Don't give your children bourbon for a cough
By JOE GRAEDON and TERESA GRAEDON, Ph.D.
King Features Syndicate

Ithink you do your readers a disservice by failing to mention a very old but effective cough suppressant. The pediatrician told my mother about it in 1960, and I have used it on myself and for my own children - nighttime only - when no one can sleep.

I realize that this is susceptible to abuse, but used appropriately it is safe, effective and cheap.

The recipe: equal parts bourbon, honey and lemon juice. One teaspoon for a 10-year-old, and calibrate from there. If you disagree with using this concoction, I'd be quite interested in knowing why.

Hot toddies and other remedies containing alcohol have been popular treatments for coughs and colds for years. Decades ago, doctors may well have recommended such remedies. Most pediatricians nowadays discourage the use of alcohol in any treatments for children. They are especially susceptible to low blood sugar after consuming alcohol.

Parents are in a quandary these days because they have been told not to use drugstore cold and cough remedies for children under 6. A nighttime cough, however, can keep everyone awake.

Some parents report that Vicks VapoRub on the soles of the feet can ease nighttime coughs. Socks protect the sheets.

Tea made with thyme or fennel from the kitchen spice shelf also can calm a cough.

I've read that resveratrol is good for us, but I don't know the right dose. I know it is found in red wine, but more than one glass a day is over my limit. Are there any other sources that are beneficial?

Resveratrol is an antioxidant found in grapes. A recent study shows that mice fed resveratrol are much less likely to develop prostate tumors. Other animal research suggests that resveratrol may be helpful against inflammation, heart disease and diabetes. No one knows how well the animal research will translate to humans.

For those who would like to get more resveratrol but don't want to drink too much wine, muscadine grapes are a great source. Juice from this grape has five times more resveratrol than other wines.

My daughter had several plantar warts on her sole. We treated them with duct tape for several months with limited success.

Listerine has been used for eliminating fungus, so I thought it might also kill wart viruses. I put undiluted Listerine in a zipper-top plastic bag and had her soak her feet for 10 minutes.

She only repeated the treatment a couple of times. The warts disappeared in about three weeks and haven't returned. It might be a coincidence, but she is happy to be wart free!

Warts are susceptible to a surprising range of home remedies. Readers have reported success with duct tape, a few drops of fresh lemon juice, iodine or castor oil. Thanks for sharing the Listerine idea. We're glad it worked.

My mother was on Lipitor for less than two years when she developed muscle weakness and started having trouble speaking. She was initially diagnosed with primary lateral sclerosis and told to continue on her Lipitor.

Her condition deteriorated rapidly, and she ended up confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak. She passed away in July at the age of 57 from ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease.

I truly believe this was brought on by Lipitor and was fascinated to read of a connection in your column. She was in vibrant good health until she started the Lipitor, and it was the only drug she ever took.

We are indeed sorry to learn of your mother's death. Scientists have not yet determined whether cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Lipitor, Crestor or Zocor can actually trigger motor neuron diseases like primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

In a previous column, we reported that the World Health Organization drug-monitoring center had found an unexpected association between statins and ALS-like syndrome (Drug Safety, June 2007). Since that time, we have received dozens of heartbreaking stories similar to yours. Many people were diagnosed with PLS after developing severe muscle weakness or cramping on cholesterol-lowering drugs. This condition is not considered fatal, but it can be incapacitating.

Others report symptoms such as stumbling, falling, slurring speech or having difficulty swallowing after taking the statin-type cholesterol-lowering medicines. In many instances, the condition was diagnosed as ALS. There is no cure for this disease.

Such reactions may be reported at www.peoplespharmacy.com. We will forward case reports to researchers and the Food and Drug Administration for further review.

I find many prescription-drug commercials to be totally inappropriate. My kids and I are watching TV when suddenly we see a commercial for Cialis for erectile dysfunction.

I am also fed up with all these initials! ED? RLS? Who on earth ever heard of restless leg syndrome? Are they for real? What's next - AIW for age-induced wrinkles?

People have been complaining about restless legs for decades, but "RLS" didn't become a familiar abbreviation until a drug was developed to treat it. We agree with you that prescription-drug commercials are annoying. Only one other industrialized nation (New Zealand) permits prescription-drug advertising directly to consumers.

Is there any home remedy or over-the-counter product that will permanently eliminate the strong odor of my husband's smelly feet? Bathing them daily does not help.

Smelly feet may not be a sign of poor hygiene. Instead, the odor may be result from sweating and bacteria or fungi that thrive in moist conditions.

One approach is to soak feet in a warm Epsom-salt solution every night for a week. Another is to soak them in a baking-soda foot bath.

We are sending you our Guide to Solutions for Smelly Feet, which offers details and many other remedies. Anyone who would like a free copy may send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Graedons' People's Pharmacy, No. F-2, P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. It can also be downloaded from our Web site: www.peoplespharmacy.com.

Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist. Teresa Graedon is a medical anthropologist and nutrition expert. E-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is "Best Choices From The People's Pharmacy" (Rodale Books).

MEDICAL UPDATE: Graedons' Pharmacy


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