Yes. Eczema, called atopic dermatitis by doctors, is the most common long-term inflammatory skin disease in the world. In moderate to severe eczema, inflammation signals also show up in the blood. Population studies link eczema to slightly higher heart and stroke risk, and to depression and anxiety.
Is eczema an inflammatory disease?
Yes. A 2025 review in The Lancet calls atopic dermatitis "the most common chronic inflammatory skin disease globally." It brings an itchy rash, and the itch can be intense. It is common at every age. It affects up to 20% of children and 10% of adults in wealthy countries.
Eczema also travels in a family of related conditions. The same spectrum can include asthma, hay fever and food allergy. That is a first hint that eczema is about the immune system, not only the skin.
What happens under the skin
Think of your outer skin as a brick wall. In eczema, the wall leaks. A 2019 review found that a broken skin barrier lets more through the outer layer, sets off inflammation in the skin, and opens the door to allergies. The immune system is out of balance too, in both its fast first-line defenses and its slower, targeted ones.
Several artery markers in the blood rose with how severe the eczema was, not with body weight.From a 2017 cross-sectional in Sci Rep
The main driver is a branch of the immune system called type 2. Two signaling proteins, IL-4 and IL-13, are key drivers of this type 2 inflammation.
A small randomized trial shows how central they are. Researchers gave 54 people with moderate to severe eczema either an antibody drug that blocks IL-4 and IL-13 or a placebo, for 16 weeks. The drug improved the rash. It also turned down inflammation genes in the skin and turned up genes that build the barrier. So calming the inflammation helped the wall, too.
Does eczema cause inflammation in the body?
Here is where it gets surprising. In 2017, researchers measured a large panel of blood proteins in 59 people with moderate to severe eczema and compared them with 18 healthy people. The eczema group had more type 2 inflammation proteins in their blood, which made sense. But some markers of atherosclerosis, the hardening of arteries, were raised as well. Several of these artery markers rose with how severe the eczema was, not with body weight. The authors concluded the results strongly support eczema being a body-wide disease.
A 2026 study backed this up. It compared blood from 41 people with eczema, people with four other skin diseases, and 49 healthy people. All of the skin diseases showed immune activation in the blood.
These are small studies, and each took one snapshot in time. They show that signals travel. They do not show harm.
Is eczema linked to heart disease and mood?
To answer that, you need big numbers. A 2019 meta-analysis, which pools the results of many studies, gathered 19 population studies. In cohort studies, which follow people over time, eczema was linked to more heart attacks (relative risk 1.12), strokes (1.10) and heart failure (1.26). A relative risk of 1.10 means about 10% higher than people without eczema. Risk climbed as eczema got more severe. The authors called it "this small but significant association."
A 2025 meta-analysis of 11 studies found the same for ischemic stroke, the kind caused by a blocked artery. The link was clearest in severe eczema (odds ratio 1.29) and weak in mild eczema (1.06).
The mind is part of the picture too. A 2018 meta-analysis found adults with eczema had about twice the odds of depression and anxiety. A review of 14 studies found eczema linked to a larger waist, more so in women, but said the link with metabolic syndrome is unlikely to be cause and effect.
None of this proves eczema causes these problems. Itch, poor sleep, weight and other habits could explain part of it. But the pattern lines up with the blood studies: more severe eczema, more body-wide signals.
Can diet calm eczema inflammation?
The evidence here is thin. A 2024 study of 215,832 UK adults aged 37 to 73 estimated how much salt each person ate from a urine test. Each extra gram of sodium a day was linked to higher odds of eczema (odds ratio 1.11), and of more severe eczema. It was a single snapshot, so it shows a link, not a cause.
Vitamin D has trials behind it. A 2024 meta-analysis of 11 randomized trials with 686 children and adults found that vitamin D supplements lowered eczema severity scores compared with control groups. The authors say larger and longer studies are still needed.
What this means for you
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your eczema covers large areas of your body, keeps you awake, or looks infected; you are on, or thinking about, a pill or injection for eczema; you plan to take vitamin D and have kidney disease or take other daily medicines; or you have heart disease, high blood pressure or a past stroke.
