dr. max gomez cbs 2 news. >> coming up on cbs 2 news at noon a magical winter scene. canada's ice castle opens to the public after months of hard work. >> but first hundreds packed the city to bring in the new year. fireworks confetti and lots of music. many people clean their dentures with toothpaste or plain water. and even though their dentures look clean, in reality they're not. if a denture were to be put under a microscope, we can see all the bacteria that still exists on the denture, and that bacteria multiplies very rapidly. that's why dentists recommend cleaning with polident everyday. polident's unique micro clean formula works in just 3 minutes, killing 99.99% of odor causing bacteria. for a cleaner, fresher, uswi a-yr reen fi gesou40ba,d l e emm vi chne f aea gonner llowr isre oer >>> happy new year in indonesia. people celebrated there with a huge array of fireworks and we'll be doing the same thing in new york in 12 hours. >> coming up tonight at 5 any parent tells you flying with disaster the kindness a flight attendant showed to a stressed out mom is m

dr. max gomez reports... a large, new study is under way to determine if a common food supplement can provide real relief. 3 erlinda soriano has had dry eyes for much of her life... (sot erlinda soriano / dry eye patient)"really really dry and gritty and especially in the mornings when you wake up" she's tried all sorts of remedies.(sot erlinda) "artificial tears and then some ointments."(track) while dry eyes are mostly a quality of life issue, they can lead dr penny asbell / mt sinai hospital)"it can be associated with infection of the surface of they eye and things that can be permanent loss of vision."(track)so now erlinda is volunteering for a clinical dietary supplement might actually ease her dry eyes. it's fish oil!(sot dr penny asbell / mt sinai hospital)"it is an oil thing, of course but really its anti inflammatory activities is what makes it of interest."track: dr penny asbell says previous studies looking at fish oil for dry eyes were inconclusive. this large study is meant to really determine it

dr. max gomez has that answer coming up in just a few minutes. >>> from the vatican to st. patrick's, catholics around the world are celebrating one of the holiest days. cbs 2's steve langford has more on new yorkers marking the special day. [ music ] >> reporter: the glory and the grandeur of christmas morning mass at this magnificent landmark, newly restored, crowded to capacity. 2500 people seated, hailing from near and far. >> welcome. welcome to christmas morning mass at st. patrick's cathedral. >> reporter: timothy cardinal dolan a comforting presence in a troubled time sharing wisdom and wit from god's plan to our doubts featuring a story about >> he told me -- [ inaudible ] >> reporter: little charlie, the cardinal tells catholics, wanted to play st. joseph, a shepherd or one of the three wise men but instead was deeply disappointed. >> i said, charlie, [ indiscernible ] christmastime. he said, yeah. i said, what are you upset about? >> charlie said, heehaw! [ laughter ] >> charlie was jackass. >> reporter: levity with the liturgy a perfect match for christmas 2015.

dr. max gomez. good for everyone. if you could see your cough, you'd see all the sickness you're spreading. new robitussin cf max severe soothes and delivers powerful relief of cough, sore throat, stuffy nose and fever. new robitussin cf max severe. because it's never just a cough. fact. when emergency room doctors choose an otc pain reliever for their patients muscle, back and joint pain. the medicine in advil is their #1 choice. nothing is stronger on tough pain than advil. relief doesn't get any better than this. >>> welcome back to cbs 2 news at 5:00. not a pretty picture. a live look at newark airport where they are experiencing delays of 3.5 hours. you can also see that traffic on the turnpike going southbound is also moving very slowly. this is all due to the rain and the fog that we are experiencing here in the area. jfk and laguardia doing a little better, one to two hours delayed. >>> a family rocked by scandal today real housewife teresa guidice returned home after a year in prison. first photos after her r

