You might think of eczema as just another itchy skin problem, but it’s more complicated than that. Eczema leads to rough, itchy and sometimes painful patches on your body. Another important health concern, known as hyperparathyroidism, involves your parathyroid glands producing too much parathyroid hormone (PTH).
This extra hormone disrupts your body’s calcium balance in ways that weaken your bones or affect other functions. Research suggests that people with atopic dermatitis, the most common form of eczema, face a higher chance of developing hyperparathyroidism, and this link seems to happen without vitamin D playing a major role.1 If you have eczema, it’s worth learning about this connection, because understanding it helps you make wiser decisions for better long-term health.
Atopic Dermatitis Is More Than Just Dry Skin
You may have heard of atopic dermatitis described as a simple dryness issue, but it goes deeper than that. Atopic dermatitis is a long-term skin condition that leads to red, flaky and scratchy spots that are often uncomfortable. Sometimes skin becomes inflamed to the point where it breaks, bleeds or even becomes infected. This happens because your immune system is overreacting to triggers in your surroundings or in your daily routine.
Chances are you know someone with eczema or have it yourself, since it’s one of the world’s most common skin problems. The National Eczema Association explains that millions of people, including babies, teens and adults, have it.2 Many people develop these symptoms in early childhood, though you might be surprised to learn that it also pops up or persists later in life. Even when you start seeing symptoms as a child, it doesn’t always go away in adulthood.
One tricky part of dealing with atopic dermatitis is figuring out your triggers, which include everyday stresses, exposure to certain fabrics or even a shift in weather patterns. These triggers set off flare-ups, making you feel exhausted or distracted by constant itching.
Sometimes, the itching makes it hard to sleep, which then spills over into other parts of your day, like work or school. Trying to keep your life running smoothly while managing these flare-ups often feels like an uphill climb, and it takes time to figure out what works best for you.
Imagine solving a new puzzle each day, because living with eczema is a lot like detective work. You might need to look into whether a new soap or detergent is triggering a flare-up, or if stress from a busy week is adding to your discomfort. It helps to work closely with a holistic health care provider, who can guide you in identifying triggers, fine-tuning treatments and finding better ways to prevent those red, itchy outbreaks.
Hyperparathyroidism 101
While eczema impacts your skin, hyperparathyroidism affects your hormones. Hyperparathyroidism happens when your parathyroid glands make too much parathyroid hormone (PTH). These four tiny glands in your neck normally manage how much calcium and phosphorus move around in your blood. If your body makes too much PTH, it causes a buildup of calcium in your blood, which interferes with many aspects of your health.
Sometimes, benign growths on your parathyroid glands are the reason behind this overproduction of PTH. In other cases, you might see vitamin D imbalances or certain inherited health issues that set the stage for hyperparathyroidism.
Age also raises your risk. Hyperparathyroidism is tricky to notice at first, because its symptoms sometimes blend in with everyday fatigue. You might go through weeks or months where you feel extra tired, achy or even notice trouble with your bones or kidneys. You could form kidney stones or experience bone pain, which is your body’s way of telling you that your calcium levels might be off.
One simple way to picture how your parathyroid glands work is to compare them to a thermostat in your home. When your thermostat is set just right, your body’s calcium “temperature” stays in a comfortable range. But when the thermostat is stuck on high, you get more calcium than you need, and everything overheats. In your body, that extra calcium creates stress for your kidneys, bones and other organs.
Hyperparathyroidism vs. Hyperthyroidism
You’ve probably noticed that hyperparathyroidism and hyperthyroidism sound alike, and it’s easy to mix them up. Even though both involve the endocrine system, they affect different glands and produce different hormones that keep your body in balance. Knowing these differences helps you understand which condition you’re dealing with; it’s important to understand that they are two distinct endocrine disorders.
Hyperparathyroidism involves the parathyroid glands and does not directly affect your metabolism in the same way the thyroid gland does. Hyperthyroidism, by contrast, affects your thyroid gland, which is shaped like a butterfly and sits at the front of your neck. Your thyroid controls the rate at which your body uses energy.
When you have hyperthyroidism, your thyroid makes too much thyroid hormone, which speeds up your heart rate, raises your body temperature and causes weight loss or nervousness. While both conditions involve hormones, they play different roles and create distinct sets of challenges. While the names are similar, keep them straight by remembering that your parathyroid glands mainly govern calcium levels, while your thyroid gland influences your overall metabolism.
Atopic Dermatitis Linked to Hyperparathyroidism
You might wonder how a skin condition like eczema ties in with too much parathyroid hormone, but a study in the Archives of Dermatological Research looked into this question.3 The scientists reviewed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, also known as NHANES, for the years 2005 to 2006. They examined records for 7,266 people to see if those who had atopic dermatitis were more likely to have hyperparathyroidism.