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The bottom line
The leaky wall, the type 2 signals, the artery markers in the blood, the small but steady rise in heart and stroke risk that tracks with severity: they point the same way. Eczema is an inflammatory disease, and when it is severe, its inflammation does not keep to the skin. That makes calm skin worth more than comfort. It may be the best thing you can do for the rest of you.
Common questions
Is eczema caused by inflammation?
Partly. Eczema comes from two problems that feed each other: a weak skin barrier and an immune system out of balance. A broken barrier lets more through the skin and sets off inflammation, and that inflammation weakens the barrier further. In a 16-week trial, blocking two type 2 signals calmed skin inflammation and turned up genes that build the barrier.
Does eczema cause inflammation in the body?
In moderate to severe eczema, inflammation signals show up in the blood. A 2017 study of 59 people with eczema found raised inflammation proteins and some markers of hardened arteries, and several rose with severity. A 2026 study found immune activation in the blood of people with eczema and four other skin diseases. These studies were small.
Does eczema raise the risk of heart disease?
Slightly, in population studies. A 2019 meta-analysis of 19 studies linked eczema to more heart attacks, strokes and heart failure in cohort studies, with risk rising as eczema got more severe. A 2025 meta-analysis of 11 studies linked eczema to ischemic stroke, mostly in severe eczema. These studies show a link, not proof of cause.
Is there an anti-inflammatory diet for eczema?
Not a proven one. In a study of 215,832 UK adults, eating more salt was linked to higher odds of eczema. In 11 randomized trials with 686 people, vitamin D supplements lowered eczema severity scores. The trials in our sources did not test a full eating plan, so a single eczema diet has not been shown to work.
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How this article was made
Researched and written from 11 peer-reviewed papers. Our automated check matched every claim against the exact words of its source, confirmed every paper exists in PubMed, and found none retracted. Checked November 1, 2026. Not individually reviewed by a doctor. Photos are illustrative; the people in them are not patients or readers.
Grades run Strong, Moderate, Emerging, Early and Not supported, and the grade decides the words we may use. How we grade evidence · Medical disclaimer
Sources
- Systematic reviewAtopic dermatitis: the skin barrier and beyond.Tsakok T, Woolf R, Smith CH et al. Br J Dermatol, 2019.PubMedFull paper
- Randomized trialDupilumab progressively improves systemic and cutaneous abnormalities in patients with atopic dermatitis.Guttman-Yassky E, Bissonnette R, Ungar B et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol, 2019.PubMedFull paper
- Cross-sectionalThe atopic dermatitis blood signature is characterized by increases in inflammatory and cardiovascular risk proteins.Brunner PM, Suárez-Fariñas M, He H et al. Sci Rep, 2017.PubMedFull paper
- Cross-sectionalLarge-Scale Blood Proteomic Analysis Across Different Inflammatory Skin Conditions Reveals Extensive Immune Dysregulation With Distinct Biomarker Profiles.Glickman JW, David E, Shokrian N et al. Allergy, 2026.PubMedFull paper
- Meta-analysisAtopic eczema and major cardiovascular outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based studies.Ascott A, Mulick A, Yu AM et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol, 2019.PubMedFull paper
- Meta-analysisRelationship between patients with atopic dermatitis and the incidence of stroke: A systematic review with meta-analysis.Figueiredo Filho LC, Massoud RO, Cabeça RAS et al. Clin Neurol Neurosurg, 2025.PubMedFull paper
- Meta-analysisAssociation of atopic dermatitis with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation in children and adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Rønnstad ATM, Halling-Overgaard AS, Hamann CR et al. J Am Acad Dermatol, 2018.PubMedFull paper
- Systematic reviewAssociation between Atopic Dermatitis and the Metabolic Syndrome: A Systematic Review.Ali Z, Ulrik CS, Agner T et al. Dermatology, 2018.PubMedFull paper
- Cross-sectionalSodium Intake and Atopic Dermatitis.Chiang BM, Ye M, Chattopadhyay A et al. JAMA Dermatol, 2024.PubMedFull paper
- Meta-analysisVitamin D Supplementation for Treating Atopic Dermatitis in Children and Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nielsen AY, Høj S, Thomsen SF et al. Nutrients, 2024.PubMedFull paper
