HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: denise@isl.stanford.edu (Denise M. Cuevas)
Subject: resisting electromagnetic radiation
Organization: Information Systems Lab, Stanford University
Distribution: misc.health.alternative
Date: 7 Jan 93 17:53:31


Call me an ignorant, radical fool, but the fact remains that I want to
decrease my exposure to electromagnetic radiation. I've heard the
pro and con arguments on whether this is a true hazard, and I've
decided to be on the safe side. Unfortunately, I'm surrounded by it,
most noticeably from powerlines near my house and computer terminals
and copiers in my office.

I've heard of people using some device which sprays negative ions in
the air, I believe, in order to reduce the hazard. This doesn't make a
lot of sense to me and leads to the question - is a spray of negative
ions dangerous? 

Has any research been done on blocking electromagnetic radiation? I
assume that planting trees between my house and the power lines
would be ineffective. How about buttressing the walls of my house with
some sort of repulsing material?

I would like to get pregnant soon, so I'm wrestling with whether I
should quit my job (to reduce my exposure to the copiers and
computers) and lose my medical coverage.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Denise Cuevas

Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: msmith@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Michael A Smith)
Subject: LIFE EXPECTANCy
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 02:12:23 GMT

A Minnesota native recently told me that her state had the highest
life expectancy.  I doubted this.  She couldn't find information to
back up her claim.  I would think that a warm climate such as ARIZONA,
TEXAS, or HAWAII would have the longest L.E.'s.  She disagrees and
states that cold weather increases L.E.

Does anybody have an opinion? Or facts to help settle an arguement.

MAS
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: dkeisen@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dave Eisen)
Subject: Re: Juicers
Organization: Sequoia Peripherals, Inc.
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 18:54:33 GMT

In article <1993Jan7.153825.16917@pegasus.com> richard@pegasus.com (Richard Foulk) writes:

>Inexpensive blenders start at less than $20 and do a better job of
>utilizing most fruits and vegetables.  And they don't promote the
>wasting of their fiber.

But "wasting" of the fiber is the point. Fiber is certainly 
a very important part of the diet, but one doesn't want to
have fiber when drinking juices. Vegetable juices have the
most effect when the body isn't busy digesting something
else, in particular, when the body isn't busy digesting the
fiber that the vegetables naturally have.



-- 
Dave Eisen                               Sequoia Peripherals: (415) 967-5644
dkeisen@leland.Stanford.EDU              Home:                (415) 321-5154
       There's something in my library to offend everybody. 
          --- Washington Coalition Against Censorship
From: rkaren@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (robert.karen)
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
Subject: Juicers
Date: 4 Jan 93 19:29:31 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T


I hope that I'm in the right group for this. I'm not a subscriber.

I am interested in buying a juice maker and I have no idea what to
look for. I see prices ranging from $39 to the sky is the limit. The 
only feature that I know I want is that it should be easy to clean.
Can anybody give me some simple guidelines or refer me to any publication
similar to Consumer Reports. Please email to rkaren\@hlwpw.att.com.

Thank you so much for any responses!

Robert Karen
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: zxmkr08@studserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de (Cornelius Krasel)
Subject: Re: homeopathy
Organization: Comp. Center (ZDV) U of Tuebingen, FRG
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 10:31:47 GMT

In <1ihpi2INNi31@duca.hi.com> wright@duca.hi.com (David Wright) writes:

>In article <1hdblpINNhgg@charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu> fish@ecst.csuchico.edu (Kevin Haddock) writes:
>>In article <BSIMON.92Dec23141255@elvis.stsci.edu> bsimon@elvis.stsci.edu (Bernie Simon) writes:
>>>
>>>   Yes. Its called avagodro's (sp?) number :-)
>>>
>>
>>One other thing: Doesn't Avagdro's number have to do with the number
>>of molecules of gas in a liter? 

>No, it's just a specific number of molecules, period (~ 6*10^23).  Any
>decent dictionary or intro chemistry book could supply you with this
>information. 

In fact, Avogadro's number HAS something to do with the number of molecules
in a defined volume of gas: for an "ideal" gas, there are 6*10^23 molecules
(that is, one Mol) in 22.4 l volume.

