A new study has found that a defect in the biological ‘glue’ that bonds skin cells together could be the cause of skin allergies such as eczema.
Eczema has been assumed, until now, to be caused by disruptions or malfunctions of the body’s immune system, but the new study finds the problem could be only skin deep.
The research, published in the August edition of the medical journal Nature Genetics, found that mutations in the skin cell molecule desmoglein 1, which is literally the ‘glue’ that keeps the outer skin layer stuck together, could cause areas of weakened skin barrier where the glue doesn’t quite bond as it should.
[quote]These areas of weakened skin glue leads to increased moisture loss and also allows bacteria and other external irritants into the un-bonded cracks in the skin’s structure triggering eczema and other chronic skin allergies.[/quote]
