Dear Dr. Gott: I recently wrote you regarding my experience with psoriasis, for which my husband (a pathologist and professor) recommended that I take fish oil and vitamin D3. I had very good results and wanted to share them with your readers.

When I read my letter in the paper, it said that I was taking 1,000 milligrams of fish oil and 2,000 IU of vitamin D three times a day. This is not what I said. That means anyone who tried this remedy is taking three times as much as they should, and this is a huge amount. Please print a retraction.

Reply: Consider it done. There was a misprint in the original column, and "three times daily" should have been "D3". I would like to mention that I don't believe any harm will come to anyone who took the tripled dose.

According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, people over the age of 14 should not take more than 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily; however, several nutrition scientists have challenged this, citing recent research studies that show up to 10,000 IU of D daily is acceptable. So, in my opinion, a short-term dosage of 6,000 IU daily will not be harmful.

As for the fish oil, many physicians recommend normal, healthy people consume about 2,000 milligrams daily. That is double what you were taking and just under the misprinted triple dose. Again, a short-term treatment at the elevated dosage should not cause any harm.

So, readers, please accept my apology for not catching the error and for those trying this alternative treatment, please reduce your dosages to 1,000 milligrams of fish oil and 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 to once a day only.

Dear Dr. Gott: My husband is an 80-year-old man who frequently gets hiccups, which sometimes last for days. They seem to come on for no reason and leave for no reason. The doctors he has seen don't know how to cure them.

Two years ago, he was in the hospital for five days while being treated for pneumonia. He had hiccups for four days and was seen by quite a number of doctors. No one had a cure. Finally, the hiccups just stopped.

We would be so very happy if you could suggest some cure. Of course, he has tried drinking out of a glass backward, breathing in a paper bag, eating a spoonful of peanut butter and any other home remedy that has been suggested. Do you have some cure?

Reply: I'm sure that you have tried every home remedy imaginable. Have you considered having him bite on a lemon, using smelling salts, drinking iced water or scaring him?

Some other minor tricks include eating small meals, eliminating carbonated beverages and beverages that contain alcohol, and controlling sudden temperature changes whenever possible. More extreme measures include hypnosis, acupuncture, medications such as muscle relaxants, nerve block, or the insertion of a nasogastric tube or vagus-nerve stimulation. Before you accept his fate or commit to a surgical procedure, do a little more research. Perhaps something simple will provide the answer.