What Avogadro^s number states, is the number of molecules in a Mol of
substance. A mol of water are 18 g, a mol of glucose are 160 g; both contain
6*10^23 molecules of water and glucose, respectively.

In a D30 dilution (which means that the original substance is diluted
1:10^30, which is rather common in homeopathy) the probability that
a sample of 1.5 ml will contain no molecule at all is rather high.
Homeopaths work with dilutions up to D200.

This is the reason why it is claimed that homeopathic drugs (? probably
not the right word) do not work through the original substance, but
by some "energetic imprint" on the solute molecules. Frankly, I do
not understand the physical principles of this assumption.

--
/* Cornelius Krasel, Department of Physiological Chemistry, U Tuebingen    */ 
/* email: krasel@studserv.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de (Internet)   HAS CHANGED!!  */
/*        NO WIN/X400 MAIL POSSIBLE AT THE MOMENT!                         */
/* "People are DNA's way of making more DNA." (R. Dawkins / anonymous)     */
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer)
Subject: Re: Vitamins
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 18:22:27 GMT

In article <BSIMON.93Jan7113101@elvis.stsci.edu> bsimon@stsci.edu (Bernie Simon) writes:
>If you are a smoker, I would suggest taking 2 grams of Vitamin C a
>day. I would also suggest taking 25000 I.U. of Vitamin A in the form
>of beta carotene every day, as it has been shown to help prevent lung
>cancer. 

I think this is too strong a statement, though I suspect it can't hurt
anything in this guy's situation.  On somewhat of the same tangent-- not
exactly the same, yesterday's New England Journal of Medicine had a study of
the effects of beta-carotene versus low-dose isotretinoin (Accutane) on
the progression of leukoplakia, a precancerous condition of the oral
mucosa, to outright cancer.  Beta-carotene did not do very well, though
there wasn't a placebo group, so it's hard to assess its utility versus
doing nothing.  Isotretinoin, a vitamin A analogue, was highly effective.

-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: phoffman@orac.holonet.net (Paul E. Hoffman)
Subject: Re: *** Medical Advise Needed ***
Organization: HoloNet National Internet Access BBS: 510-704-1058/modem
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 01:35:29 GMT

statz@uumeme.chi.il.us (Louis B. Del Boccio) writes:
>She needs to know " How to un-clog and restore an artery located
>below the Knee.......OPEN TO ANY-METHOD !!!  A.S.A.P.

Thare are probably lots of non-conventional methods to do this. Be
forewarned, however, that if the method(s) chosen fail, she could be
in a life-threatening situation. I ***strongly*** suggest that she
carefully evaluate what she believes in and doesn't believe in and
choose based on her conclusion, not out of desperation. Many
non-conventional methods require a great deal of belief and faith,
and she may not be clear-headed enough (due to the stress of some
conventional doctors telling her that they want to cut off her
leg) to make a sound decision.

Good luck to her.
-- 
||  Why quote someone else?  ||
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer)
Subject: Re: re. anti-oxidants
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 06:36:18 GMT

In article <1993Jan6.190814.19561@Csli.Stanford.EDU> pedwards@csli.stanford.edu (Paul N Edwards) writes:
>One prescription-drug antioxidant is Hydergine, also well known as
>a "smart" drug. Among other effects it improves oxygen metabolism in
>the brain. In Europe it is given intravenously during operations
>in which heavy blood loss is possible - a person without Hydergine
>will die in less than 5 minutes if blood flow to the brain stops,
>while one with Hydergine can survive for 30 minutes!

Snort.  This is nonsense.

>Hydergine is also extremely safe, with no known toxic dose. It's the
>5th most prescribed drug in the world (often for old people, for
>whom it's thought to improve memory).

The drug is very popular in Europe, more so than in the US, though
it isn't ignored here to the extent it should be.  Controlled studies
of the cognitive effects of Hydergine have shown that, if anything,
its use in the elderly leads to neurological declines.

