Eczema Is A Very Visible, Serious Inflammatory Skin Response
The word inflammation comes from the latin word 'inflammatio' which means 'setting on fire.' If you have eczema, which is inflamed skin, you will be able to identify with this description, as skin that is red, sore, itchy and severely uncomfortable, does feel as if it is on fire.
Inflammation is a complex response that the body triggers in response to an invader, whether it be a virus, a bacteria or to damaged cells. The body can also mount an inflammatory response when it is exposed to a food, or environmental trigger, that causes an allergic reaction.
In a healthy body this response does get rid of the invader, and this in turn results in a down regulation of the inflammation, and the body returns to a state of comfort and well being. If you have eczema, your skin doesn't revert back to this state of comfort.
What is the difference between eczema and dry, red skin?
Eczema is a serious skin condition, where the skin becomes enflamed, with very rough and dry patches, which can become flaky and hard. Blisters may form on these dry areas of skin, which are very itchy and which may start oozing with a clear liquid. The skin may also bleed. Dry, red skin is simply skin that is very dehydrated, which causes redness and the sufferer uses moisturizers to re-hydrate the skin.
There are a number of questions to ask when eczema doesn't clear up
What happens when the inflammatory trigger continues to exert its influence? What actually happens at the cellular level, when the initial inflammatory response doesn't calm down? What happens over the long term when the damaged cells don't get better? Unfortunately, an ongoing inflammatory response causes damage to cells and therefore tissues. The longer the response continues, the greater the damage that is caused. This is why eczema isn't simply an irritating skin condition.
Searching for a solution to eczema, leads people to try many different approaches People become desperate, trying product after product, only to find that they may be fortunate enough to have some relief, for a short period of time, but will eventually go searching for another product, because the fundamental problem has not been dealt with.
Therefore, the aim of any treatment for such skin conditions, like eczema, should be to deal with the inflammatory response from the inside. This is why the attempts to deal with the inflammation, through skin lotions and special creams, targeting eczema, is not a long-term solution. After all, external applications of various products are only dealing with the symptom, not the actual cause of the inflammatory response.
When you understand that you have to deal with the issue of inflammation from the inside, rather than looking for external 'bandages' to address the eczema, you are approaching the problem from the right angle. After all, a long-term solution is what is required, not a constant search based more on hope than on science.
Eczema has to be dealt with at the cellular level
It is not possible to accomplish this through a lotion or cream, because the external application of a product, no matter how expensive it is, can never change the structure of the cell membrane. It may provide temporary relief, by keeping the skin moisturized for a short time, but cannot help the cells to regenerate and heal.
When cells heal and become healthy, the inflammatory response can stop. This translates into soft, moist skin, which once again becomes normal in colour. The skin can heal because the cells have the raw materials required for optimal functioning. The right fats help the skin to retain the moisture that is naturally present in them when they are healthy.
Essential fats at the cellular level
Fats have an integral part to play in your health. Being the second largest compound in the body, with water being the first, fat has not been given its rightful place in most people's diets. When the right fats are missing, health will be compromised. After all, the right fats are required in every single cell membrane, so if they are missing, your health will be compromised at the cellular level. And what goes on in each cell will eventually become visible to the naked eye, through the skin.
The right fats also have anti-inflammatory actions, which help the body counteract the inflammatory response. This is why they are so useful in skin conditions. They stop the body from having to respond to damaged cells, as the cells become healed, and the inflammatory response can stop.
The increasing rates of eczema
Research has shown that more and more children are being diagnosed with eczema. Australia has one of the highest incidences of eczema in the world, affecting one in three Australians, with 90% developing symptoms by the age of five. More than 15 million people suffer from eczema in the United States, and the figures in the United Kingdom have increased from 9.58 to 13.50 per 1000 people, from 2001 to 2005.
A person in Australia can spend up to $2000 every year, trying to manage their skin ailment, and 40% of people use four or more products to treat their eczema. The medical costs range from $580 to $ 1,250 US per patient per year in the US, and 13 690 300 eczema-related prescription have been issued in the UK, from 2001 to 2005.
Could a deficiency in the right fats be part of the reason?
It is estimated that 95% of people are deficient in the right fats, because they no longer form part of our diet, which has changed drastically in the last 100 years. This is very likely one of the main reasons that the incidence of skin disorders has risen so dramatically.
For more details read our report on the decline in our diet of Essential Fatty Acids
Are there other serious health risks that are linked to an inflammatory response, apart from eczema?
Although you may think that eczema is simply a distressing skin condition, researchers now know that inflammation is responsible for a host of other very serious health conditions. Cardiovascular disease, as well as cancer, diabetes, depression, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and even dementia are all linked to long-term inflammatory responses within the body.
Eczema is simply an external manifestation of an inflammatory response, whereas the other illnesses are an internal response. An ongoing inflammatory response will cause cellular damage, because the tissues can't carry on responding to an invader that doesn't go away, without suffering harm themselves.
When you consider that a serious skin condition, like eczema, is an inflammatory response against either an environmental irritant, a food intolerance or allergy, or damaged cells, you begin to understand that it is not only your skin that is being compromised. Although you can see the inflammatory response on the skin really easily, as the redness, itchiness, flakiness and pain associated with skin inflammation is hard to miss, there are also other parts of the body that are being affected, although you can't see those responses.
If your cells don't have what they need to function properly, your skin as well as the rest of your body will battle to stay healthy. So, when you solve eczema, you will also be solving a host of other problems, even if they are invisible to you.
Delia McCabe is a Nutritional Neuroscience Researcher. She has a Masters degree in Psychology and has been doing research for over ten years. Her specific area of interest is Essential Fatty Acids and how they effect brain and general health. She has discovered that many chronic illnesses and mental health problems can be traced back to a lack of Essential Fats. Find out if you are deficient by doing the quick assessment at http://www.deliahealth.com/.
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