dr. max gomez, for cbs news, dr. max gomez, for cbs news, new york. 3 3 cortana wants to take siri's job on the iphonewe'll take a look next in your cnet tech 3 good morning, 3 good morning, (le mars)... it's (51) outside at (time)... as we take a look from our (icon ahhg and turf) camera. 3 yahoo may be goininthe way of myspace..here's your c-net tech update. 3 "cortana wants to take siri's job on the iphone. i'm bridget carey, this is your cnet update.***""microsoft's cortana is no longer locked the voice-activated personal assistant to your a aroid or iphone with a new app. but she may not be mumu help. that's because she doesn't have all her windows powers on iphone and android. so for example, if you try to use the cortana app to text someone, the app can't actually text anyone for you. it's just a middleman, or is that middlewoman. you still have to text a message yourself. but the cortana android app yourself. but messsse yourself. but the cortana android app 3 does have a few extra perks. you can activate it b

dr. max gomez shows us how it works. time in his life, 17-year-old justin feels like most other kids. >> i'm able to do a lot more things on my own. >> reporter: things like helping his mom in the kitchen. or walking the dog and being able to see street signs or people's faces and expressions. when justin was 3 months old he suffered a brain injury. his parents were told his vision would never be the same. >> i worried about what happens when he leaves home, what happens when he goes to college. is he able to go to college? he able to do his work independently? now i don't have to worry. >> reporter: his mother learned about esight new goggles with a hi-def camera and screens inside that can zoom up to 14 times the normal magnification of vision. you can adjust brightness, contrast and clop. the optometrist says it's a game changer. >> it's going to help so many people with macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other kinds of vision problems. >> reporter: digital goggles aren't cheap costing $15,000 currently bu

dr. max gomez with the >> reporter: at 85, frederick and healthy. >> the first thing i do in the morning is do exercise. >> reporter: the retired history professor is taking part in an aging study at the medicine in the bronx. new research from the study and the elderly and memory decline. >> participants who had the highest levels of stress were about twice as likely to develop cognitive impairment, this early stage of alzheimer's dementia. >> reporter: for every 5-point increase in stress core the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment increased by 30%. the past few years have been stressful for schweitzer. he was his wife's primary caretaker before she died last year from dementia. >> i feel this besetting sadness and loneliness. >> reporter: researchers say if seniors can learn to cope with stress they may be able dementia. >> stress management physical activity, meditation, yoga. >> reporter: he is actively trying to stay positive and him down. >> we are living now, we must make the best of this moment, this day. >> reporter: for him that means doing the things he enjoys such

dr. max gomez, cbs 2 news. >>> coming up a deadly attack investigation. the latest information out of california and the odd turn home today. >> would you want to live next to this? neighbors have complained and now we are demanding answers about this trash heaped home. >> open it or i'm going to shoot you. >> a jewelry store heist and these accused robbers had a shopping list. the specific demand they made gunpoint. switch now, new york and get installed as early as today. mom switched. we switched. i switched to time warner cable and knew exactly when they were coming. thanks to their 1 hour appointment window. for $89.99 a month, you'll get 100 meg internet, hundreds of hd channels, and unlimited calling across the u.s, and 34 other countries around the world. and for a limited time, you could get a $300 reward card plus tv equipment and epix included. call 1-800-341-9716. >>> the fbi says it is treating the shooting massacre in california as an act of terrorism. good evening once again, i'm maurice dubois. >> welcome back to the broadcast. i'm kristin

dr. max gomez tells us that pacemakers are vulnerable. dr. max. >> reporter: that's right, jessica and alice. you know, not just pacemakers. all sorts of medical devices run wirelessly off computer networks. and even though many of these devices are lifesavers or life supporters, they are surprisingly unprotected against cyber attack. if you feel vulnerable when turns out you have company. so is the hospital itself. >> it's a medical device but the way this thing runs is really just a computer. >> reporter: cyber security expert billy rio says many medical devices such as this iv pump are connected wirelessly to a centralized computer network making it easier to monitor. but that also means -- >> by design, you're allowing it to where someone else can control this thing remotely and do things to the pump or to do things to the device or equipment. you have to understand what you're doing before you do this. >> reporter: rios examined a number of popular hospital infusion pumps and the results were chilling. >> you could basically log into the

