Nitroglycerine has some unique uses

Dear Dr. Gott: I’m a Canadian physician who welcomes your daily column; I read it avidly and have been particularly interested in your home remedies.

I am enclosing an August 2000 article from the Canadian Family Physician in which the writer lists several unique uses for nitroglycerine, a muscle relaxant prescribed for years to treat angina. Apparently, the medicine has nontraditional value, too.

It can relieve severe and painful esophageal spasm that some people experience when swallowing pills and certain foods.

Nitroglycerine sprays have been reported to abort attacks of biliary colic (severe abdominal pain from gallstones), allowing patients to avoid surgery or, at least, put it off. The usual dosage is two or three 0.4-milligram sprays.

Nitroglycerine ointment (0.1 percent) relieves the pain of anal fissures. The diluted ointment is applied twice daily until healing occurs.

Finally, some obstetricians have discovered that the product stops pre-term prolonged uterine contractions, thereby preventing expectant mothers from early delivery.

People using various forms of nitroglycerine must be informed that side effects include headache and low blood pressure. If such side effects occur, the dose of the drug should be reduced or the medication stopped.

As an aside, the Canadian medical journal also mentions a study proving that duct tape is a more effective therapy for warts than is freezing. The tape is applied for six days, then removed, the wart is soaked and filed with an emery board. Then new tape is applied 12 hours later. The process can be repeated for up to two months. Eighty-five percent of patients experienced complete resolution.

Have fun with this, Dr. Gott!

Dear Doctor: These tips are, indeed, intriguing, and I relish publishing an edited version of your letter because I am certain that physicians will be interested, and patients can be helped at very little cost or risk.

I am especially interested in two aspects of nitroglycerine’s muscle-relaxant properties: its use in anal fissures (an extremely uncomfortable tear in the anal area, with subsequent muscle spasm), and its effectiveness in possibly preventing pregnant women from premature labor. And, of course, the duct-tape remedy is a hoot. Thanks for writing. Please keep me posted about new medical “advances.”

Dear Dr. Gott: Why are my hands swollen and painful every morning? I just started taking birth-control pills and my doctor ignores my question.

Dear Reader: Hormone therapy, such as birth-control pills, often causes cycles of harmless fluid retention, much like the puffiness experienced by many women in conjunction with their menstrual cycles.

You may be helped by reducing salt in your diet. If this is ineffective, you should be examined by your family physician, who will order blood and urine tests to make sure that you don’t have a kidney disorder, a metabolic imbalance or early arthritis.