Duct tape makes wart disappear after just a week

Q. I am a nurse and have always relied on conventional medicines or physician-supervised treatments. I noticed a wart on my upper arm that had grown to about pencil-eraser size and remembered an article in your column about warts and duct tape.
Not really wanting to fork over a co-pay at the doctor's office or endure the pain of freezing the wart, I figured your cure was worth a try. To my amazement, after only one week, the wart was completely gone!
My husband was a skeptic, too, and said if he hadn't seen it himself, he would never have believed it.
A. We have heard from many others that duct tape works well in getting rid of warts. New research in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (November 2006), however, suggests that duct tape is little better than placebo (16 percent cure vs. 6 percent). This contrasts with a previous study in the same journal (October 2002) showing that duct-tape treatment for warts was more effective than freezing them off. Details about duct tape for warts are at: www.peoplespharmacy.com.
Q. I have had such success with an alternative therapy that I wanted to get the word out.
I was a premenopausal breast-cancer patient two years ago. My tumor was estrogen positive, so I have to avoid any sort of estrogen compound, including plant-based estrogen products. (It is still not known if plant-based estrogen could hurt someone with my type of breast cancer.)
I take tamoxifen to prevent a cancer recurrence. This drug acts as an "anti-estrogen" in breast tissue.
I was thrown into chemical menopause after chemotherapy and have experienced symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia and bone and joint pain.
I just tried acupuncture (four sessions so far) and have had unbelievable success in curbing hot flashes and night sweats. My daytime hot flashes have virtually disappeared. The night sweats still occur occasionally, but much less often than before. As a result, my sleep is much improved, and I am not waking up in the middle of the night.
Women should consider acupuncture to relieve their symptoms if they want to avoid taking drugs, hormones or supplements to treat menopausal symptoms.
A. Thanks for sharing your experience. Acupuncture has been used for a range of conditions. We were unaware that it might be helpful for hot flashes.
Q. How do I lower triglycerides? Mine are high at 195. My total cholesterol is 213, LDL cholesterol is 112, and my good HDL cholesterol is 62. How can I make sense of these numbers?
A. Triglycerides are getting more attention as a risk factor for heart disease. Dr. Barry Sears (author of "The Omega Rx Zone & quot;) suggests that the ratio of triglycerides to HDL should be 1 or less. Your ratio, at over 3, is a danger sign.
Fish-oil supplements can be very effective at lowering triglycerides. Niacin can also help, as can prescription drugs like Tricor and Lopid.
We are sending you our Guide to Cholesterol and Heart Health to help you interpret lab results, calculate ratios and understand treatment options.
In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of this newspaper or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.
& copy; 2006 King Features Syndicate Inc.