Living close to major roads increases your risk of getting eczema

According to recent research, made public in a Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Online Supplement in February. People who reside far away from the road have a lower risk of developing a skin ailment known as eczema.

Eczema makes your skin dry, itchy, and rough. The barrier function of your skin, which retains moisture and shields your body from the outdoors, is weakened by this condition.

A review of 13 years’ worth of medical records concentrated on Denver patients, from newborns to 18-year-olds. More than 14,000 kids were included in the study.

Patients without eczema in a control group of similar size were compared to those who had it. The researchers measured the distance between their house and a major road with more than 10,000 vehicles per day in annual traffic.

According to the study, the probability of eczema (atopic dermatitis) decreased by 21% for each 10-fold increase in separation from a major road.

“In the end, we found children who lived 1,000 meters [0.6 miles] or more from a major road had 27% lower odds of atopic dermatitis compared to children who lived within 500 meters of a major road,” said Michael Nevid, a fellow at National Jewish Health in Denver, who spearheaded this research.