Over the past year two studies were released in the British Journal of Dermatology showing Chinese herbal medicine to be very effective in the treatment of eczema.

In the first study, researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong set up a clinical trial of 85 patients divided into a control group receiving a placebo and the other group receiving a herbal formula consisting of 5 different traditional herbs. Using a questionaire to measure the quality of life of eczema sufferers, one third improvement was found in the group taking the herbs compared to the placebo group which received no benefit. The group taking the herbs were also able to reduce the amount of their steroid use per month.

In the second study the same researchers analyzed the blood of 28 children taking the same Chinese herbal formual and, as well, blood samples in a test tube. What they found was that certain cytokines which are responsible for immune response and trigger inflammation in eczema were found to be lowered when expossed to the herbal concoction.

Dr. Ting-fan, one of the researchers of the study said: ““Our recent clinical trial showed that pentaherbs formulation reduced topical corticosteroid usage and improved quality of life in children with moderate to severe atopic eczema. Our latest study further clarifies this by showing that the herbs suppress the production of atopic eczema-related inflammatory mediators. Further studies are needed to explore this in more depth; however this is an interesting first step.”

In a press release from the British Dermatology association on March 12, 2008, Nina Goad declared that people with atopic eczema may benefit from a specific concoction of Chinese herbs and that this research could open up the possiblitily of Chinese herbal preperations making their way into mainstream western medicine.

It looks like the western medical world is discovering more and more the undeniable results of the traditional medicine of China. This is good news for eczema sufferers as atopic eczema is one of the most common of this type of skin complaint, affecting about ten percent of children and 3 percent of adults worldwide. Any extra help is always of benefit.

Trevor