Does eczema make asthma more likely?

A study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology stresses the need to treat eczema in children properly, to help prevent asthma later.

The study, carried out at a university in Melbourne, included 8,500 people aged 7 to 44. People who had eczema as children were more likely to develop asthma in childhood or later in life.

"Childhood eczema raises the risk of asthma in young adulthood," says Dr Burgess. "The rate of asthma from 7 to 44 years was twice as high in those who had eczema as children. Eczema may be the first step in the allergic processes that later cause asthma or hay fever."

"Our results show eczema is a risk factor for asthma at any age, in childhood, adolescence and adulthood," he adds, "so childhood eczema should be treated seriously, which may lower the rate of asthma later."