Eczema Drugs

[Guest guest]

The Professor says " be very careful using Honey or Chinese herbs for eczema "

but Elidel doesn't get a warning??

 

Jane

 

 

 

REPORTER: Dr John D~Arcy

BROADCAST DATE: October 8, 2003

 

Lauren Barrett has chronic eczema. One in three Australian children has

atopic or allergic eczema and the physical, emotional and social

consequences can affect the whole family. Now some are finding relief with

new steroid-free treatments.

 

Lyn Barrett says it's been ten years of constant struggle for her daughter

Lauren, 10, who has had eczema since birth.

 

" I've had people say to me: 'what have you got your child out here for? She

should be at home. Is she infectious?' " Mrs Barrett said.

 

" You feel like holding a big sign on your head saying, 'no, she's not

infectious'. "

 

It's called the itch that rashes; children with eczema have an itch with an

overpowering urge to scratch and once those fingernails get going a rash

forms which the breaks the skin, bleeds, weeps and crusts and upsets them

day and night.

 

The itch can worsen with something as simple as cat hair or house dust.

 

Australia is one of the allergy capitals of the world, and as Associated

Professor Connie Katelaris from The Children's Hospital at Westmead says, no

one is sure why.

 

One thing we are sure of, according to Professor Katelaris, is that dust

mites are very powerful allergen for people with respiratory allergies as

well as atopic dermatitis.

 

And because as a nation we have become super clean beans, our body's defence

system has less to fight, so it turns on us and this is the result.

 

Now Mrs Barrett wet wraps Lauren's legs after moistening her limbs with

nourishing wool fat.

" It gives her instant relief. She can't get at the skin so she can't scratch

it, " she said.

 

Because she is scared of side effects, Mrs Barrett has given up Lauren's

potions, lotions and steroid creams.

 

A medication called Elidel, taken orally or in a cream, hoses down the itch

and stops the scratch factor without steroids' side effects.

 

" We're not going to start using these more powerful drugs in people with two

or three patches of eczema that can be controlled very well with topical

treatment, " Professor Katelaris said.

" But for those with a more severe, chronic, generalised eruption it is worth

being reassessed. "

 

Ceyaine Ward, 7, has recovered from the worst of her eczema but it wasn't

always like this.

" Some of the nights were pretty bad, " she said.

 

She no longer need steroids to relieve the itching and her mother Michaleen

has swapped to Medihoney, a natural honey-based antibacterial cream, to help

moisturise her skin.

 

But Professor Katelaris warns honey preparations and Chinese herbs may work

in some patients but parents should be careful they don't do more harm than

good.

" Medihoney seems to have found a niche in use for people with chronic

inflammatory conditions such as chronic ulceration, " she said.

" Its use in a more widespread distribution such as one sees with somebody

with atopic dermatitis is an interesting concept but one without any proof

whatsoever at this stage. "

 

Meanwhile, Mrs Barrett and her daughter Lauren are still hoping for a

miracle cure.

For more information about Elidel visit www.elidel.com

For more information about Medihoney visit www.medihoney.com.au