HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: dbailey@cix.compulink.co.uk (Diane Bailey)
Subject: Re: Deodorants Harmful?
Reply-To: dbailey@cix.compulink.co.uk
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 10:30:00 +0000


brian@ucsd.edu (Brian Kantor) writes:
> These "links" have been difficult to prove. And, in a recent
> issue of Science, someone finally showed why the proof has been
> difficult. It seems that the rather ancient studies showing that
> Alzheimer's plaques (in the brain) contain aluminum were badly
> flawed by contamination with aluminum from external sources;
> there is, in fact, NO ALUMINUM in Alzheimer's brain lesions.
> 
> I'm hoping that repeated mention of this new finding will sway
> those who have been avoiding aluminum cookware for the last 20
> years to turn their attention to some much greater, more
> immediate threat. Something like the radioactivity in smoke
> detectors, for instance  :-).

Since, as I wrote, the enquiry on the Devon pollution of the
water supply with aluminium chemical found no blame for the
problems of those who drank the water, on the grounds that
aluminium could not get to the brain, finding no aluminium in
Alzheimers lesions is no suprise and doesn't actually seem very
relevant.

Clearly many substances can cause problems in humans without
actual being present in the tissue at the site of the eventual
problem.  Even very small quantities of some substances can cause
wide ranging changes in body processes, even after a considerable
time.  I'd seriously hope that some better answers on aluminium
might emerge than this, especially given the dreadful prognosis
of Alzheimers.

Diane
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: hank@well.sf.ca.us (Hank Roberts)
Subject: Re: Cranberry Juice Antidote
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 04:56:31 GMT


I recall that there are a number of chemicals which are flushed out of
the body at very different rates depending on the pH of the urine; it
could be that the drug in question suppresses memory only due to a longterm
action (aren't there 'anesthetics' that remove memory, rather than pain?).
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: szikopou@alfred.carleton.ca (Steven Zikopoulos)
Subject: Re: Generic drug store brands.
Organization: Carleton University
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 18:00:55 GMT

In <1992Dec30.085036.248@newstand.syr.edu> mdkline@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Mark D. Kline) writes:

>In article <30DEC92.01313522@nerus.pfc.mit.edu> mrl@nerus.pfc.mit.edu writes:
>>Is it worth the money to pay for brand name drugs such as Tylenol versus drug
>>store brands?  Am I simply paying for the name?  I notice a difference in the
>>non-active ingredients.  Are they significant?

>As a rule, it is generally NOT worth the money to buy name brand OTC drugs
>like Tylenol (I just took two 500 mg generic acetominophen caplets this morning
>that cost about $.01 each).  Some people swear that one or another particular
>brand works better for them, but generally there is no difference except the
>price.  The difference in non-active ingredients and the physical makeup of
>the pill/capsule can make for differences in absorption and delivered dose.
>Big differences have been noted in dissolvability of various aspirin tablets,
>for example.  However, it usually is ok to shop on price, and buy the cheapest
>formulation of the ingredient you are looking for.


I noticed a posting the other day in response to the original.  The
author claimed (based on his experience) that buying generics for
"serious" medication (e.g. muscle relaxants) was NOT a good idea.  I
don't share his view entirely.

The problem does not necessarily lie in the differences with respect
to the non-medicinal substances that are found in many drugs, but in
the manufacturing process.  I do know that certain generic sulpha (sulfa in
the US?) drugs can cause nausea while the trade version will not.  As
I noted previously this (in some cases) can be attributed to the
quality of the generic drug's manufacturing process.  Thus some
individuals may experience noxious effects taking a particular generic
but not another.

