HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: M20614@mwvm.mitre.org (Hugh Pritchard)
Subject: Hepatitis A vaccine
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, McLean VA 22102
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 12:10:23 GMT

There was an article in yesterday's _Washington_Post_ "Health" section, page
8, titled "Hepatitis A Vaccine Test Yield Results," by staff writer Sally
Squires.  Some parts of the article follow, reprinted without permission:
 
"An experimental vaccine against the common liver ailment hepatitis A proved
nearly 100 percent effective in preventing the illness in a study of more than
1,000 children, researchers reported last week.  The study, which was
published in the Aug. 13 New England Journal of Medicine, found that the
vaccine made by Merck & Co. offered full protection against the viral
infection withing 21 days. ...
 
"The study comes at a time of increasing inroads against hepatitis.  Another
drug company, SmithKline Beecham, already markets a new hepatitis A vaccine
with more than 95 percent effectiveness in Europe and has applied to market
the vaccine in the United States.  Both SmithKline Beecham and Merck are
seeking to be the first to market their vaccine in this country. ...
 
"The vaccine was so effective 'that a monitoring committee recommended
the study be terminated as soon as vaccine could be obtained for the
placebo recipients,' lead author Alan Werzberger and his colleagues from
the Hadasah University Hospital in Jerusalem reported.  The vaccine 'is
well-tolerated and a single dose is highly protective,' the authors
concluded.
 
"Roughly 29,000 cases of hepatitis A are reported annualy to the federal
Centers for Diease Control in Atlanta.  But because many young children
with the disease show no symptoms, public health officials believe that
the number of cases may actually be double the official figures.
 
"Hepatitis A is rarely fatal and, unlike other strains of the viral
infection, does not produse chronic illness. ...  Symptoms, including
jaundice, fever and fatigue, can last several months.  ...
 
"The virus is found in human feces -- one reason the illness can be spread
through day care centers where children are still in diapers.  Infected
food handlers have also accounted for outbreaks.  'You can contract the
virus through contaminated shellfish, water, food or intimate physical
contact,' said Saul Krugman, director of pediatric virology at the New
York University Medical School. ...
 
"The only means of protection today against hepatitis A in the United States
is an injection of gamma globulin -- a protein that contains some specific
antibodies against the virus.  ...
 
"Still unanswered is the question of how long the new vaccine would protect.
..."
 
[End of article]
 
**  Hugh Pritchard,  hapritch@mitre.org,  703/883-6616
Xref: sparky sci.med:15809 misc.kids:21140
From: ahelmers@umiami.ir.miami.edu
Newsgroups: sci.med,misc.kids
Subject: Re: Hepatitis vaccine
Date: 15 Aug 92 02:28:08 GMT
Organization: Univ of Miami IR

In article <1992Aug14.135306.7399@spdcc.com>, dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer) writes:
> In article <1992Aug14.124727.15244@kodak.kodak.com> salvaggi@sunshine.Kodak.COM (Nanette Salvaggio) writes:
>>He has never had a child that lives a healthy CLEAN life style come
>>down with hepatitis, so therefore feels that until further testing
>>is performed that it is not worth the risk.  Just thought an opposing
>>opinion might be useful.

>  I'd imagine it would come down to issues of economics
> and the ability of infants and children to make protective
> antibodies, and the advantages of a population with "herd immunity"
> to control the overall spread of Hep B.  I am ignorant of any details.
> 
> On the other hand, a line like
> 	He has never had a child that lives a healthy CLEAN
> 	life style come down with hepatitis
> makes you think of biker babies, first graders who are IV
> drug users and rampantly promiscuous pre-pubescents in
> middle school, not to mention a mom who thinks it's OK
> if such "bad seeds" get sick and die.  I mean, really,
> Nannette: the sentiment is revolting enough without
> your capitalizing CLEAN.


Oh for heaven's sake, in the interest of being politically correct, Steve, you
are being ridiculous!  My ped. told me basically the same thing that Nanette's
did; the fact is that this type of Hepatitis is spread primarily through
contaminated needles and sexual contact.  He said that it tends to be more of a
problem in people living closer in contact to that type of activity, i.e.
inner city children rather than *AS A RULE* other children living a 
"middle-class" lifestyle.  He was also honest enough to say that the Academy of
Pediatrics recommendation for immunization as a blanket statement was more
motivated by political concerns rather than the reality of the need for
protection for the majority of children.  And...he agreed that the vaccine has
not been tested long enough for his own satisfaction to give it to all of his
practice.

