HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: kudzu@netcom.com (Michael Sierchio)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: SHINGLES
Date: 5 Oct 92 21:25:53 GMT
Organization: True Love, and Home-Grown Tomatoes

In article <91704@netnews.upenn.edu> 
	white@cattell.psych.upenn.edu (Janet White) writes:

>- what would perpetrate a severe and specific shingles attack on an
>	otherwise healthy person so suddenly?

Stress... emotional, sunlight exposure, caffeine overdose, etc.

>- could there possibly be any connection between the taking of an
>	antidepressant (Pamelar, 3 1/2 months so far with good results)

Ah, I would consider the underlying depression to be a more likely cause...

>- is this contagious? If one is recovering from shingles, could it
>	still be passed on to others by physical contact?

Chicken pox is contagious -- the particular manifestation of herpes
zoster charecterized by vesicular eruptions is not.

>- is it recommended that one have their eyes (esp. corneas)
>	checked frequently after one has eye shingles affecting
>	the eyes? Is there a distinct possibility of corneal damage?

I believe that ocular and brain herpes are caused by HSV I -- Dr. Banks?

-- 
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Michael Sierchio                          1563 Solano Avenue, Suite 123 |
|  kudzu@netcom.com                                Berkeley, CA 94707-2116 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: "Problem Patient"
Date: 4 Oct 92 14:02:37 GMT
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <1992Oct1.235834.19874@athena.cs.uga.edu> mcovingt@aisun3.ai.uga.edu (Michael Covington) writes:
>In article <16692@pitt.UUCP> geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks) writes:
>
>>This is really minor compared to say, a patient who has
>>pseudoseizures (phoney seizures that mimic epilepsy).
>
>Phoney seizures?
>
>Sounds like a story worth telling...
>
Pseudoseizures are one of the most common hysterical manifestations.
In our center, I would suppose about 10% of patients referred for
epilepsy have them.  Obviously, in primary practice it wouldn't be
this high as only cases not controlled on meds are usually referred.
The real problem comes when the patient with pseudoseizures also
has epilepsy (about 25% of pseudoseizure patients do, I think).
Then the problem becomes telling when the patient's true seizures
are controlled.  Epileptics are also somewhat better at mimicing
real seizures.  The problem usually arises in childhood when
having a seizure gets the child favored treatment or gets them
out of doing something. They learn quickly.  There are several
tricks for telling them from real seizures (not as easy as you
might think, since some real seizures can look fake).  If you
can trick the patient into having one while hooked up to the EEG,
you can definitively make the diagnosis.  Since most hysterics are
children or unsophisticated adults, this can be done often, if
you have the skill.  Injections with a substance the patient is
told will cause a seizure (actually saline) often provokes one.
The patient is told there is an antidote in another syringe (more
saline) which will stop the seizure.  If the first syringe provokes
the seizure, the second one almost always stops it.  Hysterics are
very suggestible, which is fortunate, since they can be treated
best by suggesting that whatever therapy you use will work.
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "I have given you an argument; I am not obliged
geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu   |  to supply you with an understanding." -S.Johnson
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: soula@vifp.monash.edu.au (Stella Rowan)
Subject: Frequency Problem????
Originator: news@brain
Reply-To: soula@vifp.monash.edu.au
Organization: Victorian Institute of Forensic Pathology, Australia
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 01:34:22 GMT

A friend of my mothers who is very overweight and prone to stress has
an offensive odour.  She is in her early 40's and lives alone.  She often binges on food.  
Sometimes the smell is really strong like ammonia.  She visits the toilet very frequently within a short time span.  I used 
to work at a psychiatric hospital and some of the patients
who were on large doses of antipsychotic drugs had a similar smell.
When she is stressed  the smell can be overpowering.  About five years ago
she is rumoured to have had a nervous breakdown.

Can anyone please try and identify her problem.  Due to her
sensitive nature noone dares approach her about her problem.

Please send email to: soula@vifp.monash.edu.au


---
From: km@cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Journal Question
Date: 28 Sep 92 13:29:01 GMT
Reply-To: km@cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum)
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <1992Sep25.055104.21859@techbook.com> kim@techbook.com (Kim Larsen) writes:

>Naive question: How do these articles get into medical journals if they're
>junk?  Isn't there some sort of editorial screening?

