Home Remedies
How to Ease RA Pain with Fish
Should you eat a sardine sandwich or tuna salad for lunch if you have rheumatoid arthritis? Surprisingly, fish on the menu might ease RA pain and joint inflammation. Fighting RA Pain with Fish: Resear…
Will Yoga Help Back Pain?
Lower back pain is common and debilitating. It is frequently treated with medications, but the American College of Physicians has issued new guidelines emphasizing nondrug approaches for acute lower b…
What Are the Natural Remedies for Gout?
Gout is a miserable condition. It causes intense, excruciating pain, redness and swelling in one or more joints. Often, the pain may start at the base of the big toe, but other joints frequently hurt…
What Is the Risk of Red Yeast Rice?
One of the pillars of heart disease prevention is keeping blood fats, especially cholesterol, under control. But doctors don't always agree on the best way to achieve this goal. Most recommend a healt…
Is Lowering Cholesterol with Saturated Fats a Pa…
If you have been paying attention, you are no doubt aware that saturated fats like butter or coconut oil are a dietary no-no. The theory is that these fats, which are solid at room temperature, can cl…
What Will Ease Painful Hemorrhoids After Giving …
Women have to make a lot of adjustments right after giving birth. Their bodies change dramatically in that process. While many of the alterations are nature's way of helping a mother nurture the infa…
Are Olive Oil and Wine Really Good for You?
Independent research has shown that both olive oil and wine appear to protect people from cardiovascular disease. For example, a recent review pointed out that red wine, in particular, contains polyph…
How Good Is Pharmaceutical-Grade Chondroitin?
In the US, chondroitin sulfate is usually sold as a dietary supplement and taken in conjunction with glucosamine to treat arthritis pain. Most well-controlled trials in this country have shown that th…
What Are the Best Remedies for Under-Breast Rash…
Women rarely talk about one delicate problem that many of them experience. It is especially common at this time of year because of warm, humid weather. These conditions favor the growth of fungus unde…
Will Acupuncture Relieve Your Arthritic Knee Pai…
People with chronic arthritis are faced with a terrible choice: do they suffer from pain every day, or do they take pain relievers with scary side effects? Unfortunately, the pain medications used …
Does Chocolate Really Help Your Heart?
The Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Study has turned up an interesting observation: people who eat chocolate are less likely to develop atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm abnormality that affects betw…
Can You Lower Blood Sugar with Cinnamon?
You've no doubt heard that type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic levels in this country and many others. That means that millions more people have pre-diabetes, blood sugar that is headed in the wron…
How to Use Lavender Oil to Calm Restless Legs
Restless legs don't sound particularly serious, but the overwhelming urge to move the legs every few minutes or so can prevent a good night's sleep. The sensation can be extremely unpleasant. Usually,…
Can You Safely Take Fish Oil with Blood Thinners…
Many of us make a clear distinction between the drugs we take and the vitamins or supplements we use. It seems logical enough for our brains, but our bodies don't recognize categories like that. An…
Why You Should Exercise and Eat Right, Now
We've all been told that we should exercise and eat right. Research to be reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting shows that a healthy lifestyle matters. That's true even after a…
How Will Beetroot Juice Help Your Heart?
Beet juice has developed quite a reputation over the past few decades. Researchers have discovered that it lowers blood pressure and improves athletic endurance. Canadian scientists demonstrated that…
Could Tai Chi Help You Overcome Insomnia?
Up to 30 percent of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer have trouble sleeping. They may be understandably worried about their condition and unable to sleep for that reason. Lying awake ca…
Will Overdosing on Vitamin B6 Cause Irreversible…
Most people think of vitamins as benign nutrients. If a little is good then a "lottle" is better. In other words, the more the merrier. Most of the time people do not get into trouble if they take a l…
Will a Gluten-Free Diet Help Your Heartburn Symp…
Judging from the popularity of medicines like esomeprazole (Nexium), lansoprazole (Prevacid) and omeprazole (Prilosec), heartburn symptoms are extremely common. Is there a better way to prevent the re…
Will Chlorophyll Capsules Make Underarms Smell S…
In the ongoing search for ways to control body odor, people have invented some creative solutions. One of the most unusual is swallowing supplemental chlorophyll every day. Is this a good idea? Chlor…
Why Don’t Vitamin D Supplements Work as Ex…
If you are taking big doses of vitamin D in the hopes of staving off all sorts of health problems, you may be disappointed. Most research has not demonstrated that taking high doses of vitamin D suppl…
Is Clever Home Remedy for Insomnia Hurting Your …
We love simple approaches to common problems, so when we heard about a clever home remedy for insomnia we were intrigued. The approach takes advantage of an acupressure point that is supposed to help …
Will Simple Remedies Get Rid of Your Ugly Toenai…
Nail fungus is an extremely common complaint. It makes toenails thick, yellow and ugly. Infected nails may be so thick that trimming them is a chore. Dermatologists assure us that for most people nai…
Will Raisins Help You Sleep Through the Night?
