Current evidence from clinical trials does not support the use of antihistamines in routine eczema management, according to researchers.<\/p>\n
Adding oral antihistamines to existing eczema treatments was found to be unlikely to lead to significant reductions in eczema and itch severity, and may not reduce sleep disturbance or flare-ups.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur findings do not support their use in routine atopic dermatitis management\u201d<\/p>\n
Study authors<\/p>\n
In addition, some antihistamines may actually increase side effects such as drowsiness and the risk of patients stopping treatment, according to the authors of a review from Canada and the US.<\/p>\n
They said their review, published in the British Medical Journal<\/a> this week, addressed longstanding uncertainty on the role of antihistamines in treating atopic dermatitis, commonly known as eczema.<\/p>\n They highlighted, however, that oral antihistamines were one of the most-commonly used drugs for managing eczema, with an estimated one in five UK patients using them.<\/p>\n Despite their widespread use, previous evidence of their benefits and harms in treating eczema had been inconclusive, noted the researchers, led by a team from McMaster University<\/a> in Ontario.<\/p>\n As a result, they reviewed the results of 47 randomised controlled trials involving 6,230 children and adults \u2013 the average age was 20 and 52% were female \u2013 with mainly moderate to severe eczema.<\/p>\n The trials compared the effects of adding oral H1 antihistamines, H2 blockers, mast cell stabilizers, or their combinations to placebo \u2013 with or without background moisturisers or steroid creams.<\/p>\n The various trials looked at treatment effects on eczema severity, itch severity, sleep disturbance, flare-ups and quality of life, as well as harms such as sedation and drowsiness.<\/p>\n Overall, the systematic review found H1 antihistamines might result in a small but clinically unimportant reduction in eczema and itch severity, and may not reduce sleep disturbance or flare-ups.<\/p>\n First generation antihistamines also probably increase cognitive impairment such as sedation and drowsiness, and may increase the risk of stopping treatment due to side effects, the review found.<\/p>\n The researchers said: \u201cThis systematic review and network meta-analysis addresses the longstanding uncertainty surrounding the role of antihistamines in treating atopic dermatitis, showing they likely do not meaningfully improve patient important outcomes while probably increasing harms.\u201d<\/p>\n The authors stated: \u201cOur findings do not support their use in routine atopic dermatitis management.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have provided a foundation for an evidence-based change in practice, supporting the development of updated atopic dermatitis guidelines that prioritise efficacy, safety, and patient centred care.\u201d<\/p>\n The study received funding from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology<\/a>, and American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Current evidence from clinical trials does not support the use of antihistamines in routine eczema management, according to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":838256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,84],"class_list":["post-838255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}