It's called "publish or perish" and the editors play along. As long
as a study is technically okay it will get published somewhere.


Also, because of the nature of the field, you will find more
retrospective studies and studies that have methodological problems
in medicine than, say, in physics. 


-km
From: cam@castle.ed.ac.uk (Chris Malcolm)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Excess Of Vitamin C?
Date: 1 Oct 92 02:23:29 GMT
Organization: Edinburgh University

In article <BvEIG7.KE4@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) writes:
>In article <16642@pitt.UUCP> geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks) writes:
>>In article <4283.466.uupcb@wugate.wustl.edu> carl.camurca%travel@wugate.wustl.edu (Carl Camurca) writes:

>>When Pauling's book on vitamin C came out, he recommended 1 gram
>>per day.

>>18 grams is so absurd, it is ridiculous.  There is no
>>way we could have evolved to require such high doses.  His urine
>>must corrode his commode something awful.

>Our distant ancestors managed to survive without the ability to make
>this simple substance out of glucose.

Our distant ancestors ate an awful lot of fresh wild fruit, which
typically is much higher in C content than cultivated shop-shelf
fruit. I wouldn't be surprised if their diet contained 10 or more
grams of vit C a day.
-- 
Chris Malcolm    cam@uk.ac.ed.aifh          +44 (0)31 650 3085
Department of Artificial Intelligence,    Edinburgh University
5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK                DoD #205
Newsgroups: sci.med,alt.folklore.urban
From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: Self Castration (was Re: "Problem Patient")
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Distribution: usa,au
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 19:22:36 GMT

demaine@ee.ualberta.ca (Cal Demaine) writes:
: 
:  - Cal "And then there was the guy who flew his plane in through his ex-
: 	girlfriend's front door!" Demaine

Did he stay, or was he just passing through.

Bill "Ta, ta! Gotta fly!" Nelson
From: collene@unisql.UUCP (Collene Pearce)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Patients rights to med. records - long
Date: 5 Oct 92 22:38:38 GMT
Reply-To: collene@unisql.UUCP (Collene Pearce)
Organization: UniSQL, Inc., Austin, Texas, USA

In article <16760@pitt.UUCP> geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks) writes:
>In article <3855@unisql.UUCP> collene@unisql.UUCP (Collene Pearce) writes:
>
>>learn the proper method to request your records.  ;-)  Technically, you 
>>should be able to ask for your records, over the phone and have them sent
>>where ever you want, but that doesn't always work.
>>
>"Hi, I'm Collene Pearce, please send a copy of my medical records
>to Telemarketers, Inc."
>
>Do you really want that to be able to happen?  Use your noodle!

Do you honestly think that these people wouldn't know my voice?  Do you 
honestly think that there wouldn't have been enough personal exchange 
during the request that they wouldn't have been able to determine that 
it was me?  (I mean, after all, there can't be that many people who use
terms such as "slime", "jerk" and "scum" to refer to the doctor and his 
staff.  ;-) )  Oops!  I was just teasing.  I couldn't resist.  ;-)
I honestly never used those terms during those conversations.  I just
thought them.  ;-)

If the office staff isn't able to determine whether or not they are talking
with the real patient, then why do they routinely transfer the records to 
other doctors (after much argument), based on telephone requests?  Sorry, 
the argument just doesn't hold water.  

I agree, that if they ever have any doubts about the identity, they 
shouldn't have released the records. And even then, they should only send
them to the address they have on file for you.  However, IMHO, that is not
the real reason doctors refuse to release records.  It definitely isn't
to "protect" the patient.

In my opinion, doctors will not accept phone requests for records release
(to the patient, to be sent to home addresss), because they think that if 
they "make" them write and send a certified letter, that the patient will
think that is too much trouble and just drop it.  And, unfortunately, this
is often the case.  If you are running too low on serum to mess with the 
letter/additional stalling, often you will just go ahead and order the serum
from this doctor, planning to transfer the records before you need more.  
So, the doctor has lost a patient that he would have lost anyway, but at 
least he got that last $300 from them.   Also, if there is anything in 
your records that the doctor doesn't want you (or perhaps an attorney) to
see, then every little stumbling block that they can throw in your path,
just postpones the inevitible.

