Ninety percent of people with moderate-to-severe symptoms of atopic dermatitis (atopic eczema) can effectively control their condition after receiving proper treatment for a year, the Atopic Dermatitis Patient Association (ADPA) said yesterday.
The slogan for this year’s World Atopic Eczema Day on Saturday is “atopic eczema unfiltered,” meaning to focus on understanding the true and unfiltered reality of those living with the condition, highlighting their daily challenges and the need for comprehensive care, ADPA president Chu Chia-yu (朱家瑜) said.
The association surveyed people with atopic dermatitis to understand their daily challenges and treatment, asking participants to fill out a questionnaire every three months for two years to follow up on their conditions after proper treatment, said Chu, a dermatologist at National Taiwan University Hospital.
Photo: CNA
The first phase of the survey collected four questionnaires from 238 people, with a median age of 26.5, between June last year and August this year, he said.
The survey found that while about 40 percent of respondents were assessed by doctors as having moderate-to-severe cases, after receiving a year of continuous treatment, only about 10 percent of them were assessed as still having moderate-to-severe symptoms, while many of them had nearly no or only mild symptoms.
“The treatments cannot completely cure atopic dermatitis, but getting proper treatment from a professional physician can help patients effectively manage their conditions,” Chu said.
The survey also showed a gap between patients’ perception of the severity of their condition and their doctors’ assessments, he said.
About 40 percent of respondents were diagnosed as having moderate-to-severe cases, while about 50 percent said they feel they have moderate-to-severe symptoms, he added.
“We found that people often feel their condition is worse than doctors think it is, and it might be because doctors can only assess from apparent symptoms, but cannot know how it affects each person’s daily life,” Chu said.
Regarding treatment, the survey showed that up to 95 percent of respondents had used topical treatments in the past three months, with 87 percent of them requiring topical corticosteroids, he said.
Among those who took oral medications in the past three months, about 85 percent had taken oral antihistamines, a class of drug often used to relieve allergy symptoms, he said.
Forty percent also said they took immunosuppressants, including cyclosporine, methotrexate and azathioprine, Chu said, adding that about 15 percent of them also took small molecule targeted drugs, including abrocitinib, baricitinib and upadacitinib.
Nearly 30 percent of the respondents said they received a new biologic drug dupilumab, given by injection under the skin once every two weeks, he said.
“The best treatment for each person might be different and should be made through shared decisionmaking between the doctor and the patient,” Chu said.
The association also invited two people to share their experiences, including a 29-year-old man surnamed Ho (何) who has been diagnosed with atopic dermatitis since age five, and a 30-year-old woman surnamed Chou (周), who had been diagnosed at age seven, both moderate-to-severe cases.
Ho said he had seen many Western and traditional Chinese medicine doctors and tried folk remedies since he was young, but had become frustrated as his condition did not improve and he always felt tired even after sleeping for 10 to 12 hours a night.
Nevertheless, he last year again went to see a doctor as the itchiness was unbearable, he said.
He said he did not have high hopes at first, but was surprised that after routinely taking new drugs for a year, it greatly improved his atopic dermatitis symptoms, as well as his asthma.
He can now spend less time caring for his skin, and has even started some outdoor activities, he said.
Chou said she always kept her hair short as long hair would stick to skin blisters.
She said she often felt hurt when people looked at her with strange expressions, and was even told no one would love her because of her skin condition.
After receiving effective treatment, she said she finally has the courage to try new things, such as swimming and surfing.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by