HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Bernie Siegel & Cancer
From: RGINZBERG@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Ruth Ginzberg)
Date: 9 Oct 92 08:42:36 EDT
Distribution: world
Organization: Philosophy Dept., Wesleyan University
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.20In-Reply-To: viking@iastate.edu's message of Fri, 9 Oct 1992 07:23:40 GMTLines: 47

> In <13189@peplinsk> murphyg@Software.Mitel.COM (Gary Murphy) writes:
> 
> >I think the subject line says it all.  Is anyone familiar with Dr.
> >Siegel's works and what is the consensus on his approach to cancer
> >treatment &c.  Should I be concerned if a friend abandons cancer
> >treatment to embrace his approach and just what is his approach?
> 

I'm not sure, but I think Siegel's stuff has something to do with holistic
thinking.  But, look:  When my Mother got cervical cancer she decided to go to
(gasp!) a homeopath.  She "treated" her cancer with homeopathy & massage
therapy for about 6 months.  In the mean while, I had numerous cross-country
phone conversations & TRIPS (*NOT* cheap) to try to talk her into seeing a
for-real gyn oncologist.  Finally I got tough & started yelling at her that she
wasn't just making a choice about *HER* life, she was making a choice about
*MINE* too, because *I* was the one who was going to have to interrupt my life
in order to attend to her needless dying, & I just wasn't up for that right
now.  Finally she did go to a university med center, & she had her surgery. 
Guess what:  no cancer any more.  She has something like a 90% chance of 5-year
survival w/out recurrance.  So she's kinda pissed off at me for being a bully
about it.  But at least she's ALIVE & pissed off, rather than dying from
something that's nearly 100% curable.  She still goes to her homeopath for
regular tonics & remedies & stuff, & I think that's JUST FINE for the stuff
that homeopathy claims to address (stuffy noses, stiff muscles, coughs, flus, &
other mostly self-limiting diseases).  

But (* my opinion *)--

	Nobody is so unconnected to the rest of the world that their decisions
	don't affect *ANYONE* else.  So I sort of reject the notion that a
	person has an absolute right to do whatever he or she wants to with
	respect to his or her health.  Sure, if someone has a terminal disease 	
	anyway, I think s/he ought to have a great deal to say about how s/he
	wants to spend his or her remaining time on earth.  But if someone
	elects ineffective treatment (or NON-treatment) for some condition
	which will (but need NOT) disable or kill them, that's where I think
	family & friends (*NOTE: I didn't say "laws" or "physicians") need
	to butt in and apply some pressure.  Sometimes that *IS* the loving
	thing to do.

[**END OF EDITORIAL**]
<soapbox removal now proceeding...>


------------------------
Ruth Ginzberg <rginzberg@eagle.wesleyan.edu>
Philosophy Department;Wesleyan University;USA
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: M20614@mwvm.mitre.org (Hugh Pritchard)
Subject: Re: Centigrade (was: What body temp for cardiac surgery?)
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, McLean VA 22102
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 17:13:29 GMT

In article <1992Oct13.164455.2172@aoa.aoa.utc.com>
carl@aoa.aoa.utc.com (Carl Witthoft) writes:
 
>No: Kelvin is Celsius-sized degrees starting at absolute zero, hence
>the notation K.  Rankine is Fahrenheit-sized degrees starting at
>absolute zero.  Incidentally, ANSI/ISO standard notation is that
>the unit of temperature is the Kelvin, not degrees Kelvin.
 
Eek!  Thanks for the correction.  Something did feel funny when I wrote
that; seems I studied physics too long ago.
 
**  Hugh Pritchard,  hapritch@mitre.org,  703/883-6616
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: akcobb@unix.amherst.edu (acapella)
Subject: Re: Peroxide and the bubbling reaction?
Organization: Amherst College
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 19:05:30 GMT

Ralph Yozzo (yozzo@watson.ibm.com) wrote:
: 
: As a followup question, (I realize that there is probably no ironclad rule.)
: how much peroxide should one pour on a cut?  
: And how often should it be done?  For example, should it be done once
: or every day for the first few days while the cut heals.
: 
: And also what are the consequences of putting both iodine and peroxide
: on a cut?
: 
: -- 
: Ralph Yozzo (yozzo@watson.ibm.com)  
: From the beautiful and historic Mid-Hudson Valley area of NY state

Recently I had to get stiches for a large cut on my arm.  I told
the ER doctor that I had put both H2O2 and Betadine (an iodine
solution) on the wound in an effort to keep it clean, and he said
that actually I shouldn't have done that.  No great harm done, but
he said that people are beginning to be discouraged from pouring
either of those directly on cuts--apparently they kill the cells
as well as the germs and cause slower healing.

