PEOPLE’S PHARMACY

Q:I had a good laugh at the idea of putting soap under the sheet. Five weeks later, I am not laughing anymore.

I have been on Requip for more than four years to treat restless legs syndrome (RLS). I have been using soap under my sheet for five weeks and have had no problems with my RLS at night. It may start to set in while I'm watching TV, but once I go to bed, it goes away.

Answer: We wish we could explain this strange remedy. Several years ago, we began hearing from readers that putting a bar of soap under the bottom sheet could prevent leg cramps and ease RLS. This remedy does not work for everyone, but it is simple and inexpensive, with no side effects.

Q:You recently wrote about sugar for healing wounds. I have been in veterinary medicine for 15 years. Several years ago, we had a dog that had been attacked by another dog. After surgery to repair wounds, the tissue over the largest area died and sloughed off, leaving nothing to sew back together.

We used sugar for healing. It took daily bandage changes initially and nearly six months of wound care. However, our tough little patient healed beautifully.

Answer: It is always fascinating to hear from a health professional who has had success with an alternative healing approach.

Sugar has been used to heal wounds for many years. An orthopedic surgeon, encouraged by a nurse who knew of this old remedy, started experimenting with it in 1976 and reported his results almost 30 years ago (Southern Medical Journal, November 1981).

A study comparing sugar and honey for wound healing found that honey was somewhat more effective (Journal of Wound Care, July 2007).

Q:My husband has had a setback in his Alzheimer's disease because of stress about my upcoming heart surgery. Recently, for the first time, he ate Rainier cherries. The entire next day, I was once again with the man I first married! This is amazing!

Answer: We are as astonished as you. We also were surprised to find research in rats showing that a peach-pit extract (Journal of Molecular Neuroscience, June 2006) acted in a similar manner to donepezil (Aricept), a prescription drug used to treat Alzheimer's.

In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. You can e-mail them via their Web site: http://www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.