ABSTRACT
The idea of steroid withdrawal then gained popularity in Japan, and patient knowledge supporting it was able to develop. When patients first fall sick in the UK, they must book an appointment with their local GP, and any consultation with a specialist dermatologist requires a referral from the GP. Thus, the patients’ rejection of steroids has not changed mainstream medicine in a straightforward way; on the contrary, mainstream medicine has started promoting steroid treatment even more vigorously in an attempt to stop ‘steroid-phobia.’ Similarly, in the case of atopic dermatitis, the premise is that the opinions of patients are unscientific. The aims of Atopicco Network for Children of the Earth seem more oriented to local or living knowledge than scientific knowledge. When average people actually judge what is legitimate or fair, they rarely rely on scientific evidence or data to make their decision. However, for individual patients in real life, scientific evidence is not necessarily the only criterion.