-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
From: traub@rtf.bt.co.uk (Michael Traub)
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
Subject: Re: Crystalline vitamin C - caveats
Date: 11 Jan 93 10:09:15 GMT
Organization: BT Customer Systems, Brighton, UK

In article <1993Jan10.062153.5332@netcom.com> kaminski@netcom.com (Peter Kaminski) writes:
>In article <1993Jan8.090050.10170@rtf.bt.co.uk>, traub@rtf.bt.co.uk
>(Michael Traub) writes:
>
>>The simple fact that you and I (and probably thousands of others) suffer
>>stomach discomfort from ascorbic acid is totally irrelevant. In fact this
>>whole newsgroup is totally irrelevant. None of the things discussed here
>>can possibly work. They fact they do is a mere abberation or placebo effect.
>
>I appreciate the irony, but I also appreciate Steve taking the time to
>post here.

I don't. "Snort" is not any sort of educated reply in my book.

>Constructive criticism and arguments are great, but please, let's
>leave the personal stuff out of it.

Sure, I'm still waiting for Mr Dyer to apologise for accusing my
father of malpractice in the "Vaccinations" thread.


-- 
Michael Traub
BT Customer Systems, Brighton Systems Centre. traub@btcs.bt.co.uk

    JOE, taxi driver: Unemployment will rise and sooner or later the
    masses will revolt against it. There'll be civil disorder and the
    further breakdown of civil society. The end result I hope will be
    the triumph of the people over capitalism. I also wouldn't mind
    if a few more people used taxis this year - '92 was rotten.

(Taken from "Hopes and Fears" in The Guardian, December 31st 1992, a
section which looked at what people saw 1993 bringing)
From: wright@duca.hi.com (David Wright)
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
Subject: Re: homeopathy
Date: 7 Jan 1993 12:33:54 -0000
Organization: Hitachi Computer Products, OSSD division
NNTP-Posting-Host: duca.hi.com

In article <1hdblpINNhgg@charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu> fish@ecst.csuchico.edu (Kevin Haddock) writes:
>In article <BSIMON.92Dec23141255@elvis.stsci.edu> bsimon@elvis.stsci.edu (Bernie Simon) writes:
>>
>>   Yes. Its called avagodro's (sp?) number :-)
>>
>
>One other thing: Doesn't Avagdro's number have to do with the number
>of molecules of gas in a liter? 

No, it's just a specific number of molecules, period (~ 6*10^23).  Any
decent dictionary or intro chemistry book could supply you with this
information. 

>What does this have to do with dilution
>in a liquid?  I't seems to me that if you take a 1000 units of matrix and
>1 unit of active ingredient you then out of the 1001 units you take one unit
>for your sample you have a pretty good chance of having some of the
>active ingredient in your sample don't you?

Yes, you do.  But homeopaths can and do use far heavier dilutions than
this, like 1 in 10,000,000,000 or more.

Some of you may recall the French researchers a few years ago who
claimed to have found that their matrix (water) seemed to have a
"memory" of the active ingredient even after being diluted to 1 part
in 10^11 or less.  Oddly, nobody else could repeat this effect and as
I recall, neither could they -- they withdrew the claim.

Oh, I suppose there *could* be some way in which the matrix "remembers"
the ingredient, but so far there's no convincing evidence that this
ever occurs.

  -- David Wright, Hitachi Computer Products (America), Inc.
     wright@hicomb.hi.com
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: bsimon@stsci.edu (Bernie Simon)
Subject: Re: homeopathy
Organization: None. This saves me from writing a disclaimer.
	<1992Dec29.183006.1832@netcom.com> <1hssu9INNgpt@rave.larc.nasa.gov>
	<1993Jan4.225950.16830@klaava.Helsinki.FI>
	<BSIMON.93Jan5075220@elvis.stsci.edu>
	<1993Jan6.234934.12548@klaava.Helsinki.FI>
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 12:56:01 GMT

Thanks for the follow up. In my opinion, no one form of medical
treatment is best in all cases and a wise doctor will know to refer
his or her patient to another practitioner when it is warrented.
--
Bernie Simon (bsimon@stsci.edu) -- Looking for a 90's answer to a 60's question
		

Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: richard@pegasus.com (Richard Foulk)
Subject: Re: Juicers
Organization: Pegasus,  Honolulu
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 15:38:25 GMT

>I hope that I'm in the right group for this. I'm not a subscriber.
>
>I am interested in buying a juice maker and I have no idea what to
>look for. I see prices ranging from $39 to the sky is the limit. The 
>only feature that I know I want is that it should be easy to clean.
>Can anybody give me some simple guidelines or refer me to any publication
>similar to Consumer Reports. Please email to rkaren\@hlwpw.att.com.
>

Inexpensive blenders start at less than $20 and do a better job of
utilizing most fruits and vegetables.  And they don't promote the
wasting of their fiber.