Please don't jump on someone who frankly is stating a truth, though it may not
be a PC palatable one!

Ann Helmers
From: geb@dsl.pitt.edu (gordon e. banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: On pre-scientific traditions of medicine (was: Use of term
Date: 22 Aug 92 00:23:48 GMT
Distribution: sci
Organization: Decision Systems Laboratory, Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA.

In article <1992Aug20.005948.4969@news.Hawaii.Edu> lady@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Lee Lady) writes:

>>From a scientific standpoint, it is the only proper attitude.  To
>>subject one's body to any nostrum that anyone claims would be
>>of benefit regardless of whether it has been tested or not
>>is pretty crazy, in my view.  
>
>Your statement would have been more precise if it had read:  
>  "To subject one's body to any nostrum ... whether or not it has been 
>  tested in a double blind study which has been found acceptable by
>  established medical authorities ... is pretty crazy."   
>
>Notice how speaking more precisely and saying what you really mean makes
>your assertion seem a lot more arguable, although obviously many would
>still agree.  (Not me!)  
>

Huh?  I never claimed that double blind studies are the sole
test of validity.  That wasn't at all what I meant.  Double
blind studies are often impractical.  Much of what we do does
not meet that standard.  

>>is pretty crazy, in my view.  You may miss out on the benefit
>>of some wild thing, but you will also miss out on the harm of
>>the vast majority of useless or dangerous ones.
>
>I think that people should have the right to make their own judgement on
>the level of risk they are willing to undergo in this respect, except
>where there is a clear doubt about safety.  (I think it is

I agree.  And I have the right to call practitioners of quackery
quacks and people who succumb to their ministrations dumb.

>I started taking zinc lozenges last winter to suppress cold symptoms on
>the basis of articles posted on the net and the recommendation of a
>couple of personal friends.  Maybe in five or ten years there will be a
>scientific study proving their effectiveness, but in the meantime
>you'll be having colds and I won't.  They work fantastically well.
>
Been a long time since I've had a cold.  Maybe mercury (in my
amalgams) does the same thing.  Maybe I'll make some money huckstering
mercury lozenges.

>You wouldn't have done any of these things, since you (according to what
>you say) place a high value on playing it safe.  I can't say you're wrong,
>but I think I should be allowed to make up my own mind on my own values.
>

Since you've embraced NLP, you obviously have.  No one is stopping you
from running after false systems.  What you don't like is you aren't
accorded intellectual respectability.

















-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and
geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu   |  it is shameful to surrender it too soon." 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: young@serum.kodak.com
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: R: Hepatitis Vaccine
Date: 18 Aug 92 22:38:14 GMT
Reply-To: young@serum.kodak.com
Distribution: usa
Organization: Clinical Products Division, Eastman Kodak Company
Originator: young@sasquatch

In article <1992Aug18.220023.12193@ms.uky.edu> jrt@omega.kcr.uky.edu (J. Randall Thompson) writes:
>In article <1992Aug17.211955.3175@pixel.kodak.com> young@serum.kodak.com writes:
>>In article <1992Aug15.185752.10892@ms.uky.edu> jrt@omega.kcr.uky.edu (J. Randall Thompson) writes:
>>>In article <1992Aug15.173232.25911@pixel.kodak.com> young@serum.kodak.com writes:
>>>>In article <1992Aug15.161704.23916@ms.uky.edu> jrt@omega.kcr.uky.edu (J. Randall Thompson) writes:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>Actually, there IS a Hepatitis A Vaccine, it just hasn't been approved by
>>>>>the FDA. It will be distributed by Merck-Sharp-Dohme.
>>>>
>>>>   Well, live and learn.  On the other hand, if I can't get it [yet], then
>>>>   there effectively IS none, right?  :-)
>>>>
>>>
>>>Maybe you've forgotten about the other 4 billion people in the world who
>>>get their medical care someplace other than the US... :-)
>>
>>	Is the HAV vaccine available to those people?
>>
>
>IMHO this thread has contained little substance and has been a waste
>of bandwidth. I am partially responsible for this; I should have
>given a reference with my first post. Hep A Vaccine is at least
>available in the UK, a reference (for those interested) is an article
>in BMJ 1992 May 16 304(6837) 1272-6, where the authors try to
>outline criteria for its use.
>
>Rich, just admit that you didn't know that there was a Hep A vaccine...