FYI.  Currently in Canada there has been a push to increase trade-name
drug protection.  I certainly hope they don't pull it off.  For
example, a month's worth of Prozac costs approx $117 CDN (20mg/day).
It would be "nice" for those receving this treatment to pay a little
less.

my 2 cents (Canadian.  I hope it's acceptable currency)
Steven Z
From: Scott.Johnson@FtCollinsCO.NCR.COM ( Scott Johnson)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Birds and Cancer
Date: 29 Dec 92 09:01:32 GMT
Organization: NCR Microelectronics, Ft. Collins, CO


About a month or so ago I think, I remember hearing about some articles
and studies done that link owning pet birds to getting lung cancer.  I
never bothered to read them before, but now we have a relative that is
paranoid for our health because we own a cockateil.  If anyone has a
text file of any articles, or has any summary, I would very much
appreciate some e-mail on this subject.  (Sorry if this was hashed out
before, but I just got access to this group, so didn't see anything
about it.)
 
Please use the e-mail address in the .sig below and do not try to reply
to the one above (doesn't work for most people).  Thanks in advance!

-Scott
--
-----------------------------------------------------------
E-Mail:  Scott.Johnson@FtCollinsCO.NCR.com
	 uunet!ncrlnk!ncr-mpd!Scott.Johnson
My opinions are mine and mine alone (unless I only live in your dream, in
which case they are yours and I denounce all responisbility).
GA to SK
Newsgroups: sci.med,alt.drugs
From: guru@camelot.bradley.edu (Jerry Whelan)
Subject: Shelf life of penicillin?
Organization: The Smelly Ditch
Date: Sun, 3 Jan 93 19:47:53 GMT

	I recently discovered a lost bottle of penicillin which could
be a handy thing to have around in the future.  However, it is a bit
old, and there is no expiration date.  So I'm looking to find out
what a reasonable shelf life of penicillin would be.  Anyone here
know?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
``written by a drunken insane pathological liar''        guru@stasi.bradley.edu
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer)
Subject: Re: Adiposity 101
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 00:22:27 GMT

In article <1993Jan03.131036.23291@omen.UUCP> caf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg) writes:
>>How can you call the surgery described there "love handle removal"?
>>You're removing the steamer trunk, not the handles.
>
>The one report of post liposuction weight gain I've read
>concerned an increase in breast size following, yes, "love
>handle removal".  It is possible the breasts atrophied while
>subjects crash dieted in an attempt to rid themselves of their
>love handles; after the liposuction and cessation of crash
>dieting the breasts would return to normal size.

Liposuction is not a method for weight loss; it merely removes local
fat deposits which are thought to be unsightly.  I think only about
one, er, quart of, er, stuff can safely be removed at a time, and that's
a maximum.  This is a much different procedure than large scale fat removal.
You seem to come to some very peculiar conclusions from what you read.
Why an increase in breast size after liposuction would be interesting
either way isn't immediately obvious, nor are the conclusions to draw
from such an increase obvious.

>Steve, can you cite some refereed papers in the scientific
>literature, or is this another "tabloid factoid"?

I've seen it cited frequently enough in the obesity literature, as evidence
that new adipocytes can be formed in response to eating.  I don't have any
references handy.  Even without trying to have an explanation in hand, it
stands to reason that people will still gain weight if they eat too much.


-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: New Migraine Drug???
Date: 23 Dec 92 16:47:26 GMT
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <Dec14.170537.64276@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU> goshorn@CS.ColoState.EDU (michael goshorn) writes:
>
>	Sorry to jump in on this discussion but I am looking for info
>including patient experience with medication for treatment of cluster
>headaches.
>

I like Periactin and Sansert.  I haven't found verapamil to be
terribly good despite what others say.  O2 7 l/min by ventimask
works pretty well to relieve the pain.  Certainly the beta blockers
and tricyclics should be tried also.



-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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:23174 sci.anthropology:1628
From: an725@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Paul L. Fortman, Jr.)
Newsgroups: sci.med,sci.anthropology
Subject: Re: Women Doctors
Date: 29 Dec 1992 21:08:32 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



I am cross posting this to sci.anthropology for any medical anthropologists
that may be interested in this discussion.