-- 

********************* #include <std_disclaimer.h> **********************
* A. Collene Pearce (512-343-7372, x114) * Organization: UniSQL, Inc.  *
*                                        * Austin, TX                  *
* unisql!collene@cs.utexas.edu           * 512-343-7297 or 7383(fax)   *
************************************************************************
Xref: sparky sci.med:18117 sci.bio:3414
From: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.bio
Subject: Re: Eliminating the need to sleep?
Date: 29 Sep 92 16:45:11 GMT
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Followup-To: sci.med
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <dyfl.717299453@munagin> dyfl@mullian.ee.mu.OZ.AU (Daniel Y Lam) writes:
>It occurred to me that sleep is a terrible waste of time for human
>beings.  We could work and play so much more if we could reduce our
>need to spend 1/3 of our lives doing nothing.
>
>Is there research going on into technologies (drugs, surgery,
>meditation, whatever) which drastically reduce or eliminate the need
>for sleep?  I heard that there are people who live perfectly well
>without sleep.  How does that work?  And will all of us be able to do
>that some day?
>

I am not aware of anyone who lives without sleep.  Whether it could
be eliminated is an interesting question.  It appears to be 
essential, so what is done during sleep would have to be done
some other way.  Since all higher animals sleep, we can assume
that there is some pretty strong biological reason for it, although
that reason is not clearly understood at this time.  I did
see one experiment where rats were put into a slowly turning cage
that prevented them from sleeping.  After a few desparate weeks,
they stopped trying to sleep and no longer slept after being removed
from the cage.  There was no EEG study to see if they slept inapparently,
however.  They didn't die and a year later were larger and fatter
than the normal rats, possibly because they were up eating when the
others were asleep.  

Certainly most people can get by on less than they are used to.
Many surgeons are so sleep deprived in residency that they learn
to get by on much less than one would think you need.  One of
my colleagues hasn't slept more than 4 hours per night in years.
It certainly has allowed him to get more done.  I cut down from
8 hours to about 6.5 hours without any trouble at all.  I have
made no attempt to cut it further, but I am thinking about it.
Other people claim to be totally unable to cut below 8 hours
without feeling bad.  You may want to try cutting your sleep
down by 15 min by setting your alarm earlier or going to be
later, whichever is easier for you.  Do that about 15 min/month
until you find yourself dozing off in the daytime a lot.

One of the problems I have found with insomniac patients is
that they worry too much about their sleep.  I advise them
to just get up and read or do something else and not lie there
saying "oh dear, oh dear, whatever will I do, I can't sleep".
Far too many doctors reach for the Rx pad when someone says
they can't sleep and often this causes mischief in the end.
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "I have given you an argument; I am not obliged
geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu   |  to supply you with an understanding." -S.Johnson
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: low thyroid levels, but not hypothyroid
From: RGINZBERG@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Ruth Ginzberg)
Date: 1 Oct 92 18:31:44 EDT
 <1992Sep29.202915.291@news.wesleyan.edu> <1992Sep30.090640.17413@newstand.syr.edu>
Distribution: world
Organization: Philosophy Dept., Wesleyan University
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.20In-Reply-To: mdkline@rodan.acs.syr.edu's message of Wed, 30 Sep 92 09:06:39 EDTLines: 23

In <1992Sep30.090640.17413@newstand.syr.edu> mdkline@rodan.acs.syr.edu writes:

> In article <1992Sep29.202915.291@news.wesleyan.edu> RGINZBERG@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Ruth Ginzberg) writes:
> >
> >there are some MDs (who do not have much respect or data to back them,
> >apparently) who treat "subclinical hypothyroid",  i.e., they give pts thyroid
> >pills even if their TSH levels are within normal limits.  i believe they are
> >generally considered to be "quacks" my most endocrinologists.  i forget what
> >the allegedly supporting reasoning behind this is...
> 
> quack quack...
> 
> Some psychiatrists prescribe thyroid hormone to augment the effect of
> antidepressant medication when depressed patients fail to respond to
	[omitted]

Those aren't the quacks i meant.  The quacks i mean are those whose names &
addresses are listed in the backs of books on "secret remedies" as
"Physicians who acknowledge & treat subclinical hypothyroidism."

