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Treating toenail fungus
This article appeared in 
Rarely does the lowly toenail generate much interest. But quite the opposite is true in the drug marketing field.
Millions of dollars are spent each year on ads to promote medications to be used in mostly futile attempts to eradicate onychomycosis, or nail fungus, a hardy, microscopic organism that infects some 35 million people in the U.S.
The deformed grayish, greenish, yellowish toenails of fungal infection are hard to miss or misdiagnose. Occasionally they may be confused with the nails of psoriasis (lichen planus) or nails that have been traumatized by a heavy object falling on the nail bed. In advanced cases, the nail can be crumbly or difficult to cut.
Treatment is only occasionally medically necessary, and then mostly to prevent secondary bacterial infections. That's especially true for diabetic patients, who seem to be more affected, and for those with compromised immune systems. Most people treat toenail fungus for cosmetic reasons.
