Atopic dermatitis (AD) was not independently associated with non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) or non-fatal stroke, according to a recent study. Researchers analyzed data from 78,702 subjects in the Nurses’ Health Study 2, a cohort of US women, with 7,916 (10%) having a history of AD. They used logistic regression models to calculate age- and multivariate-adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence levels for the associations between history of AD and non-fatal MI and non-fatal stroke. They found:

• There were 392 and 391 cases of non-fatal MI and stroke, respectively.

• AD was not associated with MI in age- or multivariate-adjusted analyses.

• AD was significantly associated with stroke in the age-adjusted analysis.

• This was no longer significant in multivariate models that adjusted for hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and diabetes, and atopic comorbidities.