dr. max gomez explains how a new tiny implant works. dr. max. >> reporter: that's right. it's heroin around prescription narcotic painkillers that fueled epidemics in the country rich and poor alike. the fda is reviewing an implant that release medicine that blocks the cravings for narcotics and could be an important addition to current treatments for drug addictions. drew shaw reminisces about his glory days of football and then was injured and got on prescription painkillers. >> heroin was cheaper and i was sleeping on the street because of it. drug and the help of a therapy. and he must remember to place this drug on his tongue three times a day. an addict who stops taking it will develop the heroin and narcotic cravings that the drug blocks but these tiny implants could make addiction treatment easier. instead of taking meds several times a day, these implants last for six months. >> it helps improve adherence. >> reporter: the implants contain the same active ingredient as the suboxone film and trial show they work as well as if not better than the daily version. >>

dr. max gomez explains. >> that's right. it's called holiday heart syndrome. but a holiday heart is not a happy heart. i'm not the grinch. nothing ruins a party like a trip to the emergency room. combine than with a few other health risk and you get the 12 nays of christmas. 'tis the season for holiday parties, a lot of food and drink. it's all that alcohol that can lead to holiday heart in susceptible people. >> they start to get rapid, skipped or holiday heartbeat. it can lead to fainting. people can have symptoms of chest discomfort. >> there are plenty of health risks lurking in the season. here are the 12 nays. christmas probably the most obvious overeating drinking too much if food isn't kept at the right temp on tables. dale burg doesn't have high holiday but has high blood pressure so she has to watch what she eats and drinks at parties which isn't easy. >> the amount of tempt takes is increased. you go to a lot of parties. you are in a holiday mood and >> and there's the shopping and decorating which leads to too little sleep, too little exercise and

dr. max gomez is here to help you tell the difference. dr. max. >> reporter: here's the dilemma. sore throats can be caused by viruses, bacteria, allergies or even a runny nose. now, most of those you just have to wait out with plenty of rest and fluids. but strep throat can lead to complications and should probably be treated with anbiotics. ah those days, time for family get-togethers, for the family that meant 21 cousins. and apparently, at least one of them was carrying the strep bacteria. and another a cold virus which led to -- >> throat really hurt. >> yeah. yeah. i couldn't really swallow without pain. reporter: the decision mom had to make was, wait it out or go to the pediatrician? she had been through this before. >> they were nauseated or unusual pain always was strep every time and then they would get the sore throat. >> when i get strep my throat doesn't hurt for some reason. always when i was little it was always my stomach. >> reporter: stomach issues are not unusual for strep. two of the three sick family members had strep. experts say there are other signs to wa

dr. max gomez. we know melanoma is deadly. >> what kind of treatment could he have to alou him to beat what sounded so dire? >> it's a combination of treatments. first he had the melanoma that spread to his liver removed. and then the brain lesions where the melanoma where it had spread, they were eradiated with radiation. that exactly focuses the radiation on just those spots and he's been getting a therapy drug just approved last year. it's an anti body that takes system allowing it to go after the cancer cells. >> so when you hear cancer- free, you think wow. cured. is that necessarily the case? >> unfortunately, not exactly, no. cancer-free doesn't mean cured. it could still theoretically come back. these therapy drugs have revolutionized the treatment of mel melanoma. before that, he would have had a life span in weeks or months. these drugs are so new that we don't know how long the effect play laughs. but early patients have survived so far for two years or more. we'll see. he's getting this

dr. max gomez tells us with diet and exercise, consider. students every day about ways to handle stress. but for years, she was completely unaware that the way she handled it was to eat. >> that would be my go to. so even the time of day me coming home from work, that was something i emotionally associated with time to eat. >> reporter: thanks to a change in her diet and exercise routine, she has lost 100 pounds but she is keeping it off because she learned a simple secret. >> your brain can help you make you tat. >> reporter: dianne robinson says when it comes to losing weight, most people focus only on the physical. a national survey by orlando health asked people to name the biggest barriers to weight loss and found nearly six out of town said diet and exercise. only 1-10 mentioned the mental aspect. food can release dopamine in >> and the physiological response that food can have in us. >> reporter: robinson says to break those emotional connections keep a journal to track your food and mood. identify foods that make you feel good and w

