DEAR DR. ROACH: A relative told me she was going to start taking colloidal silver to help fight her cancer. Could you please share what you know about it? — BI
ANSWER: Friends should not let friends take unproven medications. Colloidal silver has no known benefits and cannot be excreted from the body. In rare cases, silver poisoning (argyria) may result. I understand that a person with cancer is sometimes willing to go beyond standard medical treatments, but colloidal silver is dangerous and has no known benefits.
There are many alternative medications that can help people feel better in their fight against cancer. The side effects of cancer treatments – chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery – can be serious. Valid alternative treatments include mind-body medicine, massage, exercise, and acupuncture. I would much rather see her invest her time in one of these.
DEAR DR. GARDON: I am an active 73-year-old man in generally good health. I have been taking 40 mg of lisinopril every evening for six years. In the first few years, it produced good results within 24 hours.
Now it seems like my blood pressure is a little low in the morning and more normal later in the day. In the morning, it hovers around 95/52 mm Hg even after jogging, and at the end of the afternoon, it is around 130/60 mm Hg. I feel a little tired in the morning. I suffer from white coat syndrome, which also affects a 24 hour blood pressure monitor.
I was wondering if I would ask my doctor if it would be advisable to increase to 20 mg twice a day. I’m hesitant to add a diuretic since I have chronic low sodium. What do you think? –J.W.
ANSWER: Lisinopril usually works quite well when taken just once a day, but the difference between your morning and afternoon numbers is so great that taking the same amount of medication (40 mg) divided in 20 mg twice a day seems logical to me. I would also ask you to be aware of other factors that can increase your blood pressure, such as salt and alcohol consumption.
I don’t recommend increasing medications at this time (like a diuretic), not only because of the low sodium problem – diuretics are known to make the situation worse – but also because I would worry that the numbers in the morning may decrease, making your morning worse. fatigue.
DEAR DR. ROACH: About 20 years ago, I had my ears cleaned by a physician’s assistant. She used a water pump and removed about a teaspoon of wax from each ear. I heard much better. Now I can’t find anywhere they could clean my ears with a pump. They all recommend a small squirt bottle which does almost nothing. –J.H.
ANSWER: If your regular doctor tells you you have earwax and can’t remove it, see an ear, nose and throat doctor who has the proper tools to diagnose and treat the problem. Using warm water to remove earwax is effective for those who know how to do it correctly, but there are other treatments that are just as effective and perhaps less intrusive.
Dr. Roach regrets not being able to respond to individual letters, but he will incorporate them into the column as much as possible. Readers can email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu or mail to 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803.
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