Where are we now?

This book has summarized something about the burden and causes of atopic dermatitis (AD) throughout the world. Because the subject is so vast, there will be some gaps in coverage of the material, even in a text dedicated to the epidemiology of AD. Like any printed material, some of the data in this book will be out of date within a few years, and important breakthroughs will occur. Despite these limitations, it is worth pausing for a moment to look back and see where research into the epidemiology of AD has taken us so far, in order to identify the major gaps for the future research agenda. The author has resisted the temptation to draw figures depicting his own personal theory on the causes of AD as (a) it is likely to be wrong, and (b) it will certainly be incomplete. Instead, it is considered more useful to summarize some areas of notable progress to be followed by a section on areas of notable ignorance, and then to highlight what needs to be done to address those gaps. It is hoped that this will inspire future researchers to study this interesting yet enigmatic disease.

Ten areas of notable progress

Disease definition

Even as recently as the late 1970s, at least 12 synonyms for atopic dermatitis were in use in Europe alone, and it is unclear whether these names referred to the same clinical concept.