Bleach versus eczema. For children who suffer from eczema, relief may be as close as the nearest laundry closet. Researchers say that adding a small amount of bleach to a child’s bath water significantly reduced problems associated with the skin disease. Eczema is a chronic condition that causes irritation and itchiness, and children often scratch themselves until their skin is crusty and raw. The researchers tried using bleach because they believed it might work against the bacteria that play a role in the disease, said the senior author of the study, Dr. Amy S. Paller of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern. (The lead author is Dr. Jennifer T. Huang of the University of Colorado School of Medicine.) For the study, which appears in the journal Pediatrics, researchers took two groups of children with eczema, ages 6 months to 17 years, and asked that they be bathed in either plain water or in water with about half a cup of bleach. The study found big improvements among the children who had the bleach baths, but only on the body, not the face, because they were not submerging their heads. Children who take the baths should close their eyes and mouths and put their heads in the water, too, the researchers said.
The New York Times
