"Make up for the lost time. That's all they want"

Frederico, 37, is considered an extreme case of atopic dermatitis.

The disease was diagnosed a decade ago, after many tests and diagnoses. Last year, he suffered an acute crisis and was hospitalized for four months, with a generalized infection of the skin.

In Frederico's life, a simple bath is a torture: "I used to play with my family that I suffered from post-shower depression, because it turns out to be the most complicated time, either for what it feels like (the driest skin), but also because we are exposing ourselves. That's when we see the wounds, which ends up being a complicated time, both physically and psychologically".

As a result of the illness, which resulted from several years of applying medicines, particularly corticosteroids, Frederico suffers from osteoporosis, which, according to his wife, Joana, limits his life and his relationship with his children to one or six years: "He can't hold the baby, he has certain limitations. We have to be very careful with him, so that he does not suffer any fall. But our children have never known their father in any other way...".

Right now, all they want is to gain back time. There are new treatments arriving and this gives them a new-found hope.

Frederico and Joana Rodrigues' testemony is part of a project between Sanofi\Expresso and it explores the impact that Atopic Dermatitis can have in the people suffering with AD, their family and caregivers.

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