Journal of Dermatology and Skin Biology

Atopic dermatitis (AD) together with asthma and allergic rhinitis represents the most typical manifestation of “atopic constitution”. AD was known since ancient times and also Job was probably affected by it. In the Bible (Book of Job) we read:” So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown; and he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes”. Davis et al called “Job syndrome” a disease characterized by eczema, severe S. aureus infections, T-lymphocyte deficiency and neutrophils chemotactic abnormalities. Had Job really suffered from the syndrome bearing his name, he had not long survived without an antibiotic treatment. Since his skin affection was highly itching, it is possible that he was afflicted with AD. Aetius de Amida in 534 BC is to be credited with the first report of a skin affection closely resembling AD. However the first “scientific” description of childhood AD together with advices on its treatment is to be found in the first Textbook of Pediatrics of the western world “Libellus de aegritudinibus infantium”, appeared in 1472, written by an Italian medical doctor, Paolo Bagellardo. In 1891 Brocq and Jaquet classified AD as “neurodermatitis”. In 1892 Besnier described the illness as “prurigo”. He emphasized its chronic and relapsing course beginning in infancy, and stressed the role played by heredity, the common concurrence with asthma and hay-fever, and the characteristic skin lesions. In 1936 Wise and Sulzberger coined the term AD, showing that the condition could be viewed as the “skin analogous of asthma and hay-fever”.