Eczema

The term ‘eczema’ is derived from a Greek word meaning ‘to boil.’ It refers to an inflammation of the skin which results in the formation of vesicles or pustules. It is the most common and most troublesome of all skin diseases.

Eczema is essentially a constitutional disease, resulting from a toxic condition of the system. The disease covers a wide variety of forms, the majority of them being of a chronic variety.

Symptoms

Eczema in its acute form is indicated by redness and swelling of the skin, the formation of minute vesicles and severe heat. If the vesicles rupture, a raw, moist surface is formed. From this, a colorless discharge oozes, which forms skin crusts when it accumulates. The disease is usually worst at night when the heat of the body is retained by the bed-clothes.

The skin itches at all stages. In the wet stage, it may become infected with bacteria. The healing of the condition is affected by scratching in response to the irritation. Scratching not only spreads infection but also lengthens the stage of dryness and scaling.

Causes

Allergies play an important part in causing eczema. Some women get eczema on their hands due to an allergy to soap or detergents used to wash clothes or dishes. Some persons develop it around the fingers when they wear rings because of allergy to metals. Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, in a recent study of children with atropic eczema, found that 75 per cent were allergic to a number of foods. The most common triggers for sensitive persons are eggs, peanuts, chocolate, wheat, cow’s milk, chicken and potato.

The real cause of eczema however is the failure of the human system to excrete the poisons from the various orifices of the body. Waste matter is excreted from the rectum through stools, from the bladder through urine, from the lungs through breath and from the pores of the skin through sweat. Sometime the pores of the skin are overworked as waste matter is not properly eliminated from the other orifices. If the pores are not given the chance to perform their normal function, the sweat will be full of morbid matter and this gives rise to skin diseases like eczema, acne, boils and other eruptions.

Other causes include faulty metabolism, constipation, nutritional deficiencies and stress brought about by nagging spouses, jealousy, frustration and a host of other emotions. Suppressive drug treatment of the formal disease is also a most potent subsidiary causative factor in many cases.