Expert: Florence M Rollwagen - 12/7/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

Im wondering if parents who both have siblings with excema but dont have it themselves have a chance of getting children together with excema?

My brother has atopic excema. My boyfriends brother also has some type of excema.

Thank you!

ANSWER: Hi Mary:  Thanks for your question.  Eczema is a collective term for many kinds of skin problems.  All of them have a genetic component, but the exact inheritance is unknown.  They seem to be linked to loss of function in a critical skin gene (FLG).  

In general, I would say that since siblings of both parents have the condition, the likelihood of your child inheriting it would be increased.  But nobody can say by what percentage.

To complicate things even more, there are some types of eczema that don't show up until later in life, so you (and your boyfriend) may still be affected, but the symptoms haven't shown yet.

Sorry, I know you wanted a better answer, but there isn't one.

Write back if you have more questions.

FM Rollwagen, PhD


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: My mum has many kids, and none of the others, other than my brother, have it! But my older half sister has asthma I think. Is this something similar to eczema?

My mother has developed some kind of psoriasis now that shes over 50 though.

And is there any method for detecting atopic eczema in the fetus? Or is this a bad thing to do?

Answer
Hi again, Mary:  Asthma and eczema are related in that they both are malfunctions of the immune system.  
All of these conditions are caused by malfunctions in the immune system (psoriasis, eczema, asthma) as are many others.  They have different triggers.

It may be that the tendency to inherit an immune system disorder can run in families, but will manifest in different disorders.

Take a look at these websites:
http://www.skincarephysicians.com/eczemanet/FAQ.html

http://www.infantseczema.com/8/general/asthma-and-eczema-relationship.html

Since we don't know what genes to look for in these conditions, there is no way to test the fetus.

Hope this helps.

FM Rollwagen, PhD