4.5 Conclusion
Our findings show that ever eczema was significantly associated with
food allergy, asthma and hay fever. The different eczema phenotypes
observed varying degrees of association with these allergic diseases and
the strongest associations were shown for “Very early onset –
persistent” eczema. These results support our hypothesis that children,
with very early onset and persistent eczema, are at highest risk for
developing food or inhalant allergies. Ultimately, exploring methods or
biomarkers which might aid in the early identification of this
subpopulation could increase the efficacy of early prevention and
treatment measures, leading to individual based medicine.