DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am a 48-year-old woman who is fairly fit. I have been taking medicine for a cardiac rhythm disturbance and mitral valve prolapse. My new doctor recommends radio frequency ablation to correct the heart problem. I am apprehensive. What is your opinion of this procedure? What is its success rate? What is the recovery time? What are the risks? What are the chances of dying during the procedure? Would it also correct the mitral valve prolapse? – C.K.

ANSWER: Radio frequency ablation is a technique of destroying a site in the heart wall that leads to production of abnormal heartbeats and abnormal heart rhythms. For the procedure, the patient is awake but lightly sedated. The doctor inches a special catheter through a blood vessel to the heart and positions the catheter so that it is in contact with the source of the abnormal rhythm. At that point, the doctor activates the tip of the catheter, which delivers radio waves that heat and destroy the problem area.

I have made this sound ho-hum. Actually, the procedure is just short of miraculous. It can do away with some kinds, but not all kinds, of heart rhythm disturbances. My opinion of it is one of awe.

The success rate hovers around 95 percent.

Recovery time is rapid. There are no incisions to heal, no invasion of the chest, no tugging on tissues. Risks? There is not a single medical procedure or a single medicine that does not carry some risk. Removing an appendix, a very routine operation can lead to death. So can medicines used to control abnormal heart rhythms. Ablation is quite safe, but things can go wrong. The procedure can damage heart valves, can produce a stroke and has, in an extremely small number, caused death. If my doctor recommended it to me, I would not hesitate for one second to have it done. It will not, however, correct mitral valve prolapse.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have written you before but have not seen an answer. My question has to do with fingernails. My friends (women) and I experience thin nails that split and are ugly. Why does this happen? What can we do for it? I’ll look for an answer. – R.H.

ANSWER: Brittle, splitting nails often result from repeated wetting and drying. Nails swell when wet and shrink when dry. It’s very similar to the effect that freeze-thaw cycles have on cement. Those cycles produce cracks in the cement. Ask anyone who drives on northern highways what happens to them after even a single winter season. That’s what’s happening to your nails.

Wear rubber gloves when you are washing dishes, scrubbing floors or doing anything that requires plunging the hands into water.

Planned moisturizing protects nails and keeps them strong. After a shower, a bath or hand washing, coat the nails with a light layer of moisturizing cream. Petroleum jelly is fine. If you want a brand-name product, Aquaphor ointment is a good choice. It is not the only choice, and you’ll find many moisturizers on the shelves of all drugstores.

When filing nails, do so only in one direction and use the fine-grade side of the file.

Use nail-polish remover sparingly. After using it, wash the hands and apply moisturizer immediately.

Some doctors advise taking biotin, a B vitamin.

Neither gelatin nor calcium strengthens nails.

It takes six months for a nail to grow from its base to its tip, so be patient and don’t expect overnight results.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: For several years I have been told not to eat anything white. When I have asked why, no one has given me an answer.

Do you have the answer? – G.M.

ANSWER: I don’t have an answer. I don’t think there is one. Instinct tells me there is no problem with eating white foods. You and I would be wasting time trying to find the answer.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I am 82 and in pretty good health, but I am a bit worried about what my doctor said to me last month. I had an echocardiogram that shows I have three leaking heart valves. The doctor said not to worry, as the leaks are minor. I want to know how I will know when the minor leaks become major ones. – Anon.

ANSWER: If every 82-year-old in the world had an echocardiogram, a great many would be found to have minor leaks in their heart valves. Don’t anguish over this. At 82, minor leaks rarely become major. Your doctor can take care of watching your health by listening to your heart for any changes in the heart murmurs that leaks create. Leave the matter in your doctor’s hands. Worry is a more dangerous threat to your health than the minor leaks are.

The misunderstood but common problem of defective heart valves is discussed in the pamphlet with that name. People who would like a copy can obtain one by writing: Dr. Donohue – No. 105, Box 535475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.50 U.S./$6.50 Can. with the recipient’s printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I take iron pills for anemia. They make me sick, and I am supposed to take them on an empty stomach. Is there some other way for me to get more iron into my body? – K.C.

ANSWER: Iron sulfate is the most common kind of iron pill. It can be hard on the stomach. Taking the pill with food lessens its absorption but also lessens stomach irritation. As a compromise, ask your doctor about taking the pill with meals.

You increase the absorption of iron by taking vitamin C with it. Vitamin C might correct the loss of absorption that comes when iron and food are taken together.

Don’t abandon Nature’s provision of iron in lean meat, fish, tofu, liver, beans, nuts, shrimp and clams. They’re not hard on the stomach.

A switch to another form of iron, such as iron gluconate, is another way around this problem.



Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.