engleski

The role of psychological stress in atopic dermatitis

The connection of atopic dermatitis (AD) with psychological stress has been known since the very beginning of the research but what we lacked until recently were the reliable parameters that would help us characterize this association objectively. As a hormone secreted by the adrenal gland under acute or chronical stress, cortisol has been used as a biomarker of stress for a long time. In diagnostics, aside from measuring serum cortisol, the measurement of salivary cortisol has been increasingly used as a non-invasive technique that ensures very good correlation to plasmatic cortisol. Reliable psychological tests are an important additional parameter for assessment of the psychological condition of an AD patient. Many pathways that are active when the body is under psychological stress may contribute to changes in AD patients' clinical pictures, including HPA axis stimulation and dysfunction, along with the neuroendocrine system pathways and neurotransmitters released in the skin. There are many valuable arguments that show a strong connection between psychological stress exposure and occurrence of skin lesions in AD patients.

atopic dermatitis ; psychological stress

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