Itching for a way to relieve eczema?

Eczema (also called atopic dermatitis or AD) can cause dry skin, itchiness and scaly rashes that can become infected. It can make it hard to sleep and cause emotional distress or embarrassment. Often, strangers are cruel, fearing that the skin condition is contagious. It isn’t.

There are two new medications that can be very effective, according to the recent American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting:

—Crisaborole, the first new anti-inflammatory medication approved for treatment of mild to moderate AD in over 15 years, reduces itching, redness and swelling. A PDE-4 (phosphodiesterase 4) inhibitor, it tamps down immune system reactions that trigger inflammation, and it stimulates changes in the cells on the outer layer of skin.

—Dupilumab is for folks 18-plus for whom other medications aren’t suitable. It blocks interleukins 4 and 13, two cytokines associated with allergic inflammation.

Ask your doc if either of these is right for you. We hope so, because it would be great to scratch eczema off your list of difficult-to-treat irritations and conditions!

Benefits of spirulina

Today, Mexico City sits in a dry basin, but back in the 16th century, the area was filled with the waters of Lake Texcoco. The Aztecs would scrape a slimy blue-green substance they called “tcuitlatl” off the water’s surface using fine nets. They’d then dry it into square cakes that, according to a Franciscan missionary in the early 1500s, they ate a great deal of.

The Aztecs may not have known why this staple was good for them, but it sure was. These days, it seems their pond scum is the same substance we call spirulina, a photosynthesizing bacterium (nope, not algae) that’s packed with all the essential protein-building amino acids, vitamins like niacin and the B’s, minerals like calcium, iron and potassium, and inflammation-dousing antioxidants.

One animal study found that a spirulina supplement boosted immune activity, helping fight off infections. Another study published in 2017 found that 60 obese folks who took a 1-gram spirulina supplement daily for 12 weeks lost more weight and had lower cholesterol levels than a control group.

If you’re looking for a boost from a food that’s like you’d get from a multivitamin, try mixing powdered spirulina into your smoothie or sprinkle it onto baked fish.

Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare. com.