The results showed that people with atopic dermatitis had higher chances of developing hyperparathyroidism than those who did not have this skin condition. There was a noticeable increase in the odds of having hyperparathyroidism if you also had eczema. This finding got researchers to look into possible reasons, including whether vitamin D or other health factors might explain the overlap.
Because atopic dermatitis is often linked to low vitamin D levels, many researchers suspected that might be the reason for this increase in hyperparathyroidism risk. Surprisingly, the study concluded that vitamin D levels weren’t the key culprit.
The relationship between eczema and high parathyroid hormone levels was not “mediated by vitamin D” or other factors like calcium, phosphorus, body mass index and C-reactive protein. That means these usual suspects didn’t explain the link, which leaves a mystery that scientists are still exploring.
Another twist came when researchers looked at smaller subgroups. They discovered that people over 60 had a stronger association between eczema and hyperparathyroidism, especially if they had normal vitamin D levels.
This suggests that something else might be going on, possibly connected to changes that happen as you get older. It might be that your body becomes more vulnerable to hormone issues as time passes, or it might reflect other stressors that aren’t fully understood yet.
The Controversial Role of Vitamin D in Atopic Dermatitis
The link between vitamin D, atopic dermatitis and hyperparathyroidism is complex. According to Yale Medicine, secondary hyperparathyroidism “occurs because of chronically low levels of calcium or vitamin D in the blood, which causes the parathyroid glands to chronically release high levels of PTH.”4
Meanwhile, people with atopic dermatitis often have changes in their skin’s barrier and immune responses, which let irritants and germs sneak in. Because vitamin D influences both the immune system and the way your skin cells grow, some researchers believe there could be a connection between vitamin D levels and the risk or severity of eczema.
For instance, vitamin D helps regulate the proliferation and differentiation of keratinocytes — the cells responsible for forming your skin’s outer layer.
A review highlights studies that have found low vitamin D levels in many people with eczema, suggesting that vitamin D has a protective effect in some cases.5 Researchers have measured how much vitamin D people get through food, sunlight and supplements, but the findings aren’t always straightforward. In some cases, children with higher vitamin D intake showed more eczema symptoms, pointing to environmental or lifestyle factors that scientists still need to sort out.
Further, some experts think vitamin D improves your skin’s ability to fight off bacteria and reduce inflammation, which could help prevent flare-ups. Vitamin D is also linked to other skin conditions, like psoriasis. Others argue that more studies are needed to confirm whether taking extra vitamin D truly lowers the chances of getting eczema or makes symptoms less severe. Considering the many health benefits of vitamin D, however, optimizing your levels makes sense.
Tips for Tackling Atopic Dermatitis
Most people have dysfunctional mitochondria, and if you don’t have enough mitochondria, you can’t create cellular energy efficiently enough to ward off skin conditions like eczema. Your gut health also suffers from mitochondrial dysfunction.
Gut dysbiosis — an imbalance in the microbial community — leads to increased intestinal permeability, often called “leaky gut,” allowing harmful substances to enter your bloodstream. This triggers systemic inflammation and immune responses that may lead to eczema and autoimmune diseases.
The modern diet is rife with processed foods and seed oils rich in linoleic acid (LA) that damage your gut microbiome and promote harmful bacteria. LA is a mitochondrial poison that compromises your cellular energy production. In addition to processed foods, avoid nuts and seeds as well to reduce LA intake. It’s wise to keep your LA intake below 5 grams from all sources. If you can get it below 2 grams, that’s even better.
Exposure to synthetic endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), estrogen and pervasive electromagnetic fields (EMFs) further impairs your cells’ ability to generate energy efficiently. This energy deficit makes it challenging to sustain the oxygen-free gut environment necessary for beneficial bacteria like Akkermansia to flourish.
Further, a lack of cellular energy creates an environment in your gut that favors endotoxin-producing bacteria, damaging mitochondria and creating a vicious cycle of worsening health. By tackling excess LA, estrogens (xenoestrogens found in everyday items like plastic), EDCs and EMFs, you restore your cellular energy and start down the path toward optimal mitochondrial function and health.
Stress management also goes hand in hand with caring for eczema, because stress makes your skin condition worse. Activities like yoga, meditation and daily walks calm your mind, which benefits your immune system and your skin. To manage eczema and help avoid flare-ups, also consider phototherapy or exposure to natural sunlight, which help improve eczema symptoms by reducing the inflammatory response.6