In a previous article, nadel@attatash.aero.org (Miriam Nadel) says:
>In article <92361.102433MIWHC@CUNYVM.BITNET> MIWHC@CUNYVM.BITNET writes:
>>     It seems that the rate of malpractice suits are lower for women, but
>>again, I need data. 
>
>You would need to take into account differences in areas of specialization.
>Women physicians are still most likely to be psychiatrists, pediatricians
>and pathologists and I suspect the malpractice suit rate is relatively
>low for at least two of these specialties.  Obstetricians suffer from
>particularly high rates of malpractice suits and women are more
>underrepresented in this field.  In general, surgical subspecialties are
>the target of more malpractice suits than medical subspecialties.
>
>So any meaningful statistics would be within a particular specialty.  You
>might also find that women who are in the "riskier" specialties have lower
>rates of malpractice suits because only the best (or, at least, most
>motivated) women survive the isolation and discouragement.  This is
>conjecture on my point by analogy to the experience of women in other fields
>that they're underrepresented in (e.g. women engineering students generally
>get better grades than men in the same classes).

I too think you have to break it down by speciality.  I also agree with, 
in general, that only the best or most motivated or with the best endurance 
survive med school (male dominated), although I would think this to be the 
case with all women doctors, not just specialists.

As far as who prefers a woman doctor rather than a male doctor, I think 
much has to do with the culture and its social conditioning.  A previous
post mentioned something like older people prefered male doctors and 
younger people preferred women doctors.  This would tend to reflect some of
the changes in our culture.  I think that in time you will see more 
acceptance of women doctors, as well as in other professions, as society in 
general gradually accepts women in roles other than that of mother and 
home-maker.  It is possible that women doctors are, or are perceived to be, 
more nurturant than male doctors.  

To add one more statistic to anyone who may be keeping track: 
I prefer women doctors.  I am 37, a college grad with a BS in psychology,
an MS in education, and about to start a Ph.D. program in anthropology.

*Paul
-- 
fortmapl@dayton.bitnet
fortmapl@udavxb.oca.udayton.edu
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: jgd@dixie.com (John De Armond)
Subject: Re: Generic drug store brands.
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 92 07:31:15 GMT
Organization: Dixie Communications Public Access.  The Mouth of the South.

dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer) writes:

>In article <30DEC92.01313522@nerus.pfc.mit.edu> mrl@nerus.pfc.mit.edu writes:
>>Is it worth the money to pay for brand name drugs such as Tylenol versus drug
>>store brands?
>No.
>>Am I simply paying for the name?
>Yes.
>>I notice a difference in the
>>non-active ingredients.  Are they significant?
>No.

I spent an agonizing weekend in a Daytona motel over Thanksgiving as 
the result of a ruptured spinal disk-induced muscle spasm.  My wife
had mistakenly allowed the Phar-More druggist to refill my 'script for 
Robaxin (muscle relaxant) with the store's generic right before we left.  
After two nights without sleep, I visited a local doc-in-the-box for a 
dose of the real thing.  Problem solved.

My wife, who also uses Robaxin on an infrequent basis for soft 
tissue back pain, tried the generic and noted a similar lack of effect.

Dyer can say what he likes but for me there will never be another 
generic substitute for a serious drug in my life if I can help it.  
Generic aspirin and tylenol is one thing; drugs for serious problems 
is another.

The question I have to ask is this.  For the few dollars' difference in
price, is it worth it to experiment?  Not for me.

John
-- 
John De Armond, WD4OQC               |Interested in high performance mobility?  
Performance Engineering Magazine(TM) | Interested in high tech and computers? 
Marietta, Ga                         | Send ur snail-mail address to 
jgd@dixie.com                        | perform@dixie.com for a free sample mag
Need Usenet public Access in Atlanta?  Write Me for info on Dixie.com.
From: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: aids testing and insurance
Date: 22 Dec 92 16:30:35 GMT
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <1992Dec10.193033.20211@athena.mit.edu> jgnassi@athena.mit.edu (John Angelo Gnassi) writes:

