Foul Fetish | Alternative Medicine

• The Daily Mail reported on Dec. 14 that a Chinese man identified only as Peng, 37, was hospitalized in Zhangzhou, Fujian province, after he complained of a cough and chest pains. As doctors examined him, Peng admitted that he is "addicted to smelling his socks that he had been wearing." The pain in his chest, it turns out, was a fungal infection he had inhaled from his socks. While Peng is expected to make a full recovery, other people 'fessed up on Chinese social media that they have the same habit: "The reason I smell my socks is to know if I can continue wearing them the next day!" one commenter said. Another pledged to "wash my socks every day now." [Daily Mail, 12/14/2018]

• Havana, Cuba, resident Pepe Casanas, 78, has discovered a tried-and-true way to treat his rheumatism pain: Once a month for the last 10 years, Casanas seeks out a blue scorpion, which is endemic to Cuba, and lets it sting him. "I put the scorpion where I feel pain," Casanas told Reuters. After the sting, "It hurts for a while, but then it calms and goes and I don't have anymore pain." In fact, researchers have confirmed that the scorpion's venom has anti-inflammatory and pain relief effects. It may even delay cancer growth in some patients. A Cuban pharmaceutical company has been selling a homeopathic pain remedy called Vidatox, made from the scorpion venom, but Casanas, a former tobacco farmer, takes the simpler route. He sometimes keeps a scorpion under his straw hat for luck, where he says it likes the shade and humidity. [Reuters, 12/14/2018]