The column on cranberry juice and urinary-tract infections has provoked considerable interest. There appears to be some difficulty in locating cranberry-juice concentrate. We are attempting to locate a supplier and will let you know as soon as we are successful.
In the same Medical Matters, I asked for details of traditional or natural remedies that readers have found helpful. Here are some of your replies.
From Killiney, Co Dublin, comes a recommendation of two bananas a day as a highly effective cure for leg and foot cramp. Presumably, it is the potassium in the bananas that does the trick.
Doctors prescribe quinine for night cramps, with some success. Quinine is a natural constituent of tonic water; patients have reported good results from a glass of tonic water taken before retiring to bed.
Natural medical remedies are also alive and well in Co Meath. A reader there sent on some detailed advice involving several cures. She recommends tincture of iodine, applied externally with a small sponge-topped stick or cotton bud, for a sore throat.
Iodine is present in seaweed; carrageen is an edible seaweed that is still widely used along the west coast for colds, chest troubles and even asthma.
It is made into drinks - the moss is boiled and lemon juice added - and is a staple of winter diets in some parts of the Republic.
Our correspondent in the Royal County also has a remedy for sprained ligaments. She recommends a chemical called antiphlogistine - available in veterinary stores - which has to be heated and then pasted onto brown paper.
"It must be tested on the back of your hand for suitable heat \to avoid burning and then applied to the sprained part, covered with cotton wool and a bandage." Presumably, this helps to keep the paste in contact with the sprain and also ensures the heat is directed inwards.
The same reader's recommendation for oral thrush - gentian violet - reminds me of a Traveller's cure I came across. On several occasions, a travelling family asked me for an orthodox remedy for a lower-respiratory-tract infection in a child.
When my examination revealed the presence of white spots on the child's tongue and the inside of the mouth, I offered treatment for the oral fungal infection. On each occasion, the offer was politely declined.
Mum eventually told me of a healer in the midlands who had "the cure for thrush". Apparently, a child who is born after the death of his father has the gift of healing bestowed on him; he breaths three times into the affected person's mouth to effect the cure.
Gentian violet offers a more scientific approach. As an old-fashioned anti-microbial, applying a little with a cotton bud and allowing to dry with the mouth open, as the reader suggests, seems logical.
Several ancient remedies for heart disease have now been scientifically validated. Foxglove was well known as a cure for heart disease; it is the basis for the modern heart drug digoxin. Garlic's cardiac benefits were also recognised long before the pharmaceutical industry developed pills and options.
Eye remedies include a herb known as duilleog∅n Pharaic; when dipped in water, it was used as an eye bath to soothe inflamed eyes. Sties were bathed in black tea and, even now, slices of cucumber and cold tea bags are placed over the eyes to bring about relief.
The use of cobwebs to staunch bleeding was a relatively common practice. It is actually an ancient custom referred to in fourth-century medical writing.
It is an important to emphasise that none of these remedies has been scientifically validated. They are offered by way of information only; under no circumstances should you cease standard medical treatment to try them out. Thank you to all who took the time to share their natural remedies with us.
You can e-mail Dr Muiris Houston, Medical Correspondent, at mhouston@irish-times.ie or leave a message on 01-6707711, ext 8511. He regrets he cannot reply to individual medical problems