HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Doctors' credentials
Date: 28 Sep 92 15:32:20 GMT
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <1992Sep24.071231.5289@techbook.com> kim@techbook.com (Kim Larsen) writes:
>
>Is requesting an interview really unresasonable? It seems to be standard advice 
>in parenting magazines; I interviewed a couple of family practitioners  
>I was expecting my daughter and was glad I did:  I found a great doc.
>
>It's difficult to tell how well one will get along with *any* person without
>some kind of face-to-face meeting. Especially important when looking for
>the person to treat your family, I'd think.
>
Actually, interviewing as a practice is a wonderful idea.  And it could
work both ways.  I've gotten some patients that I would never have 
accepted had I been able to have an interview with them first.  How
would you finance it?  Maybe the patient should pay for the time
on a prorated basis with the bill cancelled if the doctor refuses
to take them on as a patient.  Would that be fair?
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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: kpc@pluto.arc.nasa.gov (k p c)
Subject: Re: FDA
Reply-To: kpc@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center AI Research Branch; Sterling.
	<KPC.92Oct3172202@zog.arc.nasa.gov> <16769@pitt.UUCP>
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 21:22:57 GMT

In article <16769@pitt.UUCP> geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks) writes:

   What states have such a law?  I've had no trouble having my PA
   scripts filled in Ohio and WV.

ca.

   You may need another doctor then.  I don't charge my patients
   to call in refills, and don't think most doctors do.

that's encouraging if it's true.  but i didn't only mention refills.
sometimes, to give a motivating example, one needs a drug every few
years or so for a condition.  there really are many cases where there
is absolutely no added medical value of having the patient into the
office.  it might not seem that way to a doctor whose patients trust
him like a god, but they exist, and the laws don't recognize that....

and many doctors do require an office visit even for (benign) refills.
maybe it's just a california thing.  i hope so.
From: doyle+@pitt.edu (Howard R Doyle)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: "Problem Patient"
Date: 3 Oct 92 21:38:17 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Pittsburg Transplant Institute

In article <1992Oct3.135230.27052@genie.slhs.udel.edu> nancy@genie.slhs.udel.edu (Nancy Lebovitz) writes:

>
>How do you tell the difference between someone with Munchausen's and
>someone with a problem you don't know how to diagnose? (I'll take your
>word for it that Munchausen's exists, but I've also heard too many
>horror stories from people who got told their real diseases were
>delusional.)
>

I don't think I have personally come across anyone with Munchausen's,
although I sometimes wonder if any of the normal appendices I have
taken out in the past belonged to someone that was just pulling my leg.

However, when folks get labelled with that name there is usually pretty
good evidence. There have been a couple of cases that made it to the CPC
on the New England Journal of Medicine (probably more, but I don't read
the CPC very often anymore). One of these patients showed up at the ER
complaining of pain in his arm. An X-ray showed air in the subcutaneous
tissues. Now, gas in the subcutaneous tissues is heavy duty stuff. It means
the leg, or the arm, or whatever has to come off. Or at the very least
cut pretty wide open. The doctors seeing him didn't buy it simply because 
he looked to good to have gas gangrene. It turns out he had had something
very similar before, and was treated at a different hospital, where no 
operation was performed. If I recall correctly they either found an empty
syringe on him or he just finally admitted to having injected air into his
arm. Another case involved a young woman who spent a lot of time in the
hospital being worked up for relapsing fevers and repeated positive blood
cultures. The bugs isolated from the blood were all typical mouth flora, and
after about a month at Mass General and having had every test known to man
they still weren't able to come up with a diagnosis. That is until one 
morning when an orderly came in very early and whisked her off to have a 
surprise X-ray of some kind. While she was gone her room was carefully
searched, and several insulin syringes were found. When confronted with
this she finally told her physicians she had been injecting saliva into her 
veins.

----------------------------
Howard Doyle
doyle+@pitt.edu
From: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Doctors' credentials
Date: 28 Sep 92 15:27:52 GMT
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <3058@voodoo.UUCP> das@voodoo.boeing.com (Deb Schwartz) writes:

>I don't understand this at all.  I would be very suspicious of doctors who
>refuse to have interviews with potential patients for any reason.

Well, it is so unusual a request that I expect most doctors might
refuse just because they were suspicious that this was going to
be a problem patient.  I also suspect that statistically it would
be a wise thing to do.
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: km@cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Voltaren
Date: 28 Sep 92 00:59:24 GMT
Reply-To: km@cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum)
Distribution: na
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <66548@cup.portal.com> amigan@cup.portal.com (R Michael Medwid) writes:
>No..read the package insert of Voltaren.  Three indications only.  I'm
>certain it's used for many things other than RA, OA and AS..in fact it's
>indicated for all kinds of other things in other countries.  But in the
>US, the FDA approved only those I mentioned.  

