Question: Your reply to the reader who asked how to make a mustard plaster convinced me that you are even younger than I thought. You need not have delved so far back as Dr. Holt's 1897 volume for ingredients. In my spice cupboard, I found the recipe on a can of McCormick's dry mustard. You're right; it is an old remedy, but as an 81-year-old woman, I can attest to its efficacy in easing chest congestion. My father was a general practitioner (University of Pennsylvania Medical School, 1899), and mustard plasters were responsible for the health of many of his patients. I am a constant reader and always appreciate the soundness and compassion of your advice.
- Mrs. N.J.
Answer: The lively interest in this quaint medical therapy amazed me. I got dozens of letters endorsing the ancient device. Mrs. J's response is typical.
Recipes varied as to ingredients and proportions from writer to writer and memory to memory, so I cannot give the precise "recipe." Most writers agreed on the basic indispensable dry mustard, flour and warm water, which formed the paste that was placed between linen or muslin covers to be applied to the chest. Other readers included more imaginative ingredients such as egg whites.
Reader A.M. offered an opinion regarding effect. She says the plasters "provided the wonderful sensation of heat that penetrated and usually loosened a tight chest, causing release of phlegm." Who's to argue?
Reader L. suggested petroleum jelly as a user-friendly undercoating.
I am inclined to the view that the venerable mustard plaster was a previous age's grasping for practical therapy in the absence of modern-day decongestants.
My thanks to the many kind and friendly readers who wrote.
Question: My husband and I are both 78 years old. My cholesterol is 220, and his is 225. Isn't that considered too high? We both enjoy a dish of ice cream every evening. Should we cut out this practice? I asked the doctor the last time I was in, and he did not see anything wrong with the level. Would this concern you?
- Mrs. R.G.
Answer: Neither your reading nor your husband's would concern me in the slightest. When a person reaches your age, the cholesterol-heart disease relationship loses significance. Studies fail to show any real correlation between cholesterol and heart disease in senior citizens.
Don't cut out your evening treat, which is, I am sure, doing more good at your age than any harm that extra bit of fat and cholesterol would cause.
I am sending my cholesterol booklet, which discusses such matters. Others can order a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue - No. 5, Box 5539, Riverton, NJ 08077-5539. Enclose $3 and a self-addressed, stamped (52 cents) No. 10 envelope.