HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: louis@Tandem.com (Louis Meadows)
Subject: Re: Undetectable AIDS
Organization: Tandem Computers
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 17:02:12 GMT

In article <1992Jul23.085958.2346@nic.csu.net>, donna@filly.calstate.edu (Morag ni Shabhain) writes:
|> I believe it's a Dr. Gupta at UCLA (or maybe USC) but it's been on the LA 
                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
No it's UCI. 

|> news for 3 days now.  The reports (unconfirmed) I've heard included that a 
|> 60+ year old woman had a transfusion 40 years ago and got it from that; 
   ^^^  

66 year old women and her 38 year old daughter.   It is not clear that the 
blood transfusion transmitted the virus.   


|> and that her [at that time, yet to be born] daughter acquired it thru her 
|> pregnancy.      - Donna
|> 
|> 
|> 
  
According to the paper this morning there are 2 dozen confirmed cases using 
Dr. Gupta method of detecting the new virus.


  --- Louis

  Email: Meadows_Louis@tandem.com 
  Vmail: 285-4269
From: doyle+@pitt.edu (Howard R Doyle)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Degree Of Risk For Liver Cirrhosis
Keywords: Desire Comprehension of Liver Cirrhosis
Date: 25 Jul 92 14:06:20 GMT
Distribution: sci
Organization: Pittsburgh Transplant Institute

In article <18657@drutx.ATT.COM> matz@drutx.ATT.COM (MatzAD) writes:
>I have recently become more and more appreciative of good wine.
>
>While I consider myself to be in excellent health at the present,
>and I exercise very vigorously on a daily basis ( I have not
>noticed any change in my ability to run steep mountain trails, etc.)
>I am concerned that I may be doing my liver some serious harm by
>drinking a bottle of wine in an evening 4 or 5 times a week.
>
>Could someone please inform me regarding the degree of damage I
>am incurring to my liver - especially over the long term ?
>
>When an average person gets Cirrhosis of the Liver, how much
>alcohol have they consumed, and over what length of time ?


There is really no good answer to your question. Studies of levels of 
alcohol consumption over time indicate that there is no threshold level
of ethanol intake at which risk of liver disease occurs abruptly, but that
the relationship between risk and level of consumption is a smooth function.

So having said this, and keeping in mind that these are only general 
guidelines, the incidence of serious liver disease begins to rise with an
average daily consumption of more than 40 to 60 g of ethanol for a man, and
perhaps as little as 20 g for a woman. These amounts must be consumed for
a long period of time (many years).

So if a bottle of wine has 750 cc and the ethanol content is 10% (am I 
close? I'm not a wine person), then you are ingesting 75 cc of ethanol
4 to 5 times a week. And 75 cc of ethanol must weigh roughly 75 g, so
theoretically you are drinking enough to pickle your liver over the long
run.

Then again, Winston Churchill died of old age...

----------------
Howard Doyle
doyle+@pitt.edu
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: gretsky@sonia.math.ucla.edu (Neil Edward Gretsky)
Subject: mammogram
Organization: UCLA Mathematics Department
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 92 21:18:20 GMT

I'd like to know the current wisdom about mammograms. (I may 
not have the spelling right.)
My wife who is 39 has been told by her physician that a routine 
mammogram is advisable. 
Do these detect more than what is found by hand?
Are there dangers associated with the test itself, eg
exposure to radiation, injury to breats tissue?

Any information will be gratefully received.
From: jim.zisfein@factory.com (Jim Zisfein) 
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: ALS
Date: 25 Jul 92 08:02:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Invention Factory's BBS - New York City, NY - 212-274-1243v.32bis
Reply-To: jim.zisfein@factory.com (Jim Zisfein) 

KL..How is ALS diagnosed?  Is there a definitive test or symptom?

ALS is a disease in which there is degeneration of motor neurons
in the brain and spinal cord, causing progressive weakness and
atrophy of muscles throughout the body, loss of ability to speak,
swallow, or breathe, with death usually 3-5 years after onset of
symptoms.  Initial involvement can be of upper limbs, lower
limbs, or cranial nerve (e.g., facial and speaking) muscles.
There is usually no impairment of mental function.  It occurs in
elderly or middle-aged adults.  It is not communicable. It is
rarely hereditary.  There is no effective treatment.

