People's Pharmacy

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Cutting Carbs Controls Indigestion

Posting Date: 09/20/2005

We are sending you our Guide to Heart Health with a chart describing target levels of LDL, HDL and total cholesterol as well as how to calculate the ratio. Anyone who would like a copy, please send $2 in check or money order with a long (no. 10) stamped (60 cents), self-addressed envelope: Graedons' People's Pharmacy, No. C-8, P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027.

Q. My daughter was recently diagnosed with ringworm. Friends have suggested she treat it by putting bleach on it. This seems harmful to the skin.

Others suggested clear nail polish. Do either of these work, or are there other home remedies that are effective? (I read online about the use of walnut shells.)

A. Ringworm is not caused by worms, but rather by a fungal infection that invades the skin. Antifungal cream (clotrimazole, miconazole) twice a day for a week or two should clear it up.

Do not use bleach or clear nail polish on the ringworm infection. Bleach is too toxic and nail polish will not eradicate the fungus.

One reader recounted her success as a teenager rubbing a spot of ringworm with the inside of a black walnut hull. Black walnut has traditionally been used for treating ringworm, perhaps because it contains a compound called juglone with antifungal properties.

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In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of this newspaper or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.org. Their newest book is The People's Pharmacy Guide to Home and Herbal Remedies (St. Martin's Press).