Body balance reduces eczema in stress-related atopic dermatitis英文文献资料.docVIP

Vol.1, No.4, 290-293 (2009) Health doi:10.4236/health.2009.14047 Body balance reduces eczema in stress-related atopic dermatitis Anna Utterstr?m, Solbritt Lonne-Rahm Department of Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Stockholm, Sweden; sol-britt.lonne-rahm@karolinska.se Received 20 September 2009; revised 13 October 2009; accepted 14 October 2009. ABSTRACT and clinical findings. The criteria of Hanifin and Rajka [4] have been scientifically evaluated and can be applied successfully in the clinical situation. Important trigger factors are irritants, microbial agents, food, hormones and stressful life events [5]. Emotional stress has a great influence on the immune system and can be manifested in skin disease [6]. A stress reaction is a nonspecific response of the organism to any type of burden or threat. A stimulus is perceived as stressful if the individual does not believe that he or she can exercise any influence on the frequency and in- tensity of the stimulus. It is a highly regulated, wide- spread reaction and a number of hormones are activated during a stress response. Relaxation has been used to treat atopic eczema pa- tients and dermatological treatment combined with mas- sage [7,8] and behavioral therapy has been reported to be an effective method [9]. The aim of the study was to examine a method of re- laxation for this group of patients, who usually have problems finding a way to relax by themselves, in order to reduce chronic stress since stress is a worsening factor for patients with AD. Subjective stress was investigated by using a stress enquiry, and objective stress by using cortisol as an indicator of chronic stress [10]. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common chronic, pruritic, relapsing inflammatory skin disease that affects about two to three percent of the adult population in Sweden. It is characterized by dry, itchy skin and is aggravat