Allergic disease rhinoconjunctivitis

Atopic constitution represents a high risk for the development of allergic diseases such as allergic asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and atopic eczema. 

The prevalence of asthma and allergy is increasing. It is estimated that over 20% of the world s population suffer from IgE-mediated allergic diseases such as asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, eczema and anaphylaxis. Asthma, which in more than 50% of adults and 70-80% of children is allergic, occurs in around 5-15% in the paediatric population. Asthma is estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to affect 150 million people worldwide, placing an enormous strain on health resources in many countries, and is a major cause of hospitalisations for chronic diseases in children in the Western World. 

Secondary Prevention Preventing the development of an allergic disease following sensitisation (and the progression from eczema or rhinoconjunctivitis into severe diseases such as asthma). 

Of interest in the ISAAC analysis is the strong, consistent, negative association between calories from cereal and rice and protein from cereal and nuts and the three conditions, and it was speculated that, if the daily per capita amount of calories from cereal and rice consumed were to be increased by 10% of total energy consumption, it may be possible to achieve a 3.2% decrease in the prevalence of current wheeze, a 0.4% decrease in severe wheeze, a 2.4% decrease in allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and a 0.6% decrease in eczema [64(111)]. As mentioned above, plant-based carbohydrate-rich diets have been associated with lower rates of other non-communicable diseases [60(NC), 62(NC)] and it is of interest that this association has been found for asthma, allergic rhinoconjimctivitis and eczema. Although it is speculated that antioxidants contained in cereal, rice and vegetables may be a reason for this protective effect, other mechanisms need to be explored. 

Dermatitis. The umbrella term for a local inflammation of the skin should be dermatitis. What is generally known as atopic eczema/dermatitis is not one, single disease but rather an aggregation of several diseases with certain characteristics in common. A more appropriate term is eczema. The subgroup related to allergic asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis, i.e. eczema in a person of atopic constitution, should be called atopic eczema. 

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