Atopic Dermatitis and Heredity

Atopic dermatitis has many causes and looks in different ethnic groups. The United States has experienced very significant immigration waves throughout the centuries and this melting pot impacts in the way atopic dermitis manifests itself in people. This disease looks different in different skin color types. Also you may develop a different disease if you came to the United States as a child or as an adult. Lastly, extremes of different climates to New York cause stronger severity of the development of atopic dermatitis in New Yorkers.

The basis of treatment is topical steroids. However, overuse can cause skin thinning. Other immune supressants such as Protopic and Elidel do not cause striae. There is a new category of medication called JAK2 (Janus Kinase Inhibitor or jakinibs), both topical and oral. The topical medication is called Opzelura and oral JAK inhibitors include Rinvoq and Cibinqo. The most popular injectable is Dupilumab and is used on patients who have large areas of the body with the disease. Atopic dermitis used to be treated as one disease. We now know that they have different pathologies in different ethnic groups .

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