>>medical types might see your HIV- test results and wonder if they should
>>be asking you if you're gay or IV drug user while they ask themselves that
>>very same question of "why....?"
>
>When blood tests for syphilis first came out, I suppose that patients
>who had the test, regardless of outcome, were casually considered to
>be at high risk of future ill health.  But today syphilis hysteria is
>not a driving social force, and it is widely understood that false
>positives and false negtives occur; seeing a test for syphilis on a
>patient's chart doesn't mean much to me by itself.  I expect that HIV
>antibody testing will one day be viewed similarly, as just one piece
>of information, subject to the same limits of interpretation as any
>other test.  Perhaps this will happen sooner rather than later, as HIV
>spreads more by heterosexual contact, risk factor catagories widen,
>prevalence increases, and testing becomes more common.
>

It's pretty much that way right now, at least around here.
Maybe in a small rural community it might raise eyebrows,
but in the city no one gives it much thought anymore, since
so many people are tested for so many reasons.  If the doc
wants to know if you are gay, he or she will just ask you.
No need to make an inference from an HIV test.  They certainly
will ask if you use IV drugs, if you have any symptoms that
might be caused by such use.  Otherwise they aren't doing their 
job properly.  Such questions are part of the routine and should
not be taken personally by anyone.  


























-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Physician's Incomes
Keywords: income
Date: 28 Dec 92 01:05:34 GMT
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <gdavis.724433998@griffin> gdavis@griffin.uvm.edu (Gary Davis) writes:

>The lead article,which describes problems and policies concerning
>the control of health-care costs,cites USA MDs making a 120,000
>per year salary which equates to 5.1 times the salary of the average
>professional wage. Switzerland and Germany compensate physcians at

The average profession wage is less than $25,000?  Do you include
secretaries as professionals?  I can't believe that!  Even school
teachers make more than $25,000.

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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: srcguard@src.dec.com (Lytton (SRC) Guard)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Immune System
Date: 29 Dec 92 20:26:10 GMT
Organization: DEC Systems Research Center




		Does anyone know what is the best way to
	increase your immune system?  This regards
	to foods, vitamins, anything.


					Fallon
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: ilana@kiowa.scd.ucar.edu (Ilana Stern)
Subject: Different types of migraine in same person?
Organization: NCAR/UCAR
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 18:51:05 GMT

I've had (totally classic) migraines since before puberty, but they only 
happen about 2-3 times a year, so I'm on no special medication, and don't 
see a need for it.  I have recently (over the past few years) noticed that 
occasionally (weekly or so) I have a brief visual disturbance in the 
lower part of the field-of-view of my right eye;  it's as if I had been
looking at a bright light, then looked away, and very unlike the classic
migraine aura I get (fortifications, shimmering, etc.).  No headaches
or other symptoms, and it lasts less than a minute (unlike the aura, which
lasts about 1/2 hour).

I visited an opthamologist on the advice of my regular optometrist; he
said he didn't see anything wrong with my eye, and speculated that I was
having a "headache-less migraine" which periodically affected the blood 
vessels more to the front of my eye.

1) Is it plausible that I'm having two different kinds of migraines at
different times?

2) Is this something I should see a neurologist about (given that this
visual disturbance doesn't interfere with my vision enough to make a
difference, and that I experience no unpleasant symptoms)?

-- 
/\    "I'm only a human girl person.  I ain't always perfect."--Rambling Rose
  \_][ <--NCAR Ilana Stern dod#009 r.b. cliff swallow ilana@ncar.ucar.edu    
      \______________________________________________________________________
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Nicotine Withdrawal Help Needed
From: RGINZBERG@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Ruth Ginzberg)
Date: 30 Dec 92 12:30:43 EDT
Distribution: world
Organization: Philosophy Dept., Wesleyan University
X-News-Reader: VMS NEWS 1.20In-Reply-To: das@canctr.mc.duke.edu's message of 30 Dec 92 04:27:04 GMTLines: 11

I believe there have been some - at least - anecdotal stories about small doses
of Prozac being useful in helping some folks quit smoking.  (I would imagine
this might be true if there is an OCD component to the smoking behavior;  don't
know, just a guess.)

