About 100 million adults and 100 million children worldwide have the red, flaky, itchy skin of the most common form of eczema, atopic dermatitis, according to the NIH. The condition stems from a misdirected immune response to a substance – an allergen – that does not actually present a threat. Although the exact causes of eczema aren't well understood, a new study points to an unexpected protective factor: owning a dog.
Allergies like eczema arise from complex interactions of genetic and environmental factors. The new report, in the journal Allergy, is from an international team. The investigators pooled and analyzed the results of many studies to identify possible contributing factors to developing eczema.
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