https://www.mdlinx.com/cardiology/top-medical-news/article/2018/06/12/7524336/?
Reuters Health News
Adults with severe and predominantly active atopic eczema face an increased long-term risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to new findings.
"Adult patients with eczema were 10%-20% more likely to experience non-fatal CVD than people without eczema, and . . . risk increased with more severe and active disease," Dr. Sinead M. Langan of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in the UK, told Reuters Health by email.
About 10% of adults have atopic eczema, and prevalence is increasing globally, Dr. Langan and her team note in The BMJ, online May 23. Systemic inflammation due to the skin condition could be associated with other illnesses, they add, including CVD. But studies of the association between atopic eczema and CVD have had conflicting results.
To further investigate the association, and determine whether atopic eczema severity or activity might influence risk, the researchers compared more than 387,000 patients with atopic eczema and 1.5 million matched controls. Follow-up was a median 5.1 years.
Stroke risk was increased by 20% among patients with severe atopic eczema. Those with severe disease were also at 40% to 50% greater risk of myocardial infarction, unstable angina, atrial fibrillation, and death due to CVD, and had a 70% higher risk of heart failure.
Patients whose eczema was active more than half of the time at follow-up also had an increased risk of CVD-related outcomes.
"Clinically, patients with severe atopic eczema often have poor sleep and experience high levels of stress, which may help to explain the association," Dr. Langan said.
More research is needed on the mechanism behind the association, she added, and whether eczema treatments may modify CVD risk.
—Anne Harding
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