dr. max gomez has more. >> the technology has dramatically improve the over the last few years -- improved over the last few years. it's emotionally trying and expensive. but if you are determined, a new study says you might improve your chances all the way up to nine tries. goal of every woman trying to conceive, including those seeking the help of ivw. one cycle includes ovarian stimulation. transfer of a fresh embryo and any subsequent from that same stimulation. >> once they use exhausted -- once they've exhausted the frozen embryos, it would be starting another treatment cycle. >> this doctor set out to see whether doing mean cycles would improve a woman's chance of getting pregnant. studying almost 160,000 british women who oneiant nearly 260,000 full cycles. >> women who are under 40 and using their own eggs within the first success rate was 33%. it remained over 20% by the >> a study shows that the chances get going up. >> you continue to increase your chances of success right up to the ninth cycle. >> that many cycles could take two, three years of trying and those increased chanc

dr. max gomez here now to explain what's going on. doctor. >> reporter: yeah. this is a little unusual. craving pickles may be about needing salt. ice cream could be about something called sweet and rich in carbs. but how do you explain cravings to eat dirt, paper, rubber? something is missing in the body and can't be treat. when this woman was pregnant chrissy's house was being built at the time and she was surrounded by dirt and she was overcome by an urge to eat it. times that i actually did just because it just because overwhelming you know, the craving that gritty taste, um, so, yeah, it was -- it was creepy. >> reporter: it's not as odd as you might think. it's a condition called pica that was first described in 500 ad and although the cravings may be unusual, the condition isn't. >> some women feel ashamed to talk to you about it. people say between 8 and 80% of pregnancies can be associated with this condition. >> reporter: this doctor is at ohio state university wexner medical center. she has seen women craving everything from dirt to ashes, rubber bands, paper, and even powder

dr. max gomez says you're just allergic to dish things. >> reporter: that's right. most pollen allergies like ragweed are gone after the first hard frost of the year. but even after a frost, which lonnie says will come eventually, there are still allergens floating around. here's what they are and how to avoid them. it's winter, time to think about your allergies. absolutely. >> unfortunately, winter does not mean the absence of allergies for everyone. >> reporter: the culprits are not your typical tree pollens but mostly it's indoor allergens like dust mites and pet dander. >> if you spend more time inside, then you're going to have more exposure to your pets during the winter season. >> reporter: but regardless of the trigger the symptoms and the treatments are still the same. >> you can have itchy eyes, itchy throat, itchy nose, a lot of people do this. we call that the allergic salute. runny sneezy congestion. covering up is the best plan. >> covers on the mattress, pillow, box spring, are available online, in all of the linen type stores. can really make a diff

dr. max gomez report. >> are you going back? >> yeah. actually signed up for part 3 so i have to go back. >> reporter: this is what therapy sounds like for new york city actress abigail. she decided to forego the traditional sitdown face-to- face therapy for a once a week phone call and some online assignments. >> there's very little financial risk to do it. >> reporter: abigail is part of a new wave of people trying out online therapy for its lower costs, convenience and anonymity. studies are finding it provides real relief for people suffering from depression and social anxiety. >> people have in fact an optional phone call and they can interact only by email and text if they so choose. it's a better fit for many people. >> reporter: but not all online therapy programs are created equal. programs like talk space and breakthrough use licensed therapists. of tea use coaches or trained listeners and that has some experts concerned. >> the potential harm is if patients start thinking of coaches as mental health providers. >> reporter: joy

dr. max gomez shows us a cap that helps some live longer. >> reporter: we know that magnetic fields can affect cells in the body. that's how mris work and depending on the strength and frequency, electric crow magnetic fields can stimulate healing, food in a microwave or in this case kill blame tumor cells. the person diagnosed with glioblastoma an aggressive brain cancer more than a year ago. >> it was a tough time. i am married with two daughters. >> reporter: after completing standard chemotherapy and radiation treatments, he began using the device in this backpack that powers electrodes which are attached to his head. >> sends a low level electrical field across the tumor cells to try to disrupt cell growth and reverse it and cause cell death. >> reporter: we first reported on early clinical trials for the cancer cap four years ago. now a worldwide trial with 700 patients compared standard chemo and radiation for breen cancer to standard therapy police electrical field treatments for up to two years. the current results in jama journal of the american medical association are for the first