Since my Medline access is temporarily down, I am unable to look to see if
this has been confirmed or disconfirmed in published research.  Anyone know?

------------------------
Ruth Ginzberg <rginzberg@eagle.wesleyan.edu>
Philosophy Department;Wesleyan University;USA
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: news&aio.jsc.nasa.gov (USENET News System) (Mary Stewart)
Subject: Re: Myeloma Information?
Organization: Lockheed Engineering & Sciences Co.
Distribution: sci.med
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 21:19:32 GMT

In article <1992Dec18.032154.8732@netcom.com>, hamish@netcom.com (Just Another Deckchair on the Titanic) writes:
> 
> [My apologies to those of you who see this twice - the original
> doesn't appear to have left the other site I post from]
> 
> A relative has been diagnosed as having "Myeloma". My medical
> references do not say very much (in one case, nothing at all) about
> this disease; other sources suggest it's some form of bone cancer with
> immune system implications (vague, that...).
> 
> So can anyone help - what's the prognosis? What *is* myeloma?
>
multiple myeloma is a cancer of the blood cells in the bone marrow -
a "cousin" to leukemia usually found in men over 60 yrs of age, relatively
uncommon.  10 yrs ago treatment consisted of several kinds of
chemo, prednisone; no radiation.  

----usual disclaimer-----
 
> Thanks,
> 	Hamish
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Hamish Reid   +1 510 596-3917   hamish@netcom.com   hamish@sybase.com
> 
>
From: turpin@cs.utexas.edu (Russell Turpin)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: No free market in medicine  (was: reliability engineering...)
Date: 26 Dec 1992 10:46:57 -0600
Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin
NNTP-Posting-Host: im4u.cs.utexas.edu
Summary: Not in the US.

-*----
In article <1992Dec22.220418.5737@bnr.ca> labiche@bnr.ca (Maurice LaBiche) writes:
> If capitalism isn't affecting the cost of medical care why do
> we pay so much for it?  Is it because we've got so many 
> middle-men collecting processing fees?  Is it because of
> socialized medicine in Canada?  
>
> Oh no, that's right we don't have a free market here at all.

You got it.  When it comes to medical care, there is very 
little in the way of a free market.  For example, if one
wants to look at the why's and wherefore's of how much medical
care costs and how the costs are structured, one has to take 
into account such things as:

  o  a government controlled and protected insurance industry,
  o  an artifical (and idiotic) linkage between employment and
     health insurance,
  o  government regulations in the development of drugs and medical
     treatments,
  o  government protection of pharmaceutical interests,
  o  government control over how many hospitals are constructed, how
     they are constructed, and how they are run,
  o  government provision of medical care for large portions of
     the population,
  o  artificial and schlerotic professional specialization,
  o  government influence in fee structures,

and many, many others.  There are historic reasons for these
things, and there are even reasonable arguments that some of them
are good things (though not nearly so many nor so good as most
people think).  

But it is foolish to pretend that the cost structure of medical
care in the US reflects free market evolution.  It doesn't.  

-*----
On Reliability Engineering:

> I understand that many processes are put in place by Companies 
> or Standards Associations to ensure the quality of a product
> which may be involved in real life situations.  However, that
> does not mean that all projects which get into the real world
> as products go through these stringent processes to ensure
> their dependability. ...

Nor should they.  Very few computer systems serve as critical
a function as the control systems of an airliner, for example.
It is much more economical for a PC used for accounting to 
have a convenient level of reliability, and then just to 
replace parts as it fails.  For accounting purposes, one would
not want to pay the expense of achieving a much greater level
of reliability.

What I was previously noting was that great reliability in 
software systems is *not* achieved by hiring more careful
programmers.  This is a common, but mistaken, notion.  

Russell