------------------------
Ruth Ginzberg <rginzberg@eagle.wesleyan.edu>
Philosophy Department;Wesleyan University;USA
From: collene@unisql.UUCP (Collene Pearce)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Another brain/aluminium question.
Date: 2 Oct 92 19:42:02 GMT
Reply-To: collene@unisql.UUCP (Collene Pearce)
Organization: UniSQL, Inc., Austin, Texas, USA

In article <1992Oct1.232710.28696@newshub.ccs.yorku.ca> tony@nexus.yorku.ca (Anthony Wallis) writes:
>
>...states some italians cook tomatoe paste in Al pots...wonders if this
>contributes to Alzheimer's....
>
>Or are we all eating aluminium-laced tomato paste anyway ?

Perhaps I am being naive, but I always thought the tomatoe paste/spaghetti
sauce we buy at the grocery store (Ragu, Hunts, whatever) was cooked in
giant stainless steel vats.  I thought that most food processing plants
preferred stainless steel because of some type of "health laws", and the
difficulty of maintaining cleanliness with Al and certain other metals.


-- 

********************* #include <std_disclaimer.h> **********************
* A. Collene Pearce (512-343-7372, x114) * Organization: UniSQL, Inc.  *
*                                        * Austin, TX                  *
* unisql!collene@cs.utexas.edu           * 512-343-7297 or 7383(fax)   *
************************************************************************
From: val@swamps.UUCP (Val Christian)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Med Supply - Mail Order?
Date: 26 Sep 92 13:58:22 GMT
Reply-To: val@swamps.UUCP (Val Christian)
Distribution: world
Organization: Swamp Systems

I'm trying to locate an otoscope for checking my kids ears.  The local
supply house has a high quality one which is in the $150 range, and would
be great if I were in a practice where I needed such an instrument (to 
last for 40 years).   

Does anyone have a recommendation either for a specific instrument, or
for a mail-order medical supply house, which they can pass on?

Val Christian
(h) ...uunet!sisd!kodak!swamps!val
(w) val@kodak.com

Xref: sparky sci.med:18491 sci.med.nutrition:763
From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.med.nutrition
Subject: Re: Homeopathy
Date: 5 Oct 92 17:16:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: spdcc.1992Oct5.171627.19783
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA

In article <1992Oct5.161004.18285@porthos.cc.bellcore.com> jil@donuts0.uucp (Jamie Lubin) writes:
>Don't know much about homeopathy (sounds like "Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke
>&/or Herman's Hermits), but liked this letter to the editor in last Sunday's
>N.Y. Times magazine section (10/4):

It was pretty damn depressing.  It also doesn't do much for the traditional
opinion most physicians reserve for psychiatrists.  Usually, it's unjustified,
but not in this case.

	Critics have argued that homeopathy cannot be taken seriously because
	there is no known "mechanism" by which its remedies can work: i.e., it
	doesn't work because it cant ("Take a Little Deadly Nightshade and
	You'll Feel Better," by James Gorman, Aug. 30).  This is a rather
	unscientific argument for those who claim to be schooled in the ways of
	science, especially since the exact mechanisms of action of a large
	variety of conventional drugs are unknown, including those of aspirin
	and steroids.

	Richard J. Weintraub, M.D.
	Director of Psychiatry,
	Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
	Boston

Not only is this just plain ignorant (the mechanisms of action of drugs like
aspirin and steroids are very well known and more is known about them each
day), but it also flouts the fact that when a substance is diluted below
Avogadro's limit, there is no drug left in what is administered, and by
the standards of homeopathy, such a preparation is even MORE potent than the
weaker dilutions.  Sorry, ridiculous assertions like this require evidence.

Which gets us to the second point.  The reason homeopathy is dismissed as the
pseudo-scientific gibberish that it deserves to be is NOT ONLY that its
proponents propose mechanism of actions of drugs which are completely contrary
to our experience in general (i.e., less is more), and that dilution isn't
sufficient (the substance has to be shaken--succussed--at each dilution point,
whatever THIS does), but when these preparations are used to treat diseases
in controlled studies, they (surprise!) are no more effective than a placebo.

>As an aside, I remember a nutritionist (possibly Carlton Fredricks, Ph. D.)
>who wondered if people thought that their headaches &/or arthritis were due
>to a lack of aspirin in their system :-)

Boy, Jamie, that's a real knee slapper.  Well, I encourage you to spend some
more of your money on this homeopathy stuff.  Maybe it'll stimulate the
economy wherever you are.

