Stress and eczema: the biological link doctors missed until now
A study identifies the neural circuit that turns chronic stress into inflamed skin. It's not the pathway scientists expected. Scientists just mapped the 'highway' from stress to eczema flare-ups For the roughly 16.5 million American adults living with eczema, the connection between stress and flare-ups feels obvious. A National Eczema Society survey found stress ranked as the single biggest trigger. But until now, no one has been able to explain how it happens. A new study published has changed that. Researchers at Fudan University identified a group of neurons that, under chronic stress, release a chemical signal called CCL11 directly into the skin. That signal attracts eosinophils — immune cells that drive inflammation — quadrupling their numbers in affected tissue. What wasn't driving this response was the biggest surprise. The stress system that dermatologists ha...
