Eyelash Length in Children and Adolescents with Allergic Diseases

In a study from 2004, researchers investigated the association between long eyelashes and allergic diseases in children and adolescents. They compared the eyelash lengths of 60 patients with perennial allergic rhinitis, with or without bronchial asthma and atopic dermatitis, to 80 age- and sex-matched nonallergic controls. The study found that the eyelashes of allergic patients were significantly longer, measuring 9.43 +/- 1.39 mm, compared to the controls' eyelashes, which measured 8.45 +/- 1.30 mm (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in eyelash length between patients with only allergic rhinitis (9.65 +/- 1.43 mm) and those with additional allergic diseases (9.19 +/- 1.31 mm) (p = 0.196). The conclusion was that children and adolescents with allergic diseases tend to have longer eyelashes, suggesting that this trait may be part of the allergic phenotype.