	Actually, that was a real honest-to-[fill in the blank] question,
	and if you care to look at my first comment (preceded by >>>>),
	you'll see that I already HAVE admitted that I didn't know about
	an HAV vaccine.  You apparently missed the smiley as well.

	Thank you for the additional information; I, too, see no reason
	to perpetuate what you evidently find annoying.

-Rich Young
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: young@serum.kodak.com
Subject: Re: B12 Deficiency In Older Adults 
Originator: young@sasquatch
Reply-To: young@serum.kodak.com
Organization: Clinical Products Division, Eastman Kodak Company
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 92 14:59:32 GMT

In article <1992Aug21.213950.11770@eng.umd.edu> georgec@eng.umd.edu (George B. Clark) writes:

[...]

>As you age, you lose the ability to produce stomach acid. This allows
>bacteria to grow in the stomach lining, and interferes with your
>ability to absorb B12.
>
>20% of people in their sixties and 40% of people in seventies suffer
>from B12 deficiency.

   Not quite.  They suffer from atrophic gastritis...see paragraph two, below.

   From the __Tufts University Diet and Nutrition Letter__, Vol. 9, 
   No. 11, January, 1992:

	"For a significant number of people over age 60, a lack of vitamin
	B12 may be responsible for their developing neurological symptoms
	ranging from tingling sensations, inability to coordinate muscular
	movements, weakened limbs, and lack of balance, to memory loss, mood
	changes, disorientation, and psychiatric disorders.  It's not
	necessarily that some senior citizens aren't taking in enough B12
	with their food.  Indeed, it would be difficult for anyone other
	than strict vegetarians to develop a serious B12 deficiency based
	on food choices alone, since that nutrient is found in meat, fish,
	poultry, milk, cheese, and fortified cereal products."

	"The problem has to do with the fact that some 20 percent of people
	in their 60s and 40 percent of those in their 80s develop a condition
	of aging known as atrophic gastritis, which generally means their
	stomachs no longer produce enough hydrochloric acid for the body
	to utilize the B12 taken in.  Part of the difficulty is that without
	the acid, the digestive enzyme that separates B12 from the protein
	to which it is attached when food is swallowed does not function
	properly, making the vitamin unable to travel from the stomach to the
	rest of the body tissues."

	"But what appears to get in the way even more is that lack of
	sufficient acid in the stomach provides a perfect environment for
	overgrowth of certain bacteria that utilize whatever B12 HAS been
	cleaved from protein..."

	"The problem is severe enough and widespread enough to prompt one
	of the Tufts researchers, gastroenterologist Robert Russell, MD, to
	say, 'vitamin B12 is probably the single most important nutrient
	affected by aging.'"


-Rich Young (These are not Kodak's opinions.)
From: stgprao@xing.unocal.com (Richard Ottolini)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Is it safe?
Date: 19 Aug 92 14:35:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: unocal.1992Aug19.143527.19187
Distribution: na
Organization: Unocal Corporation
Originator: stgprao@xing

In article <1992Aug18.221209.15210@cbnewsj.cb.att.com> mrb@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (m..bruncati) writes:
>
>Hi,
>
>I want to know what the people on the net think of this diet.

A diet one can't stay on for the rest of their lives will probably fail.
Because when one stops it, they go back to their previous habits and regain
old weight.  LIfetime diets should be moderate changes, not exotic.

Wieght loss of several pounds in the first two weeks generally don't mean
anything.  It is often due to an emptier digestive track or the body holding
a different water content to cope with the new diet.  Some people might
actually put on a couple pounds the first two weeks as the body adjusts
before the weight loss occurs.
Newsgroups: sci.med,misc.kids
From: lauraf@classy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Laura Floom)
Subject: Re: Hepatitis vaccine
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 15:44:08 GMT

In article <p!9mvx_@lynx.unm.edu> bhjelle@carina.unm.edu writes:
>
>>Please don't jump on someone who frankly is stating a truth, though it may not
>>be a PC palatable one!
>>
>Please learn the facts before you inflict your offensive
>ignorance on others.
>

Plase learn some tact before you inflict your offensive posts on others.
If you want to share info with the net, you may want to try it in a way that
will keep you out of peoples kill files!

