FOCUS: Biochemist offers new approach to atopy+

TOKYO, April 9 Kyodo -
Naoko Ando suffered from an atopic inflammation of the skin for 25 years and
received a ''standard treatment'' of external application of a steroid drug.
It did not work and she stopped it in 2003.
But the termination of the treatment backfired on the associate professor of
Toyo University as she experienced a deterioration of her symptoms. It took two
years for the biochemist to recover to the extent that she could live daily
life without difficulty.
Therapies centering on the use of steroid drugs are considered the standard
medical treatment in dealing with an atopic inflammation of the skin. However,
such remedies are sometimes not effective and some patients are suffering from
side effects.
Now, Ando has written a 223-page book titled ''Atopy sei hifuen: Kanja
1,000-nin no shogen'' (Testimony by 1,000 dermatitis patients) with the
cooperation of patient support groups and medical institutions, including those
which provide care for dermatitis patients, and assistance from the Takagi Fund
for Citizen Science nonprofit organization.
The fruit of a scientist's great efforts, the book analyzed data from about
1,000 respondents who answered questionnaires Ando sent to about 2,000 people.
Seventy-eight percent of the respondents said they were not taking either
steroid drugs or the immunosuppressive drug tacrolimus.
Abnormalities or side effects were cited most frequently as the reason for the
respondents to stop relying on those medicines, followed by advice from
specialists.
Touching on the recurrence of atopic symptoms they experienced after giving up
steroid drugs, 64 percent said the symptoms were the worst they had experienced
in dealing with the disease. Together with those who said their conditions
became very bad, the proportion was 83 percent.
It was learned that a tendency for a ''rebound'' of symptoms was liable to
occur after people had been on steroid drugs for more than a year.
More than half of those who responded to the questionnaire said they became
able to control atopy and 60 percent mentioned ''suspension of using steroid
drugs'' as the reason.
Thirty-four percent of the respondents said they could not leave their homes
for more than a month when atopic symptoms became serious, while 40 percent
took leave from work or quit working. The response indicated that they were in
need of social or economic support.
Sixty percent of the total said they had painful experiences in hospitals,
saying they were forced to take steroid drugs and denied a medical examination
or that they could not express their anxieties about the drugs doctors
prescribed.
Ando said many people may get benefits from steroid drugs but that there are
also others who do not. She added that there is a situation in which those who
quit the standard treatment find it difficult to receive medical care.
The professor expressed apprehension about doctors' emotional attachment to the
effectiveness of steroid drugs and their possible failure to see patients' real
conditions.
She said medical care is primarily for patients, expressing hope that doctors
would listen more carefully to what patients have to say.
==Kyodo