He said it was fine to apply either to the surrounding skin, to
minimize chances of infection, and if H2O2 or iodine are really
necessary, dilute them with water 1:12.

I was pretty surprised at this information.


Am
Xref: sparky sci.med:18812 sci.med.occupational:116 news.answers:3348
From: dedmunds@selkirk.sfu.ca (Darran Edmundson)
Subject: accutane and vision problems 
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 06:25:40 GMT

I started accutane about 2 months ago (80mg daily) and have recently
started having vision problems in my left eye.  The medication has caused
some dryness of my eyes and I also recently had an eye infection
(treated with Garasone drops) which has made it impossible to keep wearing
soft contact lenses.  So I went to the optomotrist to be fitted for
eyeglasses and my prescription has changed from the same in both eyes (-2)
for my contacts to -3.5 and -2.75 for the left and right eye respectively. 
The change in strength is understandable as my contacts were fitted over two
years ago.  However, the imbalance between eyes bothers me in light of the
problems I have been having with the left eye.  (Also the fact that 4 days
before the above prescription, my eyes tested at (-3.0, -2.5)).

What bothers me is the following.  When I first put my glasses on in the
morning my vision is crystal clear.  Within about 1/2 hour however, the
vision in my left eye has blurred to the point that I can't read the text
on my monitor from 2 feet away!  The right eye remains perfectly clear.

Questions.  Could any of this be tied to my accutane usage (my dermatologist
says certainly not)?  Can a bacterial eye infection have a lasting effect
on vision?  Should I see my doctor rather than going back to the Opt.
complaining about the blurriness?  Is there an obvious explanation to
the deterioration in vision after having my glasses on for 30 minutes?

Thanks for any info you can provide.  Incidentally, the benefits of accutane
far outweigh the nuisance side effects (in my case).  It's like that dandruff
commercial for me now, "You use <blank>, I didn't know you had dandruff.
I don't". 

-- 

Darran Edmundson
darran@chaos.phys.sfu.ca
From: cpr4k@holmes.acc.Virginia.EDU (Christian P. Roberts)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Bloodcount
Date: 15 Oct 92 16:46:56 GMT
Organization: Academic Computing Center - U.Va.

There was some discussion recently on the implications of some
imbalance in bloodcount, specifically, higher than normal HCT and HGB
with low WBC.  If anyone kept the information, please email or repost,
if not too long.

Thanks.

-- 

Chris Roberts                     Academic Computing Center
cpr4k@virginia.edu                University of Virginia           
(804) 982-4693                    Charlottesville, Virginia 22903
Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.med.nutrition
From: sjha+@cs.cmu.edu (Somesh Jha)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Dry mouth in the morning. Reasons?
Date: 12 Oct 92 19:04:08 GMT
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon



When I wake up, my mouth is very dry (It feels like I have a bad taste
in my mouth). After an hour or so in the morning it goes away. What are
the causes for it? Does this sound very serious?

Thanks

Somesh
From: sean+@andrew.cmu.edu (Sean McLinden)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Patients rights to copies of medical records
Date: 15 Oct 92 13:17:29 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.kerRzdi00UhB04PJ19
	<BvH6HJ.uD@wpg.com>
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

>We can't change the past, but we can change the future.  Whenever 
>I have xrays made (usually dental xrays), I demand, in advance, 
>that the technician use double-film with the understanding that 
>one film goes home with me.  With one exception, no one's 
>declined to meet my demands.  (In the case of the one exception, 
>I went someplace else.) 

