A clinical study was carried out on the effects of the application of a cream containing urea in 30 normal subjects and 40 patients with atopic dermatitis. In addition, in 20 treated atopic patients and 15 normal subjects, evaporimetry was carried out after 2 and 7 days. The subjective and objective clinical results and the evaporimetric data showed that twice daily applications of urea cream improved the dryness, the itching and the erythema of patients with atopic dermatitis. Furthermore, the patients considered the results to be correlated with the treatment and to be accompanied by a subjective feeling of greater skin plasticity. In the normal subjects there was also improvement in skin plasticity and a reduction in transepidermal water evaporation. In a laboratory study, the concentration of extractable epidermal lipids was also determined in eight treated atopic patients after 15 days of urea cream treatment. Polar fatty acids were much lower and the difference was due exclusively to reduced epidermal desquamation. Surprisingly, the ceramides appeared to be increased and there was also a 30% increase in the linoleic acid content, as compared with the scores before treatment. The changes in skin hydration, the better cohesion of the keratinocytes and the consequent decrease in desquamation facilitate the formation of a healthier epidermal barrier and a better epidermal lipid composition.