Dr. Steve Info: Thursday

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Today the doctor told us about oatmeal allergies that can cause eczema in children, baby aspirin & heart attacks, and a natural treatment for bad breath.

7:00am Segment Info:
Everyone knows taking a baby aspirin a day can help prevent heart attack and stroke, but it may work better for men than women.

According to a new report from Canada that examined 23 different studies on the subject, women with a low or average risk of heart attack may not need to take aspirin. They say, overall when compared with placebo, aspirin therapy provided a 28 percent reduction in the risk of non-fatal heart attacks, but did not reduce the risk of fatal heart attacks.

So should women stop taking aspirin to prevent heart attack?

Not at all, in fact, anytime we bring medical news to viewers they should not stop taking a particular medication unless they speak to their doctor first. Everyone is different and there are lots of reasons why a particular medicine may be prescribed. The bottom line is that aspirin does many things besides just reduce the risk of heart attack. And if you're taking a baby aspirin a day and you have no adverse effects then your doctor will probably have you continue.

In other news, there's a report about eczema and children tell us about that.

This is an interesting study. Many children develop eczema when they're young. It's a chronic skin disorder that causes scaly itchy rashes... And many outgrow it. Doctors often treat eczema with skin creams to soothe the rash, and make it less itchy.

Now researchers from France found that children who were exposed to skin products that had oats in them actually developed an allergy to oats. In their report, a third of the children studied tested positive for allergy to oats by skin testing.

How did these children develop the oat allergy?

Three quarters of all of the children had been previously treated with oat-containing emollients for their eczema. So they must have been sensitized that way. The researchers think that this repeated application of oat-containing skin products caused them to develop allergies to oats. This suggests that oat-containing skin products be avoided in children younger than two years old.

8:00am Segment Info:
Yet another reason to breastfeed your baby. A new study finds that breastfeeding in the first three months of life appears to help protect children from developing food allergies. In this report researchers reviewed 18 studies and found a significant protective effect of exclusive breast-feeding for at least three months for children with high risk for allergies, asthma like syndrome and skin conditions like eczema or atopic dermatitis.

What are some other strategies that women can use to prevent food allergies in kids?

Besides breastfeeding, allergists recommend women avoid highly allergic foods during pregnancy - like peanuts - and they should also avoid them during breastfeeding. If they're not breastfeeding women should use hypoallergenic formulas and delay feeding high risk children solid foods until they're six months old. They should also wait until the child is one year old before introducing milk and eggs and three years old before introducing nuts. This is something that should be discussed with your pediatrician.

In other news, there may be a new way to freshen your breath.

How about magnolia bark? You heard right magnolia bark. Researchers say magnolia bark kills most odor causing germs and bacteria, which can eliminate bad breath. Magnolia bark extract is a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat fever, headache and stress and has proven effective against germs that cause ulcers, and recent studies have shown it has low toxicity and few side effects

Can it be added to gum and mints?

It may be. Scientists at Wrigleys wanted to see if magnolia extract could kill halitosis-causing bacteria, and if it could be used in a gum or mint. So they did tests in a Wrigley lab and found it to be highly effective against microorganisms killing 99 point 9 percent of bad breath bacteria within 5 minutes. But tests on actual people were a bit disappointing. The mints with magnolia bark extract killed 61 percent of germs within 30 minutes, which is comparable to some mouthwashes. The gum didn't work as well killing bacteria by only 43 percent within 40 minutes, but the good news is that it did kill a group of bacteria that causes tooth decay.

Any chance we'll see it in stores?

Wrigley says it's a long way from scientific research to the candy counter. There are a lot of hurdles along the way. So don't expect it anytime soon.