Itchy red spots on a baby’s skin often foretell a worse fate. Asthma later develops in approximately 50 percent of children who have a sibling with eczema or asthma and who, in their early years, have dry-skin rashes known as eczema or atopic dermatitis. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and 27 other institutions across the country are studying whether youngsters who receive prompt, consistent and long-term eczema treatment with a steroid-free cream will be less likely to develop the wheezing that signals the onset of asthma.