The package insert is meaningless. Read the AHFS book, or any common
medical textbook. This is just another NSAID. Are aspirin tablets
indicated only for three diseases?

 -km
From: amigan@cup.portal.com (R Michael Medwid)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Voltaren
Date: Thu,  1 Oct 92 16:39:32 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: na
  <1992Sep29.232122.0751076@locus.com>

The question of whether the FDA regulates too much or not enough is a 
good one.  I would answer they do both.  

In one case Syntex made claims about its NSAID, Naprosyn, that it could
actually reverse the progression of rheumatoid arthritis.  (NSAIDs only
reduce pain and inflammation..nothing to date reverses the disease). When
caught their penalty was to write a "Dear Doctor" letter to all their docs
and say "I'm sorry, we were misleading" in claiming that their NSAID could
reverse the progression of RA.  Not much of a penalty..perhaps a few lost
prescriptions.  

A friend of mine asked why the FDA requires a prescription for nicotine
patches when cigarettes can be bought over the counter.  A 21mg patch 
delivers about half the nicotine received from pack of cigarettes only
without the tars, carbon monoxide etc..  Australia will be allowing the
patches to be sold over-the-counter.  Anyhow this seemed like a clear 
example of over-regulation.  

I doubt that if a company were just introducing aspirin today as the latest
greatest NSAID that the FDA would approve it because of its GI side
effects.
From: pburch@roc.mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu (Paula Burch)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: women in science
Date: 5 Oct 1992 21:51:56 GMT
Organization: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tx
Distribution: world
Reply-To: pburch@bcm.tmc.edu (Paula Burch)
NNTP-Posting-Host: roc.mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu
Originator: pburch@roc.mbcr.bcm.tmc.edu


In article <1992Oct1.173148.12272@genie.slhs.udel.edu>, nancy@genie.slhs.udel.edu (Nancy Lebovitz) writes:
|> I haven't run into this personally, but I've heard women saying that
|> they were encouraged (if they insisted on studying science) to study
|> biology rather than math or physics. I assume that the premise was
|> that women ought to at least work with living things even if they
|> weren't taking care of people.

I think it's because of the mistaken assumptions that (1) women 
can't do math and (2) biology doesn't require math.

I always found that my math background made biology much easier
for me than it was for my less mathematically-inclined colleagues.
It seems that many of them chose biology specifically because 
of their fear of math, only to find that there was much use
made of math anyway.

Paula Burch
pburch@bcm.tmc.edu
From: kattan@Rosie.UH.EDU (Mike Kattan)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Ocular Migraines
Date: 2 Oct 92 23:04:34 GMT
Reply-To: kattan@Rosie.UH.EDU
Organization: University of Houston

I remember a few people (several months ago) talking about their ocular
migraines.  Could someone who has had them or knows about them tell me what
they're like?  I think I have had a couple lately.  

___________________________________________________________________________
Mike Kattan                       | Internet: kattan@jetson.uh.edu         
Decision and Information Sciences | Bitnet:   kattan@uhupvm1  kattan@jetson
University of Houston             | Phone:    (713) 743-4734  
Houston, TX  77204-6282           | Fax:            743-4693
===========================================================================
From: lindae@netcom.com
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Sinus Headaches
Date: 5 Oct 92 04:58:04 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

In article <16753@pitt.UUCP> geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks) writes:
>In article <1992Oct01.145646.14967@eng.umd.edu> georgec@eng.umd.edu (George B. Clark) writes:
>>
>>How did your doctor determine your headaches were migraine and not sinus?
>>
>>I get headaches, around my eyes. The pain alternates from one eye to the
>>other, but usually not both eyes at the same time. I suspect it's
>>related to the sinuses that are behind the eyes. Sometimes it is
>>accompanied with nausea. I lived with it all my life.
>>
>>Can change in barometric pressure cause a sinus headache? I seem to
>>get headaches when it rains.
>
>Sinus headache is one of the most frequent misdiagnoses we see.
>The vast majority of severe headaches are migraine.  Nausea as
>an accompaniment is another tip-off that it isn't sinus.  Sinus
>pain is usually sharp and is often a pressure sensation.  Tapping
>on the sinuses should greatly exacerbate the pain.  X-rays should
>show fluid in the sinuses.  Rapid changes in pressure can cause
>sinus pain, as you would know if you have flown in a plane with
>plugged sinuses (like with a cold or hay fever).  I'd say that
>probably almost half the migraines I see have a relative who
>was being treated as a sinus headache (migraines are hereditary).
>Often getting these people off the sinutabs and onto migraine medication
>makes them very happy indeed.  See a neurologist.
>-- 

Gordon,

I'm a little confused about this whole sinus vs. migraine issue.  When
I get these headaches (which are often accompanied by nausea, by the way)
they seem to be relieved by pressing on the sides of my nose, just under
my eyes.  I thought that indicated that the pain was being caused by
sinuses.  If it were migraine, would pressing on those points relieve the
pain?  Also, here's a little more info.  The headaches generally start
out the way I've just described but then spread to an all over head pain.

