Dear Dr. Donohue: I have hemorrhoids. The doctor put me on Preparation H. It works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't. Then he gave me Procto-foam-HC, which didn't work at all. I stopped using it.
Is there anything you could suggest?- D.D.
Answer: Hemorrhoids have been mankind's bane from its very beginnings. They are varicose veins often resulting from straining during elimination - which causes blood to pool in the rectal veins and stretches them out of shape. The same thing often happens during pregnancy.
The first order of the day is to keep your stools soft by adding fiber to your diet - bran, cereals, fruits and vegetables. At first, you might need to use a stool softener such as Colace until the high-fiber diet kicks in.
When the hemorrhoids are acting up, sit in a tub of warm water for 15 minutes three or four times a day. The warm water soothes hemorrhoid irritation.
If you make no progress with home remedies, then it's time to consider hemorrhoid removal and the many ways to accomplish that.
Hemorrhoids can be tied off, frozen, injected with solutions that dry them up or shrunk with infrared light. The time-honored surgical hemorrhoidectomy is still a valuable tool. Your doctor can guide you through the maze of hemorrhoid procedures, picking the one best suited to you.
I'm sending you my "Cure for Hemorrhoids" report, which can help you understand what's going on.
Dear Dr. Donohue: I have a spell of hiccups every day. I would like some information why this happens.
- I.R.
Answer: A hiccup is a spasm of the diaphragm muscle, which separates chest from abdomen. It's the primary breathing muscle.
Eating or drinking too rapidly can bring on hiccups. So can carbonated beverages.
Home remedies to stop a siege of hiccups often work wonders. Swallowing a teaspoon of table sugar is one.
But you should not take your hiccups lightly. Behind-the-scenes menacing ills can cause recurrent hiccups.
Tumors or abscesses adjacent to the diaphragm muscles would irritate it and bring on hiccups. Brain tumors also can cause such hiccups.
Dear Dr. Donohue: I had a skin test for tuberculosis. It came out positive. A chest X-ray taken a week later showed everything was OK.
Do I have TB, or will I get it later?
The doctor said if I were younger he would put me on medicine, but at age 70 he won't. Why not?
- V.D.
Answer: A positive skin test indicates that at some time in the past a TB germ entered your body. It does not mean you have tuberculosis.
Only if the germ had multiplied would you have had full-blown TB.
A person with a positive skin test is given treatment for TB if that person falls into what is called a "high-risk category." For instance, if you had been exposed to a recent, active case of TB, then you would have been put on medicine as a preventive measure.
Your normal chest X-ray indicates that you do not have active TB.
Your doctor hesitated to put you on preventive medicine for another reason. The medicine can cause liver damage, especially in older people. If it's not needed, there is no sense in running the risk of liver troubles.
TB symptoms include fever, night sweats, loss of weight, loss of appetite and a sense of overwhelming fatigue. An unrelenting cough, often producing blood-tinged mucus, is a clue of active TB.
You are not sitting on a time bomb. The likelihood that you will come down with TB is remote. You need not dwell on the subject.