Discussion #3 - 9/16/2020

Initial:

Professor and Class, 

This week in our reading I was very interested by the topic of Atopic Dermatitis, commonly
known as eczema, is chronic inflammation of the skin resulting from a response to different
allergens (Hubert & VanMeter, 2018); common in infancy and can follow through adulthood and
is often linked to a family history of eczema, hay fever, and asthma (Hubert & VanMeter, 2018).
These indicate a genetic component that I find extremely interesting, considering there is a link
between atopic dermatitis, which is an integumentary disorder, and asthma, a respiratory
disorder. These two are linked by allergies, or better yet atopy (Sarah Lewis, 2020). Atopy is a
genetic tendency to develop allergic diseases and those who are atopic have an overreaction to
immune response to allergens, including inhaled allergens, food allergens, and integumentary
allergens (Sarah Lewis, 2020). These are also linked to food allergies and seasonal allergies and
they are not necessarily contagious, but they are genetically linked and tend to run in family
history (Sarah Lewis, 2020).
 
Atopic dermatitis, as stated above, is chronic inflammation of the skin due to a high count of
white blood cells called eosinophils and a high level of IgE serum in the blood as a reaction to
many different things like skin irritants, stress, allergies, infection, and even just sweat (Hubert &
VanMeter, 2018) . This results in patches of itchy, red, scaly rashes on one’s skin (Sarah Lewis,
2020) and these can lead to secondary infections if broken open and exposed to bacteria or
viruses in the environment (Hubert & VanMeter, 2018).

 
 
References:
Hubert, R. J., & VanMeter, K. (2018). Gould's pathophysiology for the health professions. St.
Louis, MO: Elsevier.

Sarah Lewis, P. (2020, February 13). How Are Asthma and Atopic Dermatitis (Eczema)
Related? Retrieved September 16, 2020, from https://www.healthgrades.com/right-
care/asthma/how-are-asthma-and-atopic-dermatitis-eczema-related

Follow-up:

Hi Sandy,

Thank you for going more in depth on lung cancer, this was very informative. As we know
smoking is often a common cause of lung cancer, as well as second hand smoke, and other
environmental toxins. It has been proven that air pollution and diesel exhaust can cause an
increase in chances of lung cancer as well, this is just another reason we should all take better
care of our planet as well as realize we not only pollute the waters and habitats but we do create a
lot of air pollution that affects our health as well.

References:

C. (2020). Cancer. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from

https://ephtracking.cdc.gov/showCancerLcEnv.action