Question: I am 70 years old, have never smoked and have not gotten plugged up, even with the most severe cold. Recently, though, I have developed an irritating tickle in my bronchial tubes. It makes me have a continuous cough. According to my doctor, my lungs are clear. X-rays show no problem. My wife, a sinus cripple all her life, doesn't have the problem I have. What would you suggest?
- C.C.
Answer: Usually a cough is a reflex act whose purpose is to clear the airways. A chronic respiratory infection is but one possibility that comes to mind in a situation like yours. Other lung problems, such as bronchiectasis, as well as allergies to house dust or some other common substance should be checked out. Congestive heart failure and lung cancer can also produce such symptoms.
I presume you have been checked for such possibilities and that your chest X-rays were part of a general examination. If nothing was found upon which to pin your daily hacking, the answer probably lies in the simplest of all diagnoses: the trickle of exceptionally thick nasal mucus into the back of the throat.
Recently, in response to another reader, I suggested a somewhat new drug combination as an answer to that problem: azatadine and pseudoephedrine. Your doctor can decide if that is appropriate for you. It is not for everyone.
Other simple home measures can be tried. Keep yourself well-hydrated throughout the day, and keep a glass of water on your bedstead. That serves to thin out the mucus.
You might try sipping hot tea with honey and lemon to ease the tickle. Sucking on hard candy is another possibility.
Question: In the past few years I have noticed that when I sweat, the underarms of my shirt turn yellow. I thought sweat was clear. So what could explain this discoloration? How can I get rid of it? I have tried various deodorants, etc., and nothing works.
Answer: The name of your condition is chromohidrosis. The sweat of chromohidrosis patients can be yellow, green, blue-brown, even black.
You can rest easy. Colored sweat is not usually a sign of illness. Your body is making a harmless pigment that is coloring the sweat.
I have no handy household answer to the laundering problem it presents. A dermatologist might have some ideas that have been passed along by chromohidrosis patients.
Question: My sister says she has WPW of the heart and has had it for years. But she does not seem to be sick. She can even smoke and drink. What is the cure for her heart problem, if there is one?
- S.L.
Answer: "WPW" is shorthand for Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, and it has to do with how the heart is wired, or in this case miswired.
WPW patients have an extra wire cable amid the regular ones that deliver impulses that regulate heartbeats. This bit of miswiring means the WPW patient experiences periodic peculiar heart rhythms.
Only when the peculiar rhythms become frequent is treatment needed.
Treatment varies from drugs to surgical answers, such as use of a probe inserted into the heart to freeze the errant cable tissue.
On general principles, your sister should stop smoking and should drink judiciously.
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