DEAR DR. GOTT: I have a friend who has been told by her doctor that she has gout of the feet, and the poor thing has been in pain for three or four months. She can't go anywhere and can't put shoes on — only socks. She is on medication, but it doesn't work. Pain pills don't work. Please ask your readers what to do. What is gout?
DEAR READER: Gout is an inherited, common affliction marked by extreme pain in swollen joints, especially in the feet. Gout is caused by excess uric acid, a normal product of metabolism. Once significant quantities leave the blood stream and enter the joints, the uric acid crystallizes into tiny needles that inflame the joint lining.
Acute gout attacks are ordinarily treated with colchicine; chronic gout may be helped by taking ColBenemid and following a special diet.
Recently, I have received many letters from readers who swear that in any form, cherries will reduce the pain of gout and act as a preventive.
I advise your friend to try eating a handful of cherries per day. If this alternative treatment is not successful, she should check back with her doctor. Gout is treatable; she needn't be in chronic pain.
To give you related information, I am sending you copies of my Health Reports "About Gout" (newly updated) and "Compelling Home Remedies (newly written).
DEAR DR. GOTT: Could you please tell me the name of some rubs for the knees to relieve pain from osteoarthritis. One of my friends said that they read in one of the articles to use castor oil.
I have been a sufferer for 12 years, and I am presently taking glucosamine/chondroitin with nexrutine triple strength. I am 63 years old.
DEAR READER: Here are two alternative therapies that many readers have found to be useful in treating osteoarthritis.
The first is Castiva, which contains a castor-oil base and comes, over the counter, in both warming and cooling forms. Castiva is rubbed over the affected joint or joints twice a day.
The second therapy is purple grape juice and pectin. The recipe is 1 tablespoon of pectin in 8 ounces of purple grape juice. It can be consumed up to three times a day for severe cases or used once a day for minor cases or for maintenance once pain has been reduced.
Good luck.
To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report "Understanding Osteoarthritis."
DEAR READER: Gout is an inherited, common affliction marked by extreme pain in swollen joints, especially in the feet. Gout is caused by excess uric acid, a normal product of metabolism. Once significant quantities leave the blood stream and enter the joints, the uric acid crystallizes into tiny needles that inflame the joint lining.
Acute gout attacks are ordinarily treated with colchicine; chronic gout may be helped by taking ColBenemid and following a special diet.
Recently, I have received many letters from readers who swear that in any form, cherries will reduce the pain of gout and act as a preventive.
I advise your friend to try eating a handful of cherries per day. If this alternative treatment is not successful, she should check back with her doctor. Gout is treatable; she needn't be in chronic pain.
To give you related information, I am sending you copies of my Health Reports "About Gout" (newly updated) and "Compelling Home Remedies (newly written).
DEAR DR. GOTT: Could you please tell me the name of some rubs for the knees to relieve pain from osteoarthritis. One of my friends said that they read in one of the articles to use castor oil.
I have been a sufferer for 12 years, and I am presently taking glucosamine/chondroitin with nexrutine triple strength. I am 63 years old.
DEAR READER: Here are two alternative therapies that many readers have found to be useful in treating osteoarthritis.
The first is Castiva, which contains a castor-oil base and comes, over the counter, in both warming and cooling forms. Castiva is rubbed over the affected joint or joints twice a day.
The second therapy is purple grape juice and pectin. The recipe is 1 tablespoon of pectin in 8 ounces of purple grape juice. It can be consumed up to three times a day for severe cases or used once a day for minor cases or for maintenance once pain has been reduced.
Good luck.
To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report "Understanding Osteoarthritis."