My other question is this... if they are migraines, is it imperative to
be seen by a neurologist as you suggested?  Or is it something that I
can just live with as long as it's tolerable?  Is there a danger to
letting it go on untreated?

Thanks in advance for your response.
Linda
lindae@netcom.com
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: cease@carina.unm.edu (Cecilia De Blasi)
Subject: How many chromatids in a normal cell?
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 92 20:45:07 GMT
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

ACK!  There was a lecture this morning in my histology class that
confused the heck out of me; it seemed to contradict what I'd been 
taught in other classes previously...  Perhaps someone can help?
Here's the point of confusion:

The professor told us that a normal human cell *not* currently involved
in mitosis or meiosis contains 46 chromosomes, 23 from each parent, and
that each of these chromosomes contained 2 chromatids... so for example,
a given cell would contain 2 chromatids (connected at the centromere) of
chromosome 21 from Mom and 2 chromatids of chromosome 21 from Dad.

Am I incorrect in remembering that a cell usually has only *one* copy
of Dad's chromosomes and one copy of Mom's chromosomes, and that we do
not get two chromatids per chromosome until the DNA replication stage
just prior to mitosis or meiosis?  The professor told us that during 
this replication stage, we would actually have *four* chromatids per
chromosome, or eight copies of a given chromosome (four of Dad's
and four of Mom's).  I am having difficulty believing this.

Thanks for any clarification!  :)

- Cecilia De Blasi


-- 
| courtesy of Cease of the Not Well Defined at This Time |
|        cease@unmb.bitnet    cease@carina.unm.edu       |
|    We're only immortal for a limited time.  - Rush     |
**********************************************************
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: mdkline@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Mark D. Kline)
Subject: Re: Thyroid May Have Influenced Bush's Gulf War Decision
Organization: Syracuse University
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 92 15:57:55 EDT

In article <16598@pitt.UUCP> km@cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum) writes:
>>Desert Storm or Thyroid Storm?
>
>Definitely not "thyroid storm." That term is reserved for a
>particularly malignant type of hyperthyroidism that is a medical
>emergency. Bush certainly did not have that.
>
>However, the possiblity that the White House was not thinking real
>clearly at the time is suggested by some of the excerpts from
>Schwarzkopf's book. I have not read these, but only heard them
>on the radio. Schwarzkopf apparently claims to have been a force
>of restraint in the planning of the war, and had to fight against
>Powell and some of the White House people who wanted to go in like
>gang-busters. Whether they were reflecting the President's mind
>state or not is hard to tell, and we probably won't know for another
>twenty years.

Schwartzkopf's book made page 1 of the New York Times.  Its not clear
whether Powell was one of the hawks or only doing Bush's bidding..

Severe irritability and problematic aggressivity can be seen in
patients with hyperthyroidism at levels far below "thyroid storm."
Rarely, this can result in assaultive or self-mutilating behavior.  It
is very concievable to me that Bush could have been quicker to fight
when hyperthyroid than he might have been if he was euthyroid (thyroid
in normal range).


--
================================================================= 
mark kline                              mdkline@rodan.acs.syr.edu
suny health science center, syracuse    voice: (315) 422-1050
================ courtesy of syracuse university ================
From: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Doctors' credentials
Date: 4 Oct 92 13:52:12 GMT
Article-I.D.: pitt.16733
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <1992Oct01.135400.48585@uvmark.uucp> susan@uvmark.uucp (Susan Todhunter - (JWT)) writes:
>In article <16662@pitt.UUCP> km@cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum) writes:
>>In article <1992Sep28.204251.27190@uvmark.uucp> susan@uvmark.uucp (Susan Todhunter - (JWT)) writes:
>>
>>>What is a "problem patient"?
>>
>>See sci.med for examples.
>>
>
>Yes, that was funny.
>But do you also mean that those who ask medical questions are "problems"?
>

If he thought so, why do you suppose he spends his time trying to
answer such questions here on sci.med?







-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xref: sparky sci.med:18007 sci.bio:3383
From: laub@Software.Mitel.COM (Boniface Lau)
Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.bio
Subject: Re: Eliminating the need to sleep?
Date: 26 Sep 92 15:08:56 GMT
	<1992Sep25.193109.8112@informix.com>
Organization: Mitel. Kanata (Ontario). Canada.
In-reply-to: proberts@informix.com's message of 25 Sep 92 19:31:09 GMT

>>>>> On 25 Sep 92 19:31:09 GMT, proberts@informix.com (Paul Roberts) said:

Paul> In article <Bv3rnq.6uJ@unx.sas.com> saswss@unx.sas.com (Warren Sarle) writes:
Paul> >
[...]
Paul> >There is a lot of individual variation in sleep requirements.
Paul> >American presidents make an interesting example. I've read that
Paul> >many presidents needed as little as 4 hours sleep per night.
[...]
Paul> And Margaret Thatcher supposedly gets by on 2 hours per night. 

