Not just in your head: Here's how stress causes eczema flare-ups

• Research suggests that chronic stress can trigger eczema flare-ups, a common skin condition characterized by severe itching.
• The mechanisms by which stress causes eczema flare-ups had remained unknown, but now a study by Fudan University in Shanghai, China, has conducted a deep dive into the biological connections.
• It identified a specific network of neurons that, under stress, trigger an immune reaction in the skin that leads to eczema flare-ups.

Atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema, is a skin condition affecting an estimated 16.5 million adults in the United States alone. Around the world, it likely affects as many as 101.27 million adults, if not more.

It often involves persistent itchiness, sometimes severe, the development of roughened, scaly, or discolored skin patches, and scratching too often or too hard can exacerbate symptoms and lead to further skin infections.

There are several ways to manage eczema, including using barrier-repair moisturisers and taking medication such as antihistamines or antibiotics, as prescribed on a case-by-case basis.

However, this skin condition currently has no cure, and its symptoms may come and go, ranging in severity each time.

Resurgences of symptoms are referred to as “flare-ups,” which can cause significant disruptions to daily life and distress, depending on their severity.

Many factors may contribute to flare-ups, but a National Eczema Society survey found that many people living with this skin condition felt that “stress was the single biggest trigger of their eczema flare-ups,” consistent with findings from focus-group-based studies.

A recent study led by researchers from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, delved into the potential mechanisms underlying the link between stress and flare-ups.

The study — whose findings appear in the journal Science — identified a neural network that, when activated by stress, further triggers an immune response that leads to eczema flare-ups.