There's a sucker born every minute.

-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
From: loftis@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Kirk Loftis)
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1992 19:49:51 GMT
Subject: Re: Eliminating the need to sleep?
Organization: the HP Corporate notes server
Newsgroups: sci.med

I have known several people that only require 4 hours of sleep a night.
That is all their bodies require.  Unfortuantely, mine require a little
over 9 (I mostly get about 7 and feel tired because of it).  I wish that
I could get by on less sleep, but I can not.  We all can stay up for an
overnight occassionaly, but not the 4 hours a night year after a year.  

Those people who need less sleep, I have found, have a hard time finding
things to do.  They end up watching TV, taking long walks.  I guess they are
able to accomplish everything and have plenty of time.  Can you imagine
the problem of being awake while everyone else is a sleep.  Most things
are shut down.  It might not be that great.......

Just some thoughts....
From: russ@wpg.com (Russell Lawrence)
Subject: Re: Arrogance, arthritis, & Banks
Organization: WP Group
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 20:00:31 GMT

In article <Bv3sFp.Hqs@wpg.com> russ@wpg.com (Russell Lawrence) writes:
rl> expertise or even personal interest.  In such cases, it's 
rl> unlikely that they're going to have much success in convincing a 
rl> person who's allegedly misinformed unless they take the time to 
rl> present ample details along with suitable references.  

From article <16615@pitt.UUCP>, by geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks):
gb> They may not convince the original poster, but regular readers
gb> form opinions about who is sensible on what topics and who is
gb> riding a hobby horse.  They may well convince a large number
gb> of people without spending hours in the library dredging up
gb> references.  

In other words, they'll learn that it's wrong because you say it 
is.   Are your pronouncements a reasonable substitute for verifiable
information?

-- 
Russell Lawrence, WP Group, New Orleans (504) 443-5000
russ@wpg.com   uunet!wpg!russ
From: b5249-23@mathcs.sjsu.edu (Kurt Stocklmeir)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: cancer
Date: 30 Sep 92 22:42:11 GMT
Organization: San Jose State University - Math/CS Dept.


    A photoactive dye called haematoporphyrin is used in photoradiation.
Photoradiation is a method used to kill cancer cells.  This dye is absorbed by
almost all cells.  But cancer cells keep this dye in them for a much
longer time as compared to normal cells.  After this dye has left
the normal cells, and while it is still in cancer cells, red light
is used to put it into an excited state.  The dye goes into an
excited state, and transfers energy to oxygen molecules.  The oxygen
molecules then go into an excited state and kill the cell they are
in.  The problem with this method is that red light will go through
only about 1/3 in. of a person.
    Red light has an energy of about 1.8 ev.  Because a molecule is
photoactive, does not mean there are not other methods to put it in an excited
state.  For example, collisions with other particles can cause a molecule to
go into an excited state.  This method and others could maybe excite
haematoporphyrin in all parts of a body.
    Since people are mostly made of water, many molecules are in a
form of ions.  Positive ions and protons tend to be around the cell wall on
the inside of cells.  Most of the positive ions are K+.  Negative ions are
on the outside of the cell wall.  Theories state that cancer cells
may have a larger negative charge on the outside of cell walls as
compared to normal cells and because of this there is an imbalance
between forces of negative charges and forces associated with
molecules.  This maybe is why cancer cells can move to different
parts of a body.
    Charged particles can be accelerated using electric fields.  I
am not saying the following can be done, but I am saying it maybe
can be done.  Alternating electric fields can accelerate charged
particles in cells and outside of cells.  As the charged particles
are accelerated, they will have various amounts of kinetic energy.
Some of the particles could maybe have about 1.8 ev of kinetic energy while
most will not.  If that is true, then those particles with 1.8 ev
can collide with molecules of haematoporphyrin and excite them.
If a reasonable amount of this dye is excite in a cell, the cell
will then be killed.  Even if this happened only a small amount
of the time, this method could be used to kill cancer cells.
In my opinion, it would be better if the above only happened a
small amount of the time, since killing all cancer cells in a person
at 1 time could kill the person.
    If anybody has any suggestions about this method or would
like to experimentally try this method and would like my suggestions,
please send mail.
Newsgroups: sci.med