That may be fine for dental x-rays (actually, radiographs or roentgenograms),
but it isn't so good for soft-tissue films. Double loading a cassette results
in a loss of clarity in one of the images since you must either overpenetrate
to get the second film or you get underpenetration on the other.
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: carl@aoa.aoa.utc.com (Carl Witthoft)
Subject: Re: Starting an alternative medicine newsgroup
Organization: Adaptive Optics Associates
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 19:33:00 GMT

In article <1992Oct5.205204.5875@island.COM> green@island.COM (Robert Greenstein) writes:
>It seems that you're putting an awful lot of energy into trying to
>create a newsgroup that you're not even interested in. Save it for your
>patients. It is hard for me to fathom what it is about non-conventional
>medicine that sets your blood boiling. Admittedly, a lot of what you
>like to call "alternative" medicine is bunk, but at least its relatively
>harmless bunk, as opposed to much of what is accepted as part of
x
First of all: Gordon (and others) are putting this energy into creating
a group we never want to see specifically in order that sci.med
can have slightly higher SNR.  That's the whole point.  After all
we never read talk.bizarre (or at least not for facts :=) ), but
it would hardly be useful to merge t.b with sci.med.

Second: alternative med is far from harmless.



-- 
Carl Witthoft @ Adaptive Optics Associates
aoa!carl@bbn.com  carl@aoa.utc.com
54 CambridgePark Drive, Cambridge,MA 02140 617-864-0201
"My Karma just ran over my Dogma!"
From: dunn@CAM.ORG (Ray Dunn)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Sinus Headaches
Date: 11 Oct 92 00:02:49 GMT
Organization: A cam follower.

In referenced article, geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks) writes:
>That's true.  The migraine patient does not want *any* stimulation
>and withdraws to a dark, quiet, alone place to try to sleep.
>This behavior is strikingly different from cluster headache
>patients (an even worse type of vascular headache).  The cluster
>patient can not lie still and gets up and paces the floor incessantly.
>Cluster patients may even commit suicide from the pain.

I don't understand this comparison between "migraine" and "cluster".

Aren't cluster headaches one of the two main forms of migraine, i.e.
classical migraine and cluster migraine?

Doesn't "cluster" describe the pattern of occurrence of the headaches
more than any particular symptoms?
-- 
Ray Dunn at home  |  Beaconsfield, Quebec  |  (514) 630 3749  |  dunn@cam.org
From: collene@unisql.UUCP (Collene Pearce)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Patients rights to med. records - long
Date: 12 Oct 92 17:41:07 GMT
Reply-To: collene@unisql.UUCP (Collene Pearce)
Organization: UniSQL, Inc., Austin, Texas, USA

In article <16866@pitt.UUCP> geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks) writes:
>In article <3878@unisql.UUCP> collene@unisql.UUCP (Collene Pearce) writes:
>
>>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.  
>>
>They don't routinely do this.  I've had patients in my office and
>still had to fax them a consent to release signed by the patient
>before they'd fax me the records.  Do you really think it would
>stand up in court to have your secretary testify that she thought
>she recognized the patient's voice over the phone?  Get real.

Let me rephrase this -- doctors routinely transfer patient records to other
doctors based on telephone requests.  I do not personally know a doctor who
will not do this.  The fact that you don't do this doesn't change the fact
that other doctors do.  I don't believe court evidence had been addressed
until this post.

However, I believe you missed the whole point of my original post.  It was 
a response to someone who was having difficulty getting his medical records.
I simply posted that several states (OK, TX and SC) have laws insuring 
patients rights to their own records and detailed the procedure in Texas. 
I suggested that that person might want to contact the state board of medical
examiners to see about the law in his/her state.


-- 

********************* #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: king@reasoning.com (Dick King)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: MRI devices and stapes (inner ear) replacement
Date: 14 Oct 92 18:20:57 GMT
Organization: Reasoning Systems, Inc., Palo Alto, CA

In article <1992Oct10.211728.1685@cnsvax.uwec.edu> nyeda@cnsvax.uwec.edu (David A. Nye MD) writes:
>In article <1992Oct9.010350.26371@resumix.portal.com>, ganz@resumix.portal.com (Jonathan Ganz) writes:
>> He is presently in need of having an MRI scan, but the local
>> hospital will NOT do the scan until they find out the type of
>> stainless steel. They claim that if the stapes replacement is
>> made from magnetic stainless, it could vibrate and become
>> damaged (which would result in almost total hearing loss).
>
>It could cause severe damage to his ear as well.  Legend has it 
>that the first time we really became aware of what MRI could do
>in the presence of ferromagnetic metal was when a steelworker
>underwent a traumatic enucleation of the eye when a little
>sliver of steel in his orbit which no one had known about started
>to spin under the influence of the magnetic field.  Whatever he
>has, he is not in need of an MRI badly enough that one should be
>obtained if there is any chance at all that his cochlear implant
>could be ferromagnetic.  Won't a high-resolution CT do?


