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Question:
What do you recommend for eczema? My 5-year old grand daughter has a very bad case.
Answer:
In children with eczema (atopic dermatitis), the first goal is to identify whether food allergy is involved. Studies show that nearly ninety percent of children with eczema are allergic to one or more of seven foods: milk, egg, peanut, wheat, cod, catfish, and cashews. Another study found that milk, eggs, and peanuts accounted for roughly eighty-one percent of all cases of childhood eczema. Yet another study found that sixty percent of children with severe eczema had an allergic reaction to one or two foods including eggs, cow's milk, peanut, fish, wheat, or soybean.
To discover if you or your child has a food allergy, use the elimination diet and challenge method. Keep them away from the most common allergens for a period of at least ten days. Also avoid artificial colors and preservatives. Then reintroduce the suspected foods slowly back into the diet. If symptoms return, keep the child from eating the food for at least a year. It often happens that children "outgrow" an allergy after that time.
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