The Food and Drug Administration recently cleared a new prescription treatment for eczema that may bring relief to persons who suffer from dry, itchy, flaky skin.

Epiceram is a topical, non-steroidal skin cream based on research by dermatologists at the University of California, San Francisco, one of the leading dermatology research centers in the country. Unlike other approaches to treating eczema that use potent topical steroids or immunosuppressive drugs, Epiceram helps restore the skin's own natural skin barrier by using a patented combination of lipids, the same type found naturally in the skin.

"Persons with eczema and other dry skin conditions have an abnormal skin barrier," says Dr. Peter Elias, professor of dermatology at UCSF. "As a result, the skin loses moisture and becomes dry, flaky and itchy." Elias is the inventor of the Epiceram patented technology and also serves as the chief scientific officer of Ceragenix Pharmaceuticals (OTCBB: CGXP), the Denver company that developed Epiceram.

Eczema is actually a term for a group of medical conditions that cause the skin to become inflamed or irritated. The most common type is known as atopic dermatitis, or atopic eczema. "Atopic" refers to a group of diseases with an often inherited tendency to develop other allergic conditions, such as asthma or hay fever.

Atopic dermatitis is the most common skin disease of childhood, affecting over 15 million Americans. People who had atopic dermatitis as children are at increased risk of occupational dermatitis as adults. Occupational dermatitis is common among nurses, dentists, hairdressers and other occupations in which frequent hand washing is common.

"While hand washing is certainly a good thing, frequent hand washing and the use of harsh soaps can strip away the lipids in the outer layer of the skin and weaken the skin's natural barrier," Elias says. "We found that use of Epiceram is very soothing to the skin and brings quick relief to the intense itching that is very common in this condition."