Could anyone tell me the source of such information?

---
Boniface Lau    (613) 592-2122 ext. 3042    Boniface_Lau@Mitel.COM
Mitel Corp., 350 Legget Drive, Kanata, Ontario, Canada K2K 1X3

                 Music is the space between the notes.
                                           -- Claude Debussy
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: robert@unlv.edu (Robert Cray)
Subject: Right Bundle Branch Block
Originator: robert@peewee.cs.unlv.edu
Organization: University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 92 00:59:52 GMT

Can someone tell me what a Right Bundle Branch Block is?

				--robert
--
robert@cs.unlv.edu
From: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Vitamins and the FDA (Pt. 1 of 3): Viewpoint
Date: 4 Oct 92 13:44:22 GMT
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <BvGIwr.A7C@ddsw1.mcs.com> starkid@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Lance Sanders) writes:
>
>On 1 Oct 92 15:24:48 GMT, geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks) writes:
>
>>What does "high-quality" mean and how did these mainstream studies
>>control for quality?  I'm not aware of any such mainstream data.
>
>>I am aware of no evidence that radiation introduces any trace 
>>carcinogens or benzene or that it reduces the vitamin content of food.
>
>
>   Gordon, did you read Pts. 2 (Vitamin Research) and 3 (Food Degredation) 
>before responding? 
>

I started to, but the articles were so long I just didn't have time.
After reading so stuff about Stanley Fahn that didn't square with
what he had told me, I sort of gave up in disgust.  Maybe you can
abstract the answers to my questions from the rest of it.

I really doubt if 5% of the people had time to read such long
postings.

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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: stevem@solbourne.com (Stephen Matson)
Subject: Re: cancer
Organization: Solbourne Computer, Inc., Longmont, CO
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 15:31:47 GMT

 b5249-23@mathcs.sjsu.edu (Kurt Stocklmeir) writes:
>
>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.


   I have never heard of this. If it is true, why?

Xref: sparky sci.med:18287 misc.legal:17939
From: Nigel.Allen@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Nigel Allen)
Newsgroups: sci.med,misc.legal,ct.general
Subject: Connecticut doctors charged in alleged illegal boycott
Date: 1 Oct 92 23:51:08 GMT
Organization: NDA


Here is a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice
 Justice Dept. Files Antitrust Suit Charging Illegal Boycott
 To: National Desk
 Contact: U.S. Department of Justice Press Office, 202-514-2007

   WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Department of Justice
today filed a civil antitrust suit charging the Greater Bridgeport
Individual Practice Association Inc. (GBIPA) with illegally
boycotting a health maintenance organization, Physicians Health
Services of Connecticut Inc. (PHS), by agreeing not to contract
individually with PHS.
   At the same time, the parties filed a proposed consent decree that
settles the suit by prohibiting the alleged conduct and restricting
certain other actions of GBIPA that could facilitate anticompetitive
conduct.
   J. Mark Gidley, acting assistant attorney general in charge of the
Antitrust Division, said, "Competition among physicians is reduced
when a group, particularly one that includes most of an area's
physicians and is structured to be non-exclusive, agrees not to
contract individually with insurers that seek individual physicians'
contracts, rather than a group contract.  By ensuring that GBIPA will
not disrupt insurers' attempts to contract individually with GBIPA
member physicians, this case will aid consumers in obtaining quality
health care services at lower, competitive prices."
   The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Conn.,
alleges that in 1989 and prior to the expiration of GBIPA's contract,
GBIPA and its co-conspirators agreed not to contract individually
with PHS in part, to increase the fees paid to GBIPA for GBIPA
physicians' services.
   The decree prohibits GBIPA from entering into any future agreement
not to enter into or to withdraw from proposed or actual individual
contracts with insurers.  The decree also has remedial provisions
that further prohibit GBIPA from engaging in activities that may
facilitate such conduct and from serving as an exclusive negotiating
agent for its member physicians.  Under the decree, GBIPA is also
required to establish an antitrust compliance program.
   The proposed consent decree is open for public comment for 60
days.
   Interested persons may address comments to Robert E. Bloch, chief,
Professions and Intellectual Property Section, Antitrust Division,
U.S. Department of Justice, 555 Fourth Street, N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20001.
   If the consent decree is approved by the court after the required
60-day comment period, it would terminate the suit.  The court would
retain jurisdiction to construe, modify and enforce the judgment.
 -30-

--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  bbs.oit.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80