[Group sports as adjuvant therapy for patients with atopic eczema]

The therapeutic value of regular physical exercise for patients with atopic eczema (AE) and other chronic inflammatory dermatoses has not yet been investigated systematically. At our institution an adjuvant group sports programme for voluntary inpatients has been in place for 3 years. Using a standardized questionnaire we found positive psychological influences of this program on the patients' mood and psychosocial wellbeing. Since most dermatologists, however, regard sweating as detrimental for patients with AE, we studied the impact of regular sports activities on the skin condition of AE-patients otherwise subdued to usual dermatotherapy (yet without corticosteroids) by aid of a standardized symptomscore system. Thirty inpatients with AE participated regularly in the sports programme, another 30 inpatients with AE (the control group) did not. The skin condition improved similarly the two groups over the study period of about 3 weeks. Cutaneous thermoregulation (with one arm in a 41 degrees C water bath as thermic stimulus) was examined in patients with AE before and after the study period. While many AE patients initially showed paradoxical, i.e. decreasing, skin temperature in the contralateral arm, after 3 weeks of physical training most of the participants had normalized consensual, i.e. increased, temperature reaction to the same warmth exposure. The conclusion is drawn that regular sports may be of adjuvant therapeutic value in patients suffering from AE, except in the acute stages of the disease.