-- 
Richard Foulk		richard@pegasus.com
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer)
Subject: Re: Vaccinations?
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 06:53:28 GMT

In article <1993Jan6.203417.16953@netcom.com> kaminski@netcom.com (Peter Kaminski) writes:
>So a girl who is immunized during childhood probably won't contract it
>as a child, but may become susceptible again as an adult, and need a
>revaccination anyway.

This hasn't been shown to be a public health problem yet, though it is
certainly a concern.  Robust immunity persists for at least 16 years
after vaccination.

>An intermediate solution would be to administer blood tests to
>adolescent girls, and administer the vaccine to those without evidence
>of immunity.

There is some interest in doing just that.

>Rubella vaccine does have significant side effects associated with it
>as well, including arthritis and central nervous system disorders.

The incidence of its adverse reactions is extremely low.
In addition, the side effects do not include "arthritis".
Self-limited joint pain is not arthritis.

-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
From: wilkman@med.unc.edu (Alice Wilkman)
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
Subject: Re: FELDENKRAIS
Date: 7 Jan 93 04:08:06 GMT
Organization: UNC-CH School of Medicine

In article <aquilanm.725959184@argon> aquilanm@argon.gas.uug.arizona.edu (Mark T Aquilano ) writes:
>Over the past year I have begun to experiment with some of the excercises
>in Feldenkrais' "Awareness through Movement" and "The Potent Self."  I am 
>very interested in finding a teacher to work with, but don't know of any
>in the Tucson area.  I would really appreciate any leads anyone might have.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Mark Aquilano
>
>gas.uug.arizona.edu


The Feldenkrais Guild, 524 Ellsworth Ave, Albany, OR, 97321, USA
(phone (503) 926-0981) should be able to help you.  They have a listing of
accredited practioners as well as a number of books, articles and taped
lessons available.

If you haven't read "The Elusive Obivious" yet, I would recommend it.

Alice Wilkman
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: kaminski@netcom.com (Peter Kaminski)
Subject: Re: Bach Flower Remedies
Organization: The Information Deli - via Netcom / San Jose, California
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 17:11:19 GMT

In <1idf7kINNdq1@shelley.u.washington.edu> bulwinkl@stein.u.washington.edu
(In Cognito) writes:

>I haven't seen any discussion of Bach Flower Remedies yet in this
>newsgroup - perhaps from fear of the above-mentioned knee-jerk
>reactionaries!  ;-)

Discussion of Bach Flower remedies is entirely appropriate in this
newsgroup, whereas knee-jerk reactions are not.  Post away!

>A hot-shot buddhist monk has told me to do PSI research, and says that I
>should do this by meditating and utilyzing the latent powers of the mind.
>This is fine, but it is hard to use both mindsets at once.

I'll bet you can do the analytical mindset without thinking about it --
work on the meditation instead, and everything will fall into place.

>Any suggestions for tools (crutches!) that can facillitate moving
>from one mindset to another?

More meditation. :)  If the way you meditate now isn't serving you,
cast around foor a better way.  Eat clean, and live clean -- stay
away from food, chemicals, stimulants, etc. that aren't life-giving.

Good luck!

Pete
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: rodc@hawk.adied.oz.au (Rod Cheshire)
Subject: Re: One promising cure for hair loss
Organization: Australian Defence Industries
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 07:58:57 GMT

chandy@marais.inria.fr (Chandra SHEKHAR) writes:


>No, I haven't tried it yet. But McDougall, in his
>book "12 days to dynamic health" pushes veganism as
>a possible cure. He cites an authoritative-sounding
>reference (read "somebody please look this up for me").
>The author of this book (summarized by McDougall),
>based on experiments with and the experiences of
>Japanese men, concludes that baldness is primarily
>due to animal fats in the diet. (This seems convincing,
>since there are far more bald men in the West than
>in the East where less meat is eaten.)

>The cure: a vegan diet, regular shampooing, and
>regular application of an *oxidising* lotion to
>the scalp. The result: mild to moderate regrowth
>of hair in at least 30% of the cases studied.