dr. max gomez here now with a new study that says not so fast. doctor. >> reporter: that's right. you know, every year kids undergo 70,000 appendectomies about 200 a day. emergency appendectomy is expensive, of course, and there's the risks involved with any surgery. but some adult studies suggested that all that surgery may not be necessary. maybe all kids need is boats boat. -- is antibiotics. >> reporter: it was during the holiday break a couple of years that the gibson family plans nearly fell apart. aereo was set to star in a school play and her parents booked a surprise trip to disney when she was suddenly rushed to the hospital. >> they checked her out and did an ultrasound and told us she had appendicitis. >> reporter: normally that means emergency surgery within hours and weeks of recovery. luckily she was at nationwide children's hospital where doctors conduct the first study in the u.s. to see if they could skip surgery and treat appendicitis using only antibiotics. >> at least at the end of the year we know that over 3 out of 4, more than 75% of kids who chose antibiot

dr. max gomez here to tell us about a new treatment. >> reporter: vitiligo is a condition where white patches develop on the skin. it's caused when the pigment cells of the skin die off probably due to auto-immune disease. it isn't life-threatening but it is disfiguring especially for african-americans and other dark-skinned people. when all else fails, how about a cell transplant? [ music ] >> reporter: anyone who followed michael jackson's career easily noticed how his skin became lighter and lighter over the years. [ music ] >> reporter: he had an all over type of vitiligo and rather than appear splotchier opted to bleach his skin to match his patches. >> if somebody would look at me or if other strangers would look at me my face was covering my hate. >> reporter: this woman has a different type that started in the splotches around her eye affected her psychologically. >> i thought i was ugly when i had it on my face. and i would cry and i would say, why did this happen to me? i'm not pretty. >> she didn't like to go out, liked to stay in the house. basically, she didn't want to contact an

dr. max gomez explains how walking could signal a problem. >> reporter: ann and dave long worth love to take brisk walks. >> we walk 30 minutes a day at least. >> reporter: it's part of their daily routine and they are well aware of its health benefits. >> i'll be 65 in may and i think walk something supposed to be good for your hard. >> reporter: a new study shows how fast elderly people walk could be related to alzheimer's disease. >> the study was building on existing data that it pays to be fit. >> reporter: the study published in the journal "neurology" found a connection between slow walking speed in the elderly and the amount of amyloid protein built up in their brains. that build-up has been associated with a development of alzheimer's. researchers say a slow gait could signal the possibility of alzheimer's before people show clinical symptoms. but a doctor says don't be alarmed if you walk slowly. >> there's so many causes of brain function. >> reporter: what could be happening is that the amyloid protein affects the motor areas of the brain first slowing walking pace. but slow walk

dr. max gomez, cbs 2 news. >> the study was published yesterday. >>> time now is 4:50. star wars the force awakens is no doubt a force of nature. >>> and maybe a bit sunnier but is it maybing spirits bright? why some say the warm weather holidays. i'm not a fan of putting my personal info in these online shopping forms. hellloooo??? i don't have time to be filling out my address, i need to be buying a dress. that's why i use masterpass. less typing, more dancing. sfx: tango music como te llamas? yo soy camarones. dip me. the easier way to shop online. masterpass from mastercard and your bank. >>> let's get to traffic and weather on the 2s. good to see you. we have cindy. >> hey, john. >> and alex is doing better. >> much better, thank you. >> cindy is in for the annual competition. we decorate the office doors. it's on. here's the deal, as you get ready, maybe decorating today, watch the decorations. the wind is going to fill in. that's going to be blowing and some of the massive decorations, batten them down. cloudy the and 64, winds west at 17 miles per hour. so we ha