NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Boys who have eczema intheir first two years of life are more likely to develop asthmalater on, but there is no association between early eczema andasthma in girls, Australian researchers report.

“Further interventions that attempt to reduce the progressionfrom eczema to sensitization and asthma are warranted, particularlyin boys,” Adrian J. Lowe of the University of Melbourne andcolleagues write in the Journal of Allergy and ClinicalImmunology.

If eczema does lead to asthma, they add, preventing the skincondition could cut the incidence of childhood asthma by 28percent.

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