Major review finds antihistamines unlikely to meaningfully help eczema patients

For decades, oral antihistamines have been woven into the fabric of eczema care so naturally that their presence went largely unquestioned — a quiet assumption embedded in millions of prescriptions across the world. Now, a sweeping review of 47 clinical trials published in The BMJ finds that this assumption may have been misplaced, with the medications offering little meaningful relief from itch or inflammation while introducing real harms like sedation and cognitive impairment. The findings invite a reckoning not just with a single drug class, but with how medical habit can outpace medical ev