Critical evaluation of food and mite allergy in the management of atopic dermatitis. 
The subject of allergic causation of atopic dermatitis (AD) has been a source of controversy for over sixty years.  While there is general agreement of allergen-induced asthma and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, AD lesions cannot be readily or consistently induced by foods and inhalants.  The most consistent perturbators of atopic conditions are irritants, probably reflecting the consistent inflammatory cell hyper-reactivity due to elevated cyclic AMP-phosphodiesterase activity.  The immunologic reactions are another manifestation of that general cellular dysregulation.