There is no definitive test or symptom.  A patient with
unexplained loss of muscle power and muscle mass should be
examined by a neurologist experienced in ALS.  Characteristic
(but not diagnostic) features include visible twitching inside
muscles, severe muscle atrophy in more than one part of the body,
and reflexes that are increased (suggesting brain or spinal cord
"upper motor neuron" disease), rather than the decreased or
absent reflexes most often seen with muscle atrophy.

The differential diagnosis includes primary diseases of muscle
(e.g., polymyositis), peripheral nerve (chronic variants of
Guillain-Barre syndrome, anti-ganglioside antibody syndromes),
and spinal cord (mass or syrinx).  The most useful laboratory
test is the EMG (electromyogram) which shows features of motor
neuron disease at multiple sites.
---
 . SLMR 2.0 .
From: geb@dsl.pitt.edu (gordon e. banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: HELP: Shoulder-blades, Men vs. Women?
Keywords: HELP: Shoulder-blades, Men vs. Women?
Date: 21 Jul 92 15:41:57 GMT
Organization: Decision Systems Laboratory, Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA.

In article <skipa.711563407@milton> skipa@milton.u.washington.edu (Skip Albertson) writes:
>
>I wondered if anyone out there could help settle an arguement I've
>got with a pre-med friend.  The disagreement centers around whether
>there are (any) differences between men and women's shoulder-blades.
>
>Differences in morphology seem very apparent to me (at least) on
>any beach in the summertime.  Men's shoulderblades seem like a
>small wedge on the back while women's are much "longer" and less
>well defined.  My friend states that there are no differences.
>Who is correct?
>
>
Your friend.  You need to inspect the scapulae on male and female
skeletons, not through the layers of skin, fat, and muscle
on the beach.




-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and
geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu   |  it is shameful to surrender it too soon." 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: ark@alice.att.com (Andrew Koenig)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Questions For Mds
Date: 22 Jul 92 13:59:17 GMT
Article-I.D.: alice.23271
Reply-To: ark@alice.UUCP ()
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Liberty Corner NJ

In article <7716.2A5EF345@stjhmc.fidonet.org> Daniel.Prince@p0.f129.n102.z1.fidonet.org (Daniel Prince) writes:

> I want to prevent them from LYING to me as so many other MDs have 
> done.  I think that if I have copies of all the lab tests and 
> everything they say on tape and they know that I will go to the 
> medical library to check up on what they say they will be less 
> likely to lie to me.

The easiest and most certain way to avoid lying to you
is simply not to speak to you at all.
-- 
				--Andrew Koenig
				  ark@europa.att.com
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: mdkline@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Mark D. Kline)
Subject: Re: Questions for MDs
Organization: Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 92 20:40:51 EDT

In article <Brz49F.GDt@wpg.com> russ@wpg.com (Russell Lawrence) writes:

>If this problem [ growing malpractice awards ] 
>is expanding in the US, as you say, it seems to 
>me that it would be reflected in the statistical figures.  Have 
>the payouts increased over the past thirty years or so?  
>[evidence please].  Incidently,  the cost of liability insurance 
>for doctors and hospitals in the US is less than 1% of the total US 
>health care budget?  

   [ story of dentist suing interior decorator - a good one - deleted ]

The problem is not the cost of liability insurance; the problem is that
doctors are so worried about getting sued that they order more diagnostic
procedures more often...such "defensive medicine" is how the malpractice
crisis really drives up the cost of medical care.   The malpractice
situation also contributes to choices medical students are making in terms
of what specialty they'll train in and in what settings they will
ultimately practice.  Imagine the future obstetrician graduating from
a private medical school perhaps $70,000 in debt, and finishing their
residency and confronting a malpractice premium of $60,000+ per year.
Are they going to go practice in an inner city, where their patients
are going to be at higher risk of obstetrical complications, for
example, and have little or no private insurance?  Probably not.
Then we wonder why our infant mortality among minorities in the
inner city is so high...

Malpractice is not only a potent economic force but an extremely
cynicizing one that works against medical idealism.  People certainly
need redress for medical incompetence, but there's gotta be a better way.

--
=================================================================
mark kline                                mdkline@mailbox.syr.edu
suny health