As many as 20% of all children suffer from the itchy rash called eczema. While some medical treatments are available, their success is limited, and their side effects can often be worse than the eczema itself. If your child has eczema, you’ve probably traveled this frustrating road before and may have asked your doctor, “What can I do at home to help?” The truth is that there is a lot you can do to treat and even prevent eczema.

Understanding Eczema

Eczema is a catch-all term for a number of different skin problems; the most common type, atopic dermatitis, is an allergic condition. The rash appears because part of the immune system is overly sensitive to irritation. This situation begins an almost unbearable cycle in which hypersensitivity causes itching, which inspires scratching, which causes more irritation, which causes more itching, which inspires more scratching. If the allergic sensitivity can be prevented in the first place, eczema can be prevented.

Teaching Immunity

Babies are born with sterile guts–they are entirely dependent on environmental exposure to acquire gastrointestinal (GI) flora, the bacteria that live in our GI tracts. These bacteria are important because they help teach your baby’s immune system to work properly during the first months of life. Through their interactions with mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) and white blood cells, these bacteria actually change how the immune system works.

Breastfeeding helps to selectively nurture these beneficial bacteria; exclusive breastfeeding is one way you can assure your child a healthy supply of good GI flora. You can also make sure that you have a healthy balance of flora yourself. In a recent study, mothers consumed a probiotic (i.e., a supplement of live bacteria) containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG both before childbirth and until their babies were six months old.

The incidence of eczema among their children was half that of babies in the control group, whose mothers received no probiotic. If you are unable to breastfeed, probiotic-supplemented formula can offer a similar benefit. A study of infants with eczema concluded that formulas containing bifidobacteria and L. rhamnosus GG provided significant relief from symptoms after two months.

The bacteria that make up your GI flora are continuously replaced through environmental exposure. As your child grows, he or she will be exposed to other sources of bacteria, such as foods and pets. You may wish to include sources of healthy bacteria in your older child’s daily diet to continue to nurture his or her immune system. Foods containing these bacteria include yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, miso, and tempeh.

You Are What You Eat

Certain types of dietary fats are very important to people who suffer from eczema. You may have heard the terms fatty acids, omega-as, and omega-6s. Omega-3 and omega-6 are two “families” of fatty acids. The first acid in each family is called an essential fatty acid because it is “essential” that the first fatty acid in each family be obtained from the diet–the body alone cannot produce these acids. Then, in a series of chemical reactions, your body transforms the essential acid into each subsequent fatty acid in that family. Each of these reactions requires an enzyme, as well as nutrient cofactors that help the enzyme work.

The essential fatty acid of the omega-6 family is linoleic acid. Most of us get plenty of linoleic acid in our diets; normally, our bodies can then convert linoleic into gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). Unfortunately, many people with eczema are unable to make that conversion well enough, and they end up with a lot of linoleic acid and not enough GLA. This is important because the body turns GLA into chemicals that calm inflammation. Research dating back to the 1930s has established GLA deficiency as a cause of eczema. In fact, in the 1940s, up until the introduction of steroids such as hydrocortisone, fatty acids were the primary treatment for eczema.

Infant formulas contain no GLA. While breastmilk does contain GLA, the amount depends on how well the mother’s body is able to make the required chemical transformations and how much GLA-containing foods she consumes. Foods rich in GLA are spirulina, evening primrose oil (EPO), borage oil, and black currant seed oil. Though the amount of these substances required for noticeable lessening of itching and improved skin texture varies from person to person, a study of three daily adult dosages of EPO (2, 4, and 6 grams) and of two daily children’s dosages (1 and 2 grams) showed highly significant and beneficial effects.

Your body needs adequate amounts of certain nutrients for those fatty-acid-converting enzymes to work; most people with eczema need zinc, magnesium, and vitamin B6. Many studies have noted that children with eczema tend to be deficient in zinc; some have speculated that GLA supplementation works for some children by compensating for this deficiency.

You Can Easily Eradicate Your Eczema within 14 days Using Nothing More Than Readily Available Natural Products.

More related articles to help your eczema baby child with natural remedies. Please visit the following links:

=> Helping Your Eczema Child To Sleep

=>Suggestion For Helping Eczema Kids 

=>The Pregnant Mother’s Diet And Eczema Prevention 

=>For Parent of Children With Eczema – Caring For Older Children 

=>For Parent of Children With Eczema – Caring For Toddlers 

=>For Parent of Children With Eczema 

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This entry was posted on Saturday, October 13th, 2007 at 4:11 pm and is filed under Eczema. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.