How often do you have to get out of bed at night to hike to the bathroom? This scenario is very familiar to men past a certain age, but many women also find they need to urinate at least once during t…
Will Magnesium Prevent Your Painful Leg Cramps?
Many people complain about painful leg cramps that wake them at night. The pain they cause can be excruciating, even making grown-ups cry. Their doctors have nothing they can prescribe for this probl…
Where Is the Synergy Against Heart Disease?
Both exercise and adequate vitamin D have been identified independently as contributing to good cardiovascular health. But could the combination offer special advantages against heart disease? How Do …
Can You Control Your Blood Sugar with Turmeric?
We are in the midst of a diabetes epidemic. Not only in the US, but around the world, type 2 diabetes has become frighteningly common. While drugs can be useful in lowering high blood sugar, there ar…
How to Calm a Cough with Crystallized Ginger
Even a spring cold can sometimes produce a troublesome cough. Nobody wants to be wakened in the middle of the night with a cough. It isn't pleasant, either, to be coughing through a concert or church …
Will a Whiff of Orange Erase Trauma?
Mouse research suggests a possible innovation for treating post-traumatic stress disorder-at least in mice. For them, aromatherapy with a whiff of orange seems to make a difference. How Did a Whiff of…
Pickle Relish Will Do in a Pinch Against Leg Cra…
Over the years, we have collected quite a number of home remedies for sudden painful muscle cramps. Often these are leg cramps, but occasionally muscles in the hands or arms cramp as well. One favorit…
How Does Vicks on the Feet Calm a Cough?
After abdominal surgery, coughing or laughing can cause excruciating pain. Although few people can laugh in such a situation, many will need to cough. How can you calm a cough to avoid the pain? Putt…
How to Ease Statin-Induced Muscle Pain
Statin-type cholesterol-lowering drugs are an important part of every cardiologist's tool box. They lower cholesterol, which is a significant risk factor for heart disease. People who already have hea…
Join Us April 27 to Learn about Favorite Remedie…
People who listen to The People's Pharmacy radio show or read the newspaper columns find home remedies fascinating. Most people want to know whether a specific remedy or dietary supplement works or no…
Is There Any Science to Support Glucosamine for …
For decades we have been agnostic about the use of glucosamine for arthritis. Some readers praised this dietary supplement while others denounced it. We remember when New York Times health columnist J…
How to Soothe Allergy Symptoms Without Serious S…
Allergy season takes a terrible toll on people who are susceptible to pollen. This is the time of year when invisible particles in the air trigger sneezing, sniffling, itching and congestion. Allergy …
Did Beet Juice Cause Vertigo by Lowering Blood P…
Is it smart to use every possible means of lowering blood pressure? Sometimes we need that kind of intensive effort. But pulling out all the stops isn't always necessary. Could drinking beet juice cau…
Will Spicy Green Tea Stop Your Stomachache?
How did people treat their heartburn before drugs like omeprazole and esomeprazole? These proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are so good at healing stomach ulcers and easing heartburn that doctors often…
Special Savings on Healing from Your Kitchen Cup…
Have you ever wished you could feel better just by using something simple you already had in your kitchen cupboard? It's not such a far-fetched dream. You probably have a treasure trove of healing sit…
How to Brew Green Tea for Maximum Benefit
You can brew green tea simply by plopping a tea bag in a cup and pouring hot water over it. Or you can make it into a complex ritual as a Japanese tea ceremony. When it comes to getting the most ph…
Did Eating Olives Really Make Warts Disappear?
We have been collecting wart remedies for over 40 years. Some of our favorites include banana peel, bacon fat, duct tape, garlic, Listerine, potato, turmeric and vinegar. We have never heard of olives…