>Reference:

>INABA, M. "Can human hair grow again?"
>J. Dermatology and Surgical Oncology
>12:672, 1986.

>I hope one of the medical types on the net who has
>access to this paper will post a summary for our
>benefit.


>Chandy


me thinks its probably the massaging of the scalp with all that shampooing  
that reduces the hair loss

signed

one nearly bald westerner

Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: pedwards@csli.stanford.edu (Paul N Edwards)
Subject: Re.- Vit C dosage; smoking
Organization: CSLI, Stanford University
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 16:15:14 GMT


>In article <1992Dec28.192240.14986@das.harvard.edu>,
>bochner@das.harvard.edu (Harry Bochner) wrote:
>> 

>> how much is too much when taking vit c daily?  can one od on vit C?
>im taking 500mg daily but perhaps as a fairly heavy smoker i should up
>this to 1000mg - any comments?

No amount of any kind of vitamins will protect you from the damage
you're doing to yourself with cigarettes.

But a lot of people recommend 5-10 grams a day of C. I've been taking
this much for about 18 months, along with a large- but not mega-dose
multi-vitamin and mineral supplement called All-1, and in that time
have been sick only once, despite living (for the first year of
that time) in a very dark, wet, cold place (upstate NY) and going through
severe stress (divorce, unemployment, moving).
Previous to using these supplements I normally got sick four to six
times a year, for a week or more at a time. I have _never_ been
healthier.

You might be able to OD on vitamin C, but you'd stop taking it
because of acid indigestion first. 5-10 grams a day shouldn't produce
any ill effects.

Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: rkaplan@netcom.com (Richard Kaplan)
Subject: Re: Analysis of Homeopathy Literature
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 16:56:42 GMT

In article <BSIMON.93Jan8072327@elvis.stsci.edu> bsimon@stsci.edu
 (Bernie Simon) writes:

>First, I'm not saying that the British Medical Journal study was
>entirely, enthusiastically positive. It is, however, generally positive
>towards homeopathy and it is the best summary of the evidence in an

To say it is generally positive is being generous, IMHO.
Moreover, if this is the best, most positive review to date
then one should fairly conclude that homeopathy belongs
in the realm of research currently and does not merit 
recognition yet as an established, tested alternative
treatment.  

One marginally positive publication, balanced with many negative
publications, does not add up to a legitimate basis
for treatment.
      
>Certainly it is much safer than much of allopathic 
>medicine and in many cases I would think it advisable to try the
>safer form of treatment first and only go on to the riskier form of
>treatment if the safer form fails.

This is true only if one considers the natural history of
the disease and therefore the potential for harm due to
delay of treatment.  If delaying treatment is potentially
harmful, then homeopathy is inappropriate.  And 
appropriate evaluation/estimation of any given patient's
natural disease history requires that a diagnosis be made
based upon appropriate scientific/clinical information, something
that non-M.D./non-D.O. homeopaths are not licensed to do.

-- 
Richard Kaplan M.D.           Medical Software Exchange BBS
806 2nd St. SW # 104          (507) 281-1989 14,400 HST
Rochester, MN  55902          (507) 281-1689 Voice
PP-ASEL-IA     N4VRB          rkaplan@mayo.edu|netcom.netcom.com  
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative
From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer)
Subject: Re: homeopathy
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 18:02:23 GMT

In article <BSIMON.93Jan4072728@houyi.stsci.edu> bsimon@houyi.stsci.edu (Bernie Simon) writes:
>I would just like to note that many medical procedures, especially
>surgical procedures, cannot be tested by a double blind approach. Yet
>no one attacks these procedures as unscientific and unproven. If
>unblinded studies are acceptable in surgical procedures why aren't
>they acceptable in studies of alternative medicine?

First, there are many surgical procedures which have been shown
retrospectively to be ineffective or harmful, even if the surgeons
performing the surgery "anecdotally" felt that they helped.
You don't think that claims for new surgical interventions aren't
considered unproven initially?

Blind trials aren't the only scientific control; in fields like surgery
you can look at rates of mortality, morbidity and objective improvement
post surgery versus rates seen after other therapies.  But those treatments
which lend themselves to double blind studies, such as the use of some kind
of medicament, are far easier to evaluate.

-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative,sci.med.nutrition