Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common chronic skin disorder of childhood. The majority of children with atopic dermatitis develop other atopic diseases including food allergy, allergic rhinitis and asthma. The diagnosis of AD is largely based upon clinical history and physical examination and improvement of the condition can be seen as one ages. The incidence of this disorder is increasing and is estimated to affect over 10% of children worldwide. Currently at Children's Hospital, approximately 12,000 children with AD are followed who present mostly at a very young age. Furthermore, there is a strong genetic as well as environmental component contributing to the pathogenesis of AD. The overall goals of this study include phenotyping participants with AD followed at Children's Hospital, identifying polymorphisms in known and novel genes that may be associated with this condition and investigating environmental and genetic risk factors predisposing to the development of AD. Ultimately, the data collected from this study will allow us to pursue other hypotheses, and to look for gene-environment interactions, in the development of AD.
