The post Living with eczema – book review by Natalia Stasenko appeared first on TribecaNutrition.
When my middle child was around two, she went through a terrible case of atopic dermatitis, complete with multiple visits to different doctors, sleepless nights and a frustrating search for a trigger to avoid. We went through an endless list of laundry detergents, skin creams and implemented a few dietary changes to keep the itchy rash away.
And although it has gotten much better since then, with an occasion flare up or two per year, I am always looking for tips on how to keep eczema under control. So I was thrilled to get in mail Mei Marcie’s new book “Living with eczema”.
Although I have been researching everything eczema-related for the last few years, the book definitely helped me learn more than a couple of new things, including fascinating new research on bacterial colonization of the skin and proper ways to moisturize, that I will be able to use now to help us get through occasional itchy nights.
Mei Marcie is a mom, blogger and a social media activist who made it her goal to help other parents of children with eczema get access to latest research and practical advice on prevention and management of this aggravating disorder.
To write the book, Mei collaborated with a doctor, Dr. Hugo Van Bever, MD, PhD, a pediatric allergist with interest in eczema. The final result is an interactive read mostly in the form of a dialogue between the mom and the doctor. The conversational tone of the book makes it much easier to read for an exhausted parent than a bunch of dry scientific articles. It also comes with a handy list of references, from books to websites, where parents can learn more.
The book covers all important eczema-related topics, including diagnosis, triggers, prevention, treatment and well as an overview of things that do not work. Of course, my favorite part of the book is about nutritional management of eczema where Mei and Professor Hugo outline recent research on the relationship between food allergy and sensitivities and eczema and proper allergy testing procedures. Here is a sample of the “conversation” between them:
“MarcieMom: How do you normally advise a parent whose child is tested allergic to many food groups? Would excluding all of the foods be appropriate? Or should there be a planned elimination diet where there is a systematic and reliable way of monitoring if certain foods can be added back to the diet, and how? What is a suitable time frame to do so without compromising the nutrition that a growing child needs?
Professor Hugo: Many food allergies in one patient are very unusual. Most children are allergic to one or two foods, usually to eggs and cow’s milk. I ask to avoid eggs and replace cow’s milk by another type of milk….Introducing or re-introducing a food needs to be done according to the type of food, the severity of the allergy and the disease status of the child. Individual advice needs to be given, no general rules. Knowledge about long-term evolution of a specific food allergy is necessary…”
As a mom of a newborn, I was also glad to have found this chart on the research supporting or disputing ways to prevent eczema in babies.
Credit: Living with Eczema: Mom Asks, Doc Answers, Hugo Van Bever, MarcieMom, Copyright @2014 World Scientific Publishing
Mei Marcie’s book can be purchased on Amazon . If your child or a family member has eczema, it will answer many of your questions and provide lots of resources.
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The post Living with eczema – book review by Natalia Stasenko appeared first on TribecaNutrition.
