Eczema is one irritating disease where various levels of it affect almost 31.6 % of people in the USA. Eczema is characterized by the itchy and inflamed skin which becomes red, cracked and rough. In many cases, it graduates to blisters and looks like scaly patches of skin.
Eczema is actually atopic dermatitis which is the most common form of eczema where atopic relates to the immune system. While eczema can be triggered by various factors like pollen and smoke, it is aggravated by things like allergic food, smoking, stress hot and cold temperatures. However, science has now managed to pinpoint the exact cause of eczema.
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Till now eczema was considered an incurable disease. While some outgrow the condition, others have to manage it lifelong. There is no effective cure and treatments are based on managing flare-ups and providing relief from the condition.
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However, today there is hope for all those suffering from this condition as scientists have now identified various culprits in the skin of eczema patients. They believe that certain processes in the skin may be going wrong and this will help establish and pinpoint the exact problem which will then lead research to develop an effective cure for eczema.
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In 2006, a strong link was identified by research that was a common factor between people with eczema who seemed to be lacking in a certain skin protein. Using this information, scientist started a further investigation to develop the exact process that was going wrong in the skin and leading to the condition of eczema.
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The results of the ongoing research since then is proving extremely promising for scientists who are now even closer to an eczema cure as never before. This will be good news for the thousands of eczema sufferers where almost 20% of children and 3 % around the world suffer from the disease.
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The only advantage about eczema is the hundreds of skin creams and topical solutions formulated that can bring immense relief to the condition; however, there is no proper cure for the disease. Now perhaps within a few years, victims of eczema will get freedom from the condition.
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If there is one thing scientists know about eczema in the last ten years, it is that eczema is a genetic problem where the lack of a protein in the skin called filaggrin (filament aggregating protein) is creating the condition. Filaggrin is vital in acting as a barrier in skin function and contributes to shaping of individual cells.
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Those with a genetic condition lacking in filaggrin are at high risk of developing eczema or ichthyosis vulgaris where there is no shedding of skin cells. This causes a pile-up of dead cells that resemble the fish scale pattern character. Previously science had no clue as to the lack of filaggrin actually leading to eczema. But now that is all set to change as new evidence as thrown much light on the process.
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The latest collaborative study between Newcastle University UK and GSK Stiefel identified molecular pathways and a series of proteins that was creating this dreaded problem. Lead research from Newcastle University Nick Reynolds said "We have shown for the first time that loss of the filaggrin protein alone is sufficient to alter key proteins and pathways involved in triggering eczema,"
The process to track down these proteins used a 3D lab created living skin model where the top layer of the skin was intentionally made to lack filaggrin similar to people who were afflicted with the mutation.
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The scientists then observed how filaggrin deficiency was responsible for changes in the molecular structure of various regulating mechanisms in the skin. These were mechanisms like the barrier function of a cell structure and how cells were affected by stress and got inflamed. It is widely considered that stress is one of the triggers of eczema. Thus stress combined with filaggrin deficiency was a sure shot risk of the condition. Inflammation because of ill-functioning skin barriers also triggered eczema.
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In the entire process, no less than 17 proteins were identified after removing filaggrin in ever LSE culture. The findings were then compared with an analysis of actual protein samples taken from the skin of humans with eczema and again a comparison between those results and the skin of healthy humans.
Among the identified proteins from skin samples of humans with eczema, only those afflicted with eczema were altered in the structure exactly in the same way as the demonstration from the LSE or lab model.
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More research is necessary to pinpoint now the exact molecular pathways of the entire process in the absence of filaggrin and this will lead to a formulation of drugs that can prevent this happening. If that happens, then bye bye eczema. The biggest benefit and mammoth importance of such research is that it enables scientists to identify and treat the root causes of the disease rather than treat only the symptoms.
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