Couldn't you expose his ear to a gentle 400 hz magnetic field and see if he
hears it?  If the field exerts even a small 400 hz force on the stapes it will
be perceived as sound.  That's what the inner ear is FOR ;-) .

-dk
Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.med.nutrition
From: jil@uts.uucp (Jamie Lubin)
Subject: Re: Homeopathy
Organization: Bellcore, Piscataway, NJ
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 12:59:40 GMT

In article <1992Oct5.213847.16106@husc3.harvard.edu> habersch@husc10.harvard.edu (Oren Haber-Schaim) writes:
>Someone posting about homeopathy mentioned one of his presumed heroes,
>"nutritionist Carleton Fredericks, PhD".   
>
>You might call him a self-described nutritionist...that might be more
>accurate.   I am not aware of any earned degree that he has in
>nutrition.   
>
>Certainly not a PhD.   His PhD is not in any science,
>and whatever unrelated field it was in (forgot), it was granted
>under unusual circumstances.

I wouldn't call Fredericks a hero of mine, but I did learn a lot from him
thru his books & his nationwide "Design For Living" nightly radio broadcasts.
He taught the public much useful information about nutrition.  He frequently
cited scientific journals & often presented nutrition-minded M.D.s,
nutritionists, biochemistists, etc.  I don't personally care what his title
was (are you getting into "credentials" like the sci.med group?) or what his
degree reads.  A person has to formulate their own opinion &, to me, most of
what he said made sense.  Now, on the other hand, he was a chain smoker & I've
heard him say that "when I feel the urge to exercise, I sit down until the
urge goes away."  Obviously, I wouldn't go along with that.  Nor would I go
along with how he raised his children who disliked him for being such a
martyr re nutrition in the household.
From: klier@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Giving Blood! "Gimme that thing, I'll do it myself"
Date: 15 Oct 92 12:54:43 -0500
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

ar710@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (William G. Martin) writes:
> 
> In a previous article, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) says:
>>You can say that again.  If you want to see someone who gets the vein the
>>first time every time with a rather large needle, drop by your local Red
>>Cross blood donor center.  When you draw blood 100 times a day, you get
>>good at it.  And the Red Cross nurses are hardly rocket science types.
> 
> Unfortunately, this is not always the case, or perhaps it varies with
> the region. Here in St. Louis, MO, I've stopped donating blood (after giving
> about 4 gallons over the years) due to the incompetence of the Red Cross
> personnel drawing blood, and the unpleasant aftereffects. I note that at
> least one other poster mentioned that they had also stopped donating for 
> similar reasons.
...> 
> Since the blood donation is always taken from the same arm region, even if
> they use one or the other arm, is it possible that a many-times-repeated
> donor, as I am (or was) will have a buildup of scar tissue on that
> portion of the arm veins which will cause the ill-aftereffects of donation
> to get worse and worse over the years? 

Yes, veins can be scarred from various traumas-- but it's usually stuff 
like dirty needles and infections (the classic junkie veins) or from
an irritating medication used intravenously as far as I know.  A
friend of mine, a nursing instructor, has huge amounts of scar tissue 
around the usual areas to draw blood, relicts of several bad ivs.
Her students don't pass until they can successfully draw blood from her
scarred veins.

There is probably also an element of individual genetic variation, too--
Dorothy tends to scar easily anyhow.  On the other hand, my aunt (AB-)
still has unscarred veins even though she's working on her 30th + 
gallon of blood donations.

Kay Klier   Biology Dept  UNI
From: an725@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Paul L. Fortman, Jr.)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: ADD and Resources
Date: 9 Oct 1992 15:22:11 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: an725@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Paul L. Fortman, Jr.)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, goguenm@ravel.udel.edu (Matthew L Goguen) says:
>
>  While individuals squabble over rasing of a child I'd like to here a bit
>about how Holly and others managed to get through college with ADD.  I'm
>21 and still trying to slug my way through Elec. Eng., not doing well at
>the moment and it could cost me my admission.  

