Does Oatmeal Lotion Work for Chemo-Induced Rashes?

A review in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology notes oatmeal has been used for centuries as a topical soothing agent on the skin to relieve itch and irritation in dermatology. Of course, that was coming from Johnson & Johnson, which sells a brand of oatmeal lotion. But if it helps with dry skin or a bug bite, I can imagine it having some soothing quality. One study out of Georgetown University, though, shocked me.

There’s a class of chemo drugs, like Cetuximab, that can cause an awful rash. Various treatments have been tried and failed. There was no clear preventive or curative treatment for this eruption, until this remarkable study, which you can see in my Oatmeal Lotion for Chemotherapy-Induced Rash video.

The researchers had heard about a study where human skin fragments from plastic surgery were subjected to an inflammatory chemical, and adding an oatmeal extract appeared to help. Of the ten patients with chemo rashes who the researchers were able to get to try some oatmeal lotion, six had a complete response, and four a partial response, giving an overall oatmeal response rate of 100%.

Doctors wrote in from around the world. Significant improvement in all patients seemed too good to be true, but out of desperation they tried it and got the same astonishing results. Oatmeal—a simple topical agent producing such spectacular benefit where more complex therapies have failed. In an age when ever more expensive treatments are consistently being championed, it would be a great pity if this inexpensive, natural approach to relieving distressing symptoms were to be overlooked.

Ironically, two of the cancer cell lines found resistant in vitro to this type of chemotherapy were found to be sensitive to avenanthramides, which are unique phytonutrients found in oats, suggesting that people should be applying oatmeal to their insides as well.

Normally, I wouldn’t make a whole video for such a rare use but, I was so impressed with the results, I figured that even if I could help one person in this situation it would be worth it. Reminds me of my videos Treating Gorlin Syndrome With Green Tea and Topical Application of Turmeric Curcumin for Cancer.

If oatmeal is so powerful that it can clear up some of the ravages of chemotherapy just applied to the skin, what might it do if we actually ate it? That’s the subject of my video Can Oatmeal Help Fatty Liver Disease?.

Cetuximab is often given for metastatic colorectal cancer. Better to try to prevent the disease in the first place:

In health,
Michael Greger, M.D.

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Does Oatmeal Lotion Work?

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