Laura Floom


Newsgroups: sci.med,misc.kids
From: bhjelle@carina.unm.edu ()
Subject: Re: Hepatitis vaccine
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 01:02:18 GMT
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

In article <1992Aug14.124727.15244@kodak.kodak.com> salvaggi@sunshine.Kodak.COM (Nanette Salvaggio) writes:
>|> 
>My pediatrician feels that this vaccine has not sufficiently been tested
>on small children and will not give even give it to his own kids.  He 
>has never had a child that lives a healthy CLEAN life style come
>down with hepatitis, so therefore feels that until further testing
>is performed that it is not worth the risk.  Just thought an opposing
>opinion might be useful.
>
Nanette, 

Take your dogmatic, judgemental, incorrect blather elsewhere.
You don't know what you are talking about.

Brian
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: baker@westsd.dco.dec.com (Art Baker)
Subject: Re: Amino acid diet, is it safe?
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 12:47:22 GMT

In article <1992Aug19.154417.308@sage.hnrc.tufts.edu> loszewski_im@sage.hnrc.tufts.edu writes:
>In article <1992Aug19.150057.6093@cbnewsj.cb.att.com>, mrb@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (m..bruncati) writes:
[approx 70-lines of repeated material...]
>
>I read through this very quickly...

 And apparently without the benefit of a text-editor capable of
performing deletions.  I suppose the system was about to go down or
something...

 I don't mean to single you out, but lately there have been a lot of
postings repeated in their entirety in a follow-up, only to have some
small comment added at the end.  This is very poor netiquette; in fact,
it's downright *RUDE*.  The majority of us are quite capable of
remembering the context of the thread from one posting to the next
without having to re-read all of it.  It doesn't take much effort at all
to pare down a quotation to its essentials, and it makes your follow-up 
all that more likely to be read.

 Thanks,

-- 
	***********************************************************
	* Art Baker			| Joy and fierceness...	  *
	* baker@westsd.dco.dec.com	|  			  *
	***********************************************************
From: tcederqu@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Trevor Cederquist)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Smartdrugs
Date: 17 Aug 92 16:52:50 GMT
Organization: University of California, San Diego

Tony Schliesser writes:

>In article <9515.2A88B8C2@stjhmc.fidonet.org>, Leon.Ubags@f211.n500.z2.fidonet.org (Leon Ubags) writes:
>> Is there anyone who can tell me more about socalled smartdrugs or has 
>> experience in using them e.g. Hydrazine,Phenylanaline and so on ?
>
>No drugs have proven effective to date and I doubt any every will.  You can
>put smart drugs in the same file as snake oil, placebo's, and other schemes.
>
>Its a good question tho.
>
>TS
>
>+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
>|Tony Schliesser         			ASCHLIE@UOFT02.UTOLEDO.EDU|
>|The University of Toledo			ASCHLIE@UOFT02.BITNET     |
>|College of Pharmacy				FAC2966@UOFT01.UTOLEDO.EDU|
>+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+


	After reading the references listed from books and articles
	I've found on nootropics (smart drugs) and searching
	medline for more, I've only come up with reports suggesting
	some efficacy or no effect from these drugs.  After
	hundreds (maybe even thousands) of studies on Hydergine
	(Sandoz) and Piracetam and many years of use in other
	countries with no side effects, it seems prudent to allow
	the experimentation of these by persons interested in 
	increasing their intelligence with dietary supplements.
	For those who make the investment and find no effect, then
	they can decide whether or not they wish to continue      
	buying the drug.  Others may report (and possibly even
	have reason to) an improvement in their cognitive abilities.
	There is no evidence to suggest that either of these is
	dangerous.  Nor is there any big company making big bucks
	by selling lies.  Both are now available in generic form.
	

	One should have the freedom to explore the possibility 
	of cognitive enhancement by use of safe drugs.


	TS, I question the depth of your knowledge on nootropics
	and believe your posting with a "School of Pharmacy" 
	.sig file to be unethical.


