Far more than just a rash, eczema is a serious, inflammatory skin disease that impacts the quality of life of 31.6 million people in the U.S. (10.1% of the population),1, 2 reports the National Eczema Association (NEA) in connection with October’s Eczema Awareness Month. This year’s awareness efforts focus on unhiding the realities of eczema with NEA’s #TheRealEczema campaign
Eczema affects all races, ages, and skin types, and refers to a group of non-contagious acute and chronic conditions that cause the skin to become red, itchy, and inflamed. With a disease burden that can encompass various debilitating and painful physical, mental and emotional symptoms, eczema has the highest effect on disability-associated life years for patients with skin diseases worldwide.3
Learn more by watching “The Real Eczema,” a short NEA video featuring dermatologists Peter Lio, MD, and Smita Aggarwal, MD; allergist Anna Fishbein, MD, NEA Director of Research Wendy Smith Begolka, MBS, along with eczema patients and a parent of a child with eczema.
Fast Facts about Eczema
- Comorbidities associated with eczema include: anxiety, depression, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), asthma, hay fever, and other serious conditions in children and/or adults. 4, 5, 6, 7
- Children and adolescents with atopic dermatitis (AD), the most common form of eczema, are two to six times more likely to have depression, anxiety or conduct disorder than children without AD. 4, 5
- In AD patients, the negative impact on mental health ranks greater than that for patients with heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. 8
- Overall in the U.S., nearly 5.9 million workdays annually are lost due to eczema. 9
- The annual economic burden of eczema, including direct medical costs, indirect costs from lost productivity, and quality of life impacts, is conservatively estimated at $5.3 billion. 10
- Learn more eczema facts: https://nationaleczema.org/research/eczema-facts/
Within the context of these powerful statistics, NEA experts agree that this is a promising time in the eczema space.
“We are excited about the revolution in understanding eczema’s impact on affected individuals and families and in our new therapies recently approved and in development. We are working to minimize eczema in each and every patient—minimizing the rashes, the itch, the sleep disturbance, and its secondary effects,” comments Lawrence Eichenfield, MD, Chief of Pediatric and Adolescent Dermatology at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine (Dermatology) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, and member of NEA’s Scientific Advisory Committee.
“Thankfully, we’re in an unprecedented era of scientific research, evolving knowledge, and new drugs in the pipeline, contributing to great hope for the future in terms of innovative treatments and ideally, one day, a cure,” comments Julie Block, NEA President and CEO.
NEA’s 2019 Eczema Awareness Month is supported in part by the following sponsors: Sanofi Genzyme/Regeneron; AbbVie; Dermira; Eli Lilly; Dermavant, and LEO Pharma.