I have never been diagnosed as having any LDs, but, while working on
a BS in psychology and an MS in education, I have done some LD 
research.  I have found that I may be Selective Attention Disorder
and/or ADD without hyperactivity.  I am not qualified to make such a
diagnosis and I really don't know a lot about the subject, so I 
could be wrong.  Anyway...  My BS took me 5 years to complete with a
2.3 GPA, and my MS took 3 years with a 3.5 GPA.  Both degrees took 
longer to complete mostly due to my extreemly slow, but very accurate,
reading.  Another problem is that I cannot listen and write at the 
same time, so note taking is almost impossible.  It is very difficult
for me to distinguish (sp?) sounds and to understand speech.  If 
there is more than one sound to be heard, all I hear is distorted and
garbled noise.  Combine this with my short attention span and 
difficulty in concentrating, and you have a very difficult time.  
I have found that less structure is better, and that I do better with 
abstracts and concepts than with details.  

I plan to go on for a Ph.D.  I wonder how long it will take.

I am going to have to take time to think about this more--getting 
these thoughts into concrete form (words) can sometimes take a while.

*Pooh Bare (Paul Fortman)
-- 
fortmapl@dayton.bitnet
fortmapl@udavxb.oca.udayton.edu
From: klier@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Giving Blood! "Gimme that thing, I'll do it myself"
Date: 9 Oct 92 13:13:57 -0500
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

In article <1992Oct09.155028.28919@watson.ibm.com>, yozzo@watson.ibm.com (Ralph Yozzo) writes:
>  I am not saying that this is always the case and I have met very
>  nice nurses in my day.  But living with pain day in and day out
>  must have a numbing effect on some nurses ability to sympathize with
>  the patient.

Or the nurse/tech may be inured to constant cries of Wolf! Wolf!...  
I've supervised biology laboratory exercises where students can type 
their own blood.  It's kinda funny and pathetic to watch-- some will 
shut their eyes, take an almighty stab at their fingertip with the 
lancet (and miss entirely), and still yell OUCH!.  They get the 
oddest looks on their faces when they open their eyes and see no blood.

Or the students who watch other students.  Student A sticks own finger.
Student B yelps as if in great pain....

Hm, maybe we have a potential animal behavior dissertation topic here:
telepathic perceptions of pain in _Homo sap._   ;-)

Kay Klier   Biology Dept   UNI
From: jordan@NeoSoft.com (Jordan Henderson)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: MRA??
Date: 15 Oct 92 19:03:30 GMT
Article-I.D.: NeoSoft.1992Oct15.190330.29913
Organization: NeoSoft Communications Services -- (713) 684-5900


A friend of mine is having an MRA.  Is this related to an MRI?
What is an MRA?

Thanks.

-Jordan Henderson
jordan@neosoft.com
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: marco@sdf.lonestar.org (Steve Giammarco)
Subject: Discolored Semen
Organization: Best lil' ol' Pubnix in Texas
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 12:33:17 GMT

I have a 27yo white male who complains of general malaise and a low grade
fever every two to three months for about 1 wk duration. During this time
he says he has brownish tinged ejaculate when he masturbates. When queried,
he remarks that his semen is "streaked" with the color, not saturated with
it. He is concerned that he might be infectious with "something" when this
happens. I enquired to fond out if he engages in any kind of traumatic
activity that might cause (what I assume to be) blood to be in his semen.
He also states that his urine is normally colored.  He is Hep B and HIV neg.

Thoughtful replies appreciated. If preferred, you may email me at:
marco@sdf.lonestar.org   I read this newsgroup daily, so I'll catch
replies either way.

Thanx.

-- 
Steve Giammarco/5330 Peterson Lane/Dallas TX 75240
marco@sdf.lonestar.org
loveyameanit.
From: nyeda@cnsvax.uwec.edu (David Nye)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: MRI devices and stapes (inner ear) replacement
Date: 14 Oct 92 20:30:14 GMT
Article-I.D.: cnsvax.1992Oct15.023014.1778
Organization: University of Wisconsin Eau Claire

In article <1992Oct14.182057.18386@kestrel.edu>, king@reasoning.com (Dick King) writes:
> Couldn't you expose his ear to a gentle 400 hz magnetic field and see if he
> hears it?  If the field exerts even a small 400 hz force on the stapes it will
> be perceived as sound.  That's what the inner ear is FOR ;-) .

Hmm.  I guess that hearing the tone would imply the presence of
a ferromagnetic material in the cochlear implant, but I don't
know that you could say that the absence of a tone would mean
it is necessarily non-ferromagnetic.  Would be useful to know,
though.  It would be easy enough to try this on several patients
with known types of cochlear implants.