Dermatitis / Eczema

To prevent contact dermatitis, it is essential to avoid those products and substances that irritate your skin. There is going to be a lot of individual variation in this, since each of us reacts differently to the chemicals in common products.

Dermatitis (Eczema) can take many different forms. Some of the more common types of dermatitis are:

• Atopic dermatitis is particularly prevalent in children; inherited factors seem important, as there is nearly always a family history of dermatitis or asthma.

Because there are no cures for allergies, it is important to know the most common triggers for allergies caused by indoor and outdoor air, triggers for allergies involving the eyes and skin, for food and drug allergies, for insect, and latex allergies.

Editor's Note:

"Race" is sometimes mentioned as a risk factor in the development of certain cancers and a number of other diseases. When you read this in a discussion about an illness, note that the explanation seldom refers to anything biological. Instead, it usually refers to behavior, such as eating habits. The kinds of behavior usually mentioned as risk factors are culturally determined. They are not genetic or biological.

This Greenpeace article explains the meaning of persistent and bioaccumulative chemicals in our environment, how they enter our bodies, and the effect they may have on our lives.

Knowing that these chemicals have the potential to cause irreversible effects such as cancer or genetic damage should be enought to raise our concern. Knowing that we may pass health problems on to our newborns should make us change some of our ideas about our environment.

A new Mayo Clinic study lists the most common causes of allergic contact dermatitis, a skin inflammation resulting in swollen, reddened and itchy skin due to direct contact with an allergen.