Try alternative treatments to kill resistant lice

Question: I am 74 and have fine hair. A month ago I came down with a case of lice after a visit to a barbershop.

My doctor recommended Rid. I used it twice with no success. I bought a product on the Internet, and it did no better. We have washed the sheets and clothes every day, vacuumed, etc. Any recommendations?

Answer: Most people think of lice in terms of children at day care or summer camp. But lice don't care about age. Anyone can be susceptible.

In some communities, lice have become resistant to the usual treatments. Alternative approaches include HairClean 1-2-3, a product containing coconut oil, anise oil and ylang ylang oil in an alcohol base. To locate it, check the Web site www.hairclean.com, or call 1-800-448-1448.

The alcohol base may add to its anti-lice power. Another product that contains alcohol and has been used against lice is old-fashioned Listerine Mouthwash. Massage it into the scalp, cover the head with a towel and leave the Listerine on for 15 minutes. Then shampoo it out. You might have to do this every few days to kill off the emerging lice.

Question: I am just recovering from a terrible cough and infection that my doctor diagnosed as walking pneumonia. This is the second time I have come down with pneumonia, and my doctor has warned me to stop taking Prevacid. He prescribed it for reflux. Now my heartburn is back, but he says he won't prescribe another drug. Can I take Prilosec OTC, or is there something else that will work?

Answer: Medications like Prevacid, Prilosec, Aciphex or Nexium reduce stomach acid very well. So do OTC drugs like Tagamet, Pepcid and Zantac.

Researchers have wondered whether reducing acid so dramatically might allow bacteria and viruses from food and water to survive in the stomach. Stomach acid normally kills germs, but if they survive they might get into the lungs.

Your physician might be reacting to an article (Journal of the American Medical Association, Oct. 27, 2004) linking acid-suppressing drugs to pneumonia. That is why you probably should avoid Prilosec OTC and other powerful reflux medicines.

Antacids don't modify stomach acid long enough to cause complications.