It’s never too late to take Vitamin D

Q. I have leg pain when walking and hip pain at night. I have a vitamin D level of 14. Is it too late to take vitamin D, and if not, how much should I take?

A. Your low vitamin D level might account for your symptoms. Vitamin D deficiency appears more common than previously believed. Many doctors prescribe 50,000 units of vitamin D once a week to correct such a deficiency.

It’s never too late to take vitamin D. For more information about the symptoms and dangers of vitamin D deficiency and how to treat it, you may wish to listen to our interview with Dr. Michael Holick and Dr. James Dowd. Anyone who would like a CD of this one-hour discussion may send $11.99 in check or money order to: Graedons’ People’s Pharmacy, No. CD-672, P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. Show No. 672 also is available as a podcast for $2.99 at www.peoplespharmacy.com.

Q. As a child, I had bouts of asthma and sniffed smoke from a burning powder called Kellogg’s Asthma Relief (which contained the ingredients stramonium and lobelia). I am now in my late 70s, and I seem to have again developed mild asthma attacks. I would like to get some of this powder but have been unable to locate a source.

A. Kellogg’s Asthma Relief was an old-fashioned remedy for asthma. The ingredients you list were sometimes combined with cannabis leaves (marijuana). There were even stramonium cigarettes.

Side effects of stramonium include dry skin and mouth, dilated pupils, problems with urination, rapid heartbeat and hallucinations. For these reasons, the Food and Drug Administration has not permitted medications with stramonium in years. Your doctor can prescribe far safer medicines.

Q. My wife had macular degeneration, and our ophthalmologist said it would just get worse. We immediately started taking bilberry fruit capsules because I wanted to be proactive.

A year later, we returned for her annual eye exam. The doctor’s assistant administered the exams. After checking her three times, she took her folder to the doctor and told him in front of us that the assistant last year sure messed up the exam. The doctor replied, “I administered that exam myself, and I know it is proper.” The assistant exclaimed that the macular degeneration was blocking only 25 percent of vision instead of 45 percent like last year, and that was impossible.

The doctor asked what we had done, and I told him about the bilberry. He was pleased with her progress. When she passed away three years later at age 82, she had no more macular degeneration.

A. Bilberry has a reputation as being good for eyesight. There has been very little research on its power to treat macular degeneration in human beings, though there are some intriguing results from experiments with animals.

XIn their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of The Vindicator or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is “Favorite Home Remedies From The People’s Pharmacy.”

2009 King Features Syndicate Inc.