14 DAY TRIAL // Latino people know why they say "Salud!" ("health") when they clink glasses.
Researches made in the last 20 years have showed that daily moderate alcohol consumption (especially red wine) has beneficial effects in fighting against heart attacks and strokes, controlling insulin levels (thus a possible cure for diabetes), delaying age-related dementia, impeding osteoporosis and certain cancers (especially the prostate cancer).
Light alcohol consume has been also linked to fewer incidents of emergency-room visits, gallstones and intestinal disorders and even bouts of the common cold and highly concentrated alcohol is one of the most commonly employed disinfectants.
Now, another benefit of the alcohol has been found: sonographically-guided alcohol injections are highly effective and well tolerated by patients with Morton's neuroma, a widepsread cause of foot pain, as found by a research made at the Royal National Orthopedic Hospital and Kingston Hospital NHS Trust in Middlesex, UK.
Morton's neuroma is an overgrowth of the nerve in your foot, often between your third and fourth toe, inducing a sharp, burning pain in the foot's ball.
"I felt many patients with Morton's neuroma were undergoing an operation that was unnecessary and that the neuroma could be successfully treated in a less invasive manner," said lead author Dr. David Connell.
The approach was made on 101 volunteers with Morton's neuroma. They received an average of 4.1 alcohol injections per person and follow-up images were got at a mean of 21.1 months after the last treatment.
The technical success rate was 100%: 94% of the patients reported partial or total symptom improvement was reported, and 84% totally got rid of pain.
30 subjects underwent sonography at six months after the last injection and presented a 30% lower neuroma size.
"Surprisingly, most patients maintain innervation to the toes despite the alcohol ablation. This means that they don't have the permanent numbness and loss of sensation that accompanies resection of the nerve at surgery," said Connell.