter it's known as winter-related atopic dermatitis. Researchers found vitamin D significantly reduced the uncomfortable symptoms associated with this disorder.
"While we don't know the exact proportion of patients with atopic dermatitis whose symptoms worsen in the winter, the problem is common," said study leader Dr. Carlos Camargo, of Massachusetts General Hospital's department of emergency medicine. "In this large group of patients, who probably had low levels of vitamin D, taking daily vitamin D supplements -- which are inexpensive, safe and widely available -- proved to be quite helpful," he said in a hospital news release. A common treatment for severe atopic dermatitis is the controlled use of ultraviolet light, which stimulates production of vitamin D in the skin, the study's authors said. In conducting their research, they explored the possibility that vitamin D deficiency -- the so-called sunshine vitamin -- could help explain why the condition often gets worse during winter. The study, conducted with the help of scientists at the Health Sciences University of Mongolia, involved 107 Mongolian children between the ages of 2 and 17 from nine outpatient clinics in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.
All of the children had atopic dermatitis that flared up in cold weather or during the transition from fall to winter. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: those who received a 1000 IU daily dose of vitamin D and those who received a placebo. The children's symptoms were evaluated when the study began, and one month later when it ended. The children's parents were also asked whether or not they felt their child's skin condition had improved. The study, published in the October issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, revealed the children who received the vitamin D supplements had an average 29 percent improvement in their symptoms. In contrast, the children who received the placebo had a 16 percent improvement. Although the study authors did not determine whether or not the children in the study had a vitamin D deficiency when the study began, they pointed out that another larger study involving Mongolian children found 98 percent had low levels of vitamin D.
The researchers said it was very likely the children in their study also had this deficiency. Although more studies are needed to determine if vitamin D could help adults and children with year-round symptoms of atopic dermatitis, the researchers concluded children with symptoms that get worse during the winter months could try a vitamin D supplement for a few weeks to see if their condition improves. They advised parents to discuss the benefits of vitamin D and the findings with their child's doctor. Review backs vitamin D supplements as eczema remedy Sufferers of atopic dermatitis are more likely to have low serum vitamin D levels and vitamin D supplements could be a new way to combat the common skin condition, a review has said. Researchers from the Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea found that blood vitamin D levels of sufferers of atopic dermatitis – the most common form of eczema – was on average 2.03 nanograms (ng) per milliliter (mL) lower across all age groups compared to healthy controls.
Looking at children alone, this difference was more marked at 3.03 ng/mL lower for those with the skin condition.They also found evidence of a significant decrease in symptoms of the condition after vitamin D supplementation. Vitamin D supplements were explored as a possible strategy against eczema in a Cochrane review back in 2012Yet this review said available evidence was poor quality and results were unconvincing.The results of this latest Korean review were based on meta-analysis of seven observational studies on serum D levels and atopic dermatitis, and four randomised controlled trials on vitamin D supplementation as a treatment for sufferers. The Korean researchers said their meta-analysis pointed to vitamin D as a potential new treatment, but urged caution because the review included only a small adult sample. They called for large-scale clinical trials to pinpoint specific mechanisms behind the link. Need for novel treatmentsSufferers of the condition, which causes the skin to become itchy, red, dry and cracked, are often given steroid creams as a treatment.
“These classic treatments are focused on reducing skin inflammation, but their potential side effects and poor patient adherence indicate the importance of finding new therapeutic options,” the researchers wrote in the journal Nutrients. Steroid creams, or corticosteroids, reduce skin inflammation and irritation. Yet long-term use of very potent creams can lead to thinning of the skin and changes in skin colour. 5-20% An international study in the 1990s reported that the condition affects 5–20% of children and 1%–3% adults worldwide, with this prevalence increasing in industrialised countries. The figures were based on data for 256,410 children aged six to seven years in 90 different centres and 458,623 children aged 13 to 14 years in 153 centres.Prevalence of symptoms of atopic eczema ranged from less than 2% in Iran to over 16% in Japan and Sweden in the six to seven year age range and less than 1% in Albania to over 17% in Nigeria for the 13 to 14 year age range.Australasia and Northern Europe saw the higher prevalence while Eastern and Central Europe and Asia saw the lowest.
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