Trevor C. Cederquist
tcederqu@sdcc13.ucsd.edu
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: cfaks@ux1.cts.eiu.edu (Alice Sanders)
Subject: Re: Any info on ringworm fungus?
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 05:31:24 GMT
Organization: Eastern Illinois University

In article <10000.2A8E5673@stjhmc.fidonet.org> Tom.Batchelor@f222.n137.z1.fidonet.org (Tom Batchelor) writes:
>
> BF> I have a friend with ringworm on her arm.  I was curious about
> BF> any info on the life cycle, side effects, and treatment of this
> BF> affliction, and info on how it spreads, or how somebody gets
> BF> it.  Thanks.  (If there is a site with info like this, I would
> BF> appreciate a nudge in the right direction.)
>
>
>The trick to treatment is to follow the directions on the product you
>use (Lotrimin, for example) to the tee. Wash the area throughly before
>each application of the cream. I had it about 2 weeks longer than I
>should have, because I failed to do this. Funny thing, this is many
>times seen on the feet or hands... I had it on the outside of my thigh,
>about 3 inches above my knee... about "fur level" if you will, to my
>German Shepherd...
>
>Good luck with this most annoying fungus...
>
>Tom.
>

What if it is on the hand or fingers?  If you put the cream on and then
have to wash your hands,  would you have to keep reapplying the cream?  Or
should you use a band-aid?

Alice

Newsgroups: sci.med
From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer)
Subject: Re: Prolonged use of Ibuprofen
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 05:31:38 GMT

In article <1992Aug16.043911.29803@ux1.cts.eiu.edu> cfaks@ux1.cts.eiu.edu (Alice Sanders) writes:
>What about Lodine?  I understand it is similar to ibuprofen.  Are the
>problems and risks the same?  I take about 650 mg daily for shoulder pain
>(torn supraspinitis).  

Lodine is the tradename for etodolac, YANSAID (yet another NSAID).
However, this drug (as well as another NSAID, nabumetone (Relafen))
was developed because it appears to have relatively less of an effect
on the stomach lining than classical NSAIDs, perhaps because it inhibits
prostagandin synthetase in the stomach less than similar enzymes elsewhere.
Because of this, it is thought to be somewhat less likely to cause GI
problems than most NSAIDs at equianalgesic/anti-inflammatory doses.
I don't think this selectivity is absolute, however.

-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
From: geb@dsl.pitt.edu (gordon e. banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: FDA still at large
Date: 12 Aug 92 13:26:56 GMT
Organization: Decision Systems Laboratory, Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA.

In article <1992Jul28.194121.5255@island.COM> green@island.COM (Robert Greenstein) writes:

>known about these benefits for centuries. The amount of nutritional
>knowledge that the American medical establishment has could be written
>on the head of a pin - in large type.

But the amount of nutritional knowledge (as compared to myth) that
*you* have wouldn't even fill that space.

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and
geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu   |  it is shameful to surrender it too soon." 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: mcovingt@athena.cs.uga.edu (Michael A. Covington)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Smart Drugs
Summary: Vitamin B12
Date: 19 Aug 92 17:39:33 GMT
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens

Re your experience of vitamin B12 helping your brain function, the obvious
question is whether you had (for any reason) a B12 deficiency to begin with.
That is, maybe you were not using a "smart drug" so much as curing a
deficiency that had been wearing you down.

-- 
+ Michael Covington - Artificial Intelligence Programs - U of Georgia - USA 
+ Unless otherwise noted, these are private opinions, not official statements.
+ VOTE NO GEORGIA LOTTERY - don't tie education to an unpredictable income.
From: jjmorris@gandalf.rutgers.edu (Joyce Morris)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Help - Computer Class
Summary: Need course ideas
Keywords: curriculum ideas
Date: 20 Aug 92 02:01:37 GMT
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.

Unfortunately the new school year is fast approaching so I have to start
thinking about what I will be teaching this fall.  One of those courses
is Computers in Health Services.  This is a course for seniors, mostly
majors in public health administration.  Some of the students will be
going on to medical school while the rest will be going into entry-
level adminstrative jobs in the health field - hospitals, health
departments, insurance companies, drug companies, etc.

I would like any and all ideas for what should be included.  I particularly
would welcome specific books/articles for the students and/or me.  What
is there that you think that someone going into an entry-level job should
know about computers and their use in the health field?

Also if anyone has ideas for hands-on exercises I would welcome those.
I have need for computer-based and non-computer based [ie, thinking and
reasoning exercises].

Thank you for your input.

Joyce Morris  jjmorris@gandalf.rutgers.edu
Urban Studies and Community Health
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey