Food allergy study aims to ease eczema symptoms in children

Hannah and her daughter Imogen both have eczema and food allergies

A new clinical trial looking for links between eczema and food allergies could provide "relief and support" for those trying to manage the skin condition.

Hannah and her daughter Imogen, four, suffer with both conditions, which she said could be challenging at times.

They are taking part in the trial which hopes to recruit about 500 children to take part in skin prick testing.

If an allergy is detected, parents will be given dietary advice to see whether that helps their child's eczema.

Eczema causes dry and itchy skin, which can become red and sore for no apparent reason.

Many parents worry that food allergies may be the cause, but at the moment access to food allergy testing on the NHS is limited.

It is also unknown whether food allergy tests can help identify which, if any, foods cause eczema symptoms.

Hannah said understanding the best ways of managing eczema symptoms was really important

Hannah said Imogen first showed signs of eczema at about six weeks old.

"It's really challenging seeing a tiny baby in distress with eczema... you do everything you can to try to alleviate the symptoms," Hannah from Bristol said.

"It's frustrating because the advice hasn't changed in the 30 odd years since I was a child.

"To know once and for all whether skin prick testing could help alleviate some of the symptoms of eczema I think would be a great answer for parents and provide a lot of relief and support and enable parents to focus on what will have the biggest impact on their child's skin condition."Researchers at Bristol University are leading the TIGER (Trial of food allergy IgE tests for Eczema Relief) study, along with the Universities of Manchester and Southampton.

The parents of young children - aged between three months and two years - with eczema are being asked to consider taking part.

The study is being run by researchers at the Universities of Bristol, Manchester and Southampton

The study's chief investigator, Prof Matthew Ridd, from University of Bristol, said: "Eczema is common and children with eczema are at increased risk of immediate-type food allergy - a reaction which usually occurs within a few minutes.

"However, we don't know whether routinely screening for food allergies is helpful for delayed allergy symptoms.

"There is a lot of uncertainty about the role of food allergy and food allergy tests, which this study will help address."TIGER is a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded randomised clinical trial.Participants will be split into two groups: one receiving standard care and the other receiving dietary advice, based on the results of skin prick tests to cow's milk, hen's eggs, wheat and soya.

At the end of the study, it is hoped it will be clearer whether the test-guided dietary advice improves disease control in children with eczema.