Plants turn CO2 into oxygen

Dear Dr. Gott: I have a hanging philodendron and potted philodendron in my bedroom. The room is on the north side of the house and isn’t very bright. These plants can flourish in low light.

My girlfriend told me plants are bad for your bedroom because they give off carbon dioxide; that’s why hospitals take flowers out of patients’ rooms at night. Is this a hazard for me or not?

Dear Reader: As any high school biology student knows, living plants metabolize carbon dioxide and excrete oxygen. Therefore, such plants should be welcomed in homes and places of business.

I don’t know why some hospitals remove flowers from patients’ rooms. I hypothesize that there are two primary reasons. First, the flowers get in the way and take up space. Second, flowers themselves do not give off oxygen; unless the green leaves are present and the bouquet is in direct sunlight, the oxygen/carbon dioxide balance is neutral.

In your situation, I believe that rooted plants (not cut flowers), such as philodendrons, would be a welcome and healthful addition to your living quarters.

Dear Dr. Gott: I am an 81-year-old retired teacher/mechanical engineer. My wife is a 79-year-old retired registered nurse. We wanted to add our names to your list of folks who have been blessed by your soap-in-the-bed technique.

I’ve had two back surgeries and my wife has had two surgeries on her feet for diabetic neuropathy, both of which alleviated her foot problems. However, I suffered from nightly thigh spasms and she from severe leg cramps. I’ve been through the standard prescription of muscle relaxers, quinine, tranquilizers, Soma and others. My neurosurgeon and our family doctor say to “tolerate it.” These spasms, which sometimes bordered on violence, prevented any sleep. Hot packs and cold packs, as suggested, did nothing.

I read your column daily and saw the soap prescription. It works! This has turned our lives around. We can’t thank you enough.

Dear Reader: Thank you for writing. If I am able to reach even a few people through my column — which, I admit, is sometimes a little weird — then I am doing my job. I feel good about letters such as yours because you and your wife had positive results from a therapy that is, to put it mildly, not tested.

As an MD in general practice, I have always been taught that treatments must be tested before they are released to the public. However, you can’t argue with success. No one knows how or why putting soap under the bottom bed sheet can relieve nocturnal leg cramps, but many people — in the hundreds, judging from my mail — have experienced relief, far more than would be predicted with a placebo effect. What’s more, the soap therapy is cheap, easy and, most important, safe. Thank you for writing.