Eczema and the Nickel Allergy Picture

Nickel, which is frequently found to contaminate food, can cause a relapse of contact eczema and also widespread chronic allergic skin reactions in sensitised patients.
Research carried out at the Allergy Department, Asola Hospital, Mantova, Italy involving 112 people evaluated the results of an elimination diet and of the taking of nickel salts in adults suffering from chronic urticaria or angioedema, pruritus or atopic dermatitis.All of the participants were prescribed a low nickel diet for four weeks. Of those that greatly improved, they were given two successive doses of 10 and 20 mg nickel sulphate hexahydrate respectively equal to 2.23 and 4.47 mg of elemental nickel. A search for the specific IgE and the check on skin reactivity by skin-prick test against nickel were carried out in the patients who had shown particularly severe reactions after taking the nickel.
The results of the study found that a low nickel diet was effective in controlling the symptoms in 44 patients (39.28%). The nickel trial was very positive in that all the patients who favourably responded to the elimination diet, except one. This research appears to demonstrate that, in some patients with contact allergy, intolerance to ingested nickel salts might be the real cause or trigger of the onset of symptoms of continued chronic, allergic-type skin conditions.
A further study in Denmark which was part of the Biological Risk Assessment of Human Metal Sensitisation (BRAHMS) aimed to understand the clinical and physiological effects of repeated exposures to nickel.
Using two groups of individuals, half of which were allergic to nickel and suffering with eczema on the hand. Both groups had similar levels of nickel in urine, while the level of nickel in the blood was significantly lower in nickel allergic individuals.
Using diet to measure the study, the Nickel allergic individuals had a significantly lower intake of nickel-rich food items (chocolate, nuts, beans, porridge oats). The blood nickel levels correlated with intake of these foods, suggesting that the difference in the blood nickel levels was caused by differences in dietary nickel intake.
These research papers indicate that eczema sufferers may be helped by avoiding the main food groups which tend to be high in nickel - chocolate, nuts, beans, porridge oats - and that an allergy test or food elimination diet are worth considering to help overcome the condition.