Eczema and link to giftedness?

[lld]

Just curious...if your child/children had/have atopical eczema?

About a year ago a friend of mine who has a profoundly gifted son mentioned that she had been at a conference where someone had presented some research showing that the vast majority of profoundly gifted children had eczema when they were young. I didn't think much of it...
Today I was at the dermatologist's office...after informing me that my son has eczema, he jokingly said to watch out because that means he'll be extra smart...he also asked if there is a history of eczema in my family. After talking to my mother, I found out that she, as well as many of my cousins who are gifted, also had eczema as a child. The dermatologist also told me a bunch of interesting anecdotes...this made me think about what my friend mentioned last year.

It just made me a bit curious...if you don't mind sharing if your gifted child has/had (or has not had) eczema.

[no5no5]

Nope. None of the MG, HG, or PG people I know have had eczema.

It'd be a pretty bizarre connection, wouldn't it? But I guess that doesn't make it impossible.

[joensally]

Well, they're both heritable, so maybe??? Maybe they co-exist at a higher than typical rate, but aren't associated?

I metacrawled it and didn't find anything, but that's interesting.

[whatsnextmom]

Not here. Gifteness runs heavily in both DH's and my families and I can't think of one case of eczema. My oldest has dry skin and if not watched can result in rashy patches but it was never diagnosed as eczema and it pretty much went away around 9.

[RiverTam]

I had it as a kid. My son has it. My grandmother had it. (She was the most gifted person I've ever met and I've met a lot of gifted people.)

I don't know how it would be connected, though.

[daytripper75]

Both my dh and sil have eczema and are gifted. All three of our combined children had/have eczema.
Dunno!

[loraxc]

I've read that there is a connection between allergies of all kinds (isn't eczema basically an allergy?) and giftedness.

DD had her first bit of eczema this last winter, at 6. Odd. She also has allergies, asthma, sinus troubles, reflux, and general respiratory problems. DS has not shown any signs of this yet, thank goodness, but DD's problems did not develop till she started daycare at 2.5 (DS is not in daycare, partly for this reason).

[MJB]

Neither my husband or I have eczema and we are both gifted, neither does our son who is gifted. I do have a lot of allergies though. The little guy's never had a reaction to anything. He's probably the healthiest kid I've ever met.

[A&A]

yes, my kids do have some eczema, actually.

[kittynurse]

I'm gifted and don't have eczema now and don't recall it as a child. DS1 did have troubles with eczema when he was younger and it is probable that he is gifted. DS2 does not have eczema and is most definitely gifted. DH isn't here so I can't ask him about his childhood but he is for sure gifted (although not identified).

Martha

[meemee]

aaaaah the world of studies and numbers.

its interesting from which angle you see it.

for instance people with learning disabilities - ADHD, dyslexia, autism and others - research have shown 25% of them are highly gifted if not PG. only 1% of regular population is gifted.

i have no idea of the numbers. or research or any kind of links.

but it makes sense to me.

a lot of gifted kids have anxiety. and i can see eczema being a symptom of anxiety.

here is my conjecture : it is probably more prevalent during the early years during asynchronous development when their emotional development does not match their intellectual development.

for that matter if gifted kids do tend to have eczema, i would also say they tend to have more stomach aches too.

[eepster]

Eczema runs in my family, but I, officially ID'ed as gifted, do not have eczema. My older sister, who was tested but not ID'ed as gifted, does have it. Through out my family some of us who are most likely gifted have it and some don't. Also, some who probably aren't do have it and others don't.

I can see a possible correlation between eczema and giftedness, that would not be at all causative: Gifted people and their gifted parents are more likely to identify and properly label the weird patches of red itchy skin they get as "eczema." Where as, the general population is more likely to just buy a bottle of lotion and ignore it.

[Suzannah]

Originally Posted by meemee

for instance people with learning disabilities - ADHD, dyslexia, autism and others - research have shown 25% of them are highly gifted if not PG. only 1% of regular population is gifted.

Just a sidenote that many of the above are misdiagnosed in gifted kids. A good resource: http://www.amazon.com/Misdiagnosis-D...8692893&sr=1-1

On topic, I have eczema, my mom has it, my daughter has it, my g'ma and great g'ma had skin issues. ? Who knows? As a teacher of gifted kids for six years, I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary with skin issues, though. Lots of anxiety and nervous tics, though!!

[dessismama]

I agree with Eepster here--there is no causal relationship here and since it is partly inherited and giftedness runs in families....

DH and DS1, who are both pg, do not have eczema. DD who is moderately gifted but very sensitive had it as a baby and toddler. Not so much now--just the occasional patch on the back of her knees and elbows.

DH is however allergic to just about everything. DS2 (also mg) has asthma and allergies but not eczema.

[lovingmommyhood]

None of my three children are gifted, two have eczema.

[lld]

Thanks for all the interesting responses...I also didn't think of it as causal...but since both giftedness and ezcema can be inherited I thought it was intriguing. Maybe someone who is gifted who had ezcema will do some studies


FYI: I am gifted and I've never had ezcema, allergies or anything else

[lld]

Originally Posted by eepster

Gifted people and their gifted parents are more likely to identify and properly label the weird patches of red itchy skin they get as "eczema." Where as, the general population is more likely to just buy a bottle of lotion and ignore it.

Love this...as a gifted parent of a possibly gifted child, I spent over 3 years buying a bottle of lotion and ignoring it

[St. Margaret]

My family in general doesn't have a lot of allergies or skin issues (well my mom is probably gifted and now has some but it's more an aging thing). DD only ever had mild skin stuff as a baby, still has cradle cap, and occassional scary bouts of itchiness that I atrribute more to chemicals on the grass at a random park than anything else.

[leighi123]

My ds had/has it BAD.

Its supposed to be food/chemical allergy related, but he had blood testing and was negative for everything. He had muscle testing and tested positive for a zillion different things. Eliminating those foods/soaps/sunscren and bunches of other stuff has helped a lot but he still is 'itchy' much of the time. He has odd allergies too (like oatmeal and vinegar) along with more common ones (dairy)

I nursed him exclusivly for a year, and continued until he was 2.5yrs (when he stopped on his own), and introduced foods slowly when we did. He isnt vaxed, and is vegetarian, no history of allergies in the family. So it was suprising that he had so many issues with his skin!

[ellemenope]

Umm. The only person I know at the moment with eczema is a 10 year old girl. She is not gifted as far as I know, but she is different. I would say she has some psych issues. She is bright. She has a glow about her. She is very sensitive.

DH's mother had really bad eczema and was a gifted and succesful artist. She also seemed really intelligent to me just from reading a lot of her writings.

DH's father is profoundly gifted. He does not have skin issues as far as I know.

DH is gifted. He has rosacia. He also has other skin issues, but not severe enough in his adulthood to require intervention beyond lotion.

DD has had bouts of eczema, but for the last few months I have been really proud of her skin.