Cold Sores (herpes simplex 1 or HSV-1)
Desperate for Help With Recurrent Cold Sores
Have you been troubled with recurrent cold sores? The herpes simplex virus (HSV1) that causes cold sores, aka fever blisters, never really goes away, but it can go into hiding for months or longer. If…
Show 1394: Viruses, Vaccines and Alzheimer Disea…
This week, we explore the role viruses may play in the development of dementia. That certainly sounds like a downer, but here is the brighter side: vaccines can significantly lower the risk! Joe and T…
How Good Is L-lysine Against Cold Sores?
Cold sores are painful. They are also unsightly. Perhaps more alarming, there is some research to suggest that cold sores may increase the risk for Alzheimer's disease (see this link). Consequently, w…
Do Cold Sores Increase the Risk for Alzheimer Di…
Swedish researchers started wondering whether cold sores increase the risk for dementia more than a decade ago (Alzheimer's & Dementia, online, Oct. 7, 2014). They identified patients diagnosed wi…
Can You Avoid Cold Sores by Taking L-Lysine?
Cold sores, which are sometimes called fever blisters, crop up on the lips or on the face near the mouth. In addition to being painful, they are unsightly. Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex …
Did COVID Vaccines Erase Warts?
In early October, 2021, a reader of our syndicated newspaper column alerted us to a most unusual reaction to the Moderna vaccine. This person reported that a persistent wart disappeared after vaccinat…
Can Antiviral Herpes Drugs Reduce the Risk of Al…
There are few more devastating diagnoses than dementia. Alzheimer disease robs people of their memories, their personalities and their ability to care for themselves. It is often a torturous decline t…
Can You Prevent Alzheimer Disease with L-Lysine?
Intriguing research suggests that the dementia we call Alzheimer disease may be triggered by a common infection: herpes virus. Although the story is not yet complete, the brain's immune response to th…
Treating Cold Sores with Home Remedies or Sitavi…
If you sometimes suffer from cold sores, you have a lot of company. Some experts estimate that more than half of adult Americans carry the herpes virus that causes these lesions. Decades ago, doctors …
What to Do About Cold Sores
When the sniffle season arrives, many people suffer from cold sores as well. Cold sores, fever blisters or the more technical herpes labialis--regardless of the terminology, these red painful spots ar…
What Can You Do for Cold Sores?
Cold sores are painful and unsightly lesions that result from herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). People also call them fever blisters, as they tend to pop up when a person is suffering from an infection …
Is Vanilla a Helpful Remedy for Cold Sores?
Do you sometimes suffer from cold sores? If you do, you may have developed your own favorite collection of remedies. Some people like to use medications at the first sensation of tingling, while other…
Is There a Natural Remedy for Cold Sores?
During cold season, many people suffer from outbreaks of cold sores, also called fever blisters. Perhaps when the immune system is busy fighting off another infection, the herpes simplex virus that ca…
How Aysa, an AI App, Helped a Mother with her Ch…
Nicole Pharr is used to keeping a close eye on her daughter Madison’s skin. Madison is prone to eczema and has had highly sensitive skin since she was a baby. Still, Nicole was concerned after her d…
Will Stinging Nettle Banish Your Cold Sores?
Most adults have been exposed at some point to the virus that causes cold sores, herpes simplex (HSV1). Not everyone reacts by developing recurrent cold sores, but those who do would love a way to get…
Could an Antiviral Drug Help Control Alzheimer D…
There is a growing recognition by neuroscientists that the brain is not a sterile organ. In other words, the brain has a microbiome just like the digestive tract. There are bacteria, fungi and viruses…
How to Stop a Cold Sore with an Herb
Whether you call them cold sores or fever blisters, these lesions may pop up when you get sick. A respiratory tract infection or exposure to wind or sun may bring them out. No one knows exactly why a …
Can You Prevent Cold Sores by Avoiding Cashews?
Cold sores, also known as fever blisters, are part of the body's reaction to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Although the vast majority of us have been exposed to HSV-1, not everyone gets blister…
Licorice Oil Calms the Heat of Fire Ant Stings
What do you do for fire ant stings? As fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) push further north, many more people will have occasion to treat the pain of their stings. Some readers are enthusiastic about vin…
Valtrex (Valacyclovir) Vanquished 30 Years of Co…
Many people report that L-lysine, an amino acid, works quite well at preventing or shortening a cold sore outbreak. Not everyone has success with this approach, however. Sometimes a prescription drug …
The Benefits of Smearing Garlic on Your Lips
Cold sores are the visible result of a lurking herpes virus becoming re-activated and causing trouble. The virus, herpes simplex 1 or HSV-1, is extremely widespread. Most of the time, though, it lurk…
How Can You Forestall an Ugly Cold Sore?
Cold sores are such a common complaint that they get very little attention from the medical profession unless something goes horribly wrong. These unsightly lesions are caused by an outbreak of herpes…
Will L-lysine for Cold Sores Protect the Brain f…
A connection between cold sores (caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 or HSV-1) and Alzheimer's disease has been tossed around for decades. How good is the evidence? This reader would like to know i…
L-Lysine Remedy for Cold Sores Scorned By Scient…
Cold sores, also known as fever blisters, can be unsightly and uncomfortable. There are prescription antivirals like acyclovir or valacyclovir that may help speed healing. Many of our readers also rep…
Sunglasses Rescue Kayaker from Recurring Cold So…
Cold sores are lesions on the lips or the skin around the mouth that are caused by herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). They are an exceedingly common and annoying fact of life, but most people who suffer …
Acyclovir Helped to Control Chronic Cold Sores
Cold sores are caused by a virus, herpes simplex 1 (HSV1), that nearly everyone is exposed to at some point or another. This virus has variable effects on individuals: some people never get cold sore…
L-Lysine to Prevent Cold Sores
Q. For years I was plagued with at least two annual bouts of cold sores. One outbreak occurred during a visit to New Zealand. I went to a pharmacy for Zovirax, since it was available there without a p…
L-Lysine Works Against Cold Sores
Q. More than 20 years ago I came across an article promoting l-lysine as a preventive measure against cold sore outbreaks. Having suffered with this virus since adolescence, I was motivated to try the…
Fighting Fever Blisters With and Without Drugs
Cold sores are common. By some estimates more than two-thirds of adults have been infected by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), the culprit behind cold sores. People frequently catch this infection…