Don’t give away cats to cure eczema

Q. As a person who is both a cat lover and who has eczema and asthma, I was concerned to read the question from a grandmother worried about a cat causing her granddaughter’s eczema. I fear some people will use that excuse to take their cats to animal shelters.

I have found a perfect solution. My cat is never allowed outside. Every few months – or more often if needed – I wipe him down with cat wet cloths. No problems with eczema or asthma, and no need to get rid of the cat!

A. We don’t know any cat lovers who would take their cat to a shelter for fear of eczema, but we recognize this may be a concern for some families.

A pediatric pulmonologist suggested bathing the cat regularly. Now that you have told us about cat cleaning wipes, this is a much less daunting prospect.

Q. My 22-year-old daughter recently went to the doctor with a sinus infection. She was given the antibiotic Avelox. After a couple of days of treatment, she felt dizzy and had heart palpitations. We took her blood pressure, and it was 88/56.

We contacted her doctor and the pharmacy, but they were evasive about whether the antibiotic was to blame. She just stopped it. Now we don’t know if she can ever take this medicine again.

A. Avelox and similar quinolone antibiotics (Cipro, Floxin, Levaquin) may occasionally affect heart rhythms and cause palpitations. This could lead to dizziness and lowered blood pressure.

Your daughter should be evaluated by a cardiologist to make sure she does not have a heart rhythm anomaly called long QT interval. If she does, she may well have to avoid this class of medicines and many others. Visit the Web site www.torsades.org for more information about this condition.

Q. I read in your column about someone with chronic constipation. My husband had the same problem for decades.

We were already eating a healthy diet. Now, for breakfast every morning, I make a smoothie with at least 2 cups of mixed frozen fruit, 8 ounces of yogurt and just enough white soy milk in the blender to make a nice, frothy smoothie. At night, before bed, he has 8 ounces of chocolate soy milk.

This really works. All it took was the purchase of a really good blender, a 6-pound bag of mixed frozen fruit and a supply of natural yogurt and soy milk.

A. We’ve never heard before that soy milk could help fight constipation. There are many other ways to solve this problem. Adding extra fiber to the diet, as you have with the breakfast smoothie, may have accomplished this goal.

We have compiled many other approaches to overcoming constipation, including pumpkin-bran muffins and an applesauce/prune juice/bran remedy in our Guide to Constipation. Anyone who would like a copy, please send $2 in check or money order with a long (No. 10), stamped (63 cents), self-addressed envelope to: Graedons’ People’s Pharmacy, No. GG-30, P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. It can also be downloaded for $2 from our Web site: www.peoplespharmacy.com.

Q. I just received a shipment of Zocor tablets in the mail, and it sat in a hot mailbox, probably 150 degrees, for hours. Would this harm Zocor?

A. The manufacturer (Merck) recommends storing Zocor between 41 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Chemical analysis might be needed to tell if the drug was harmed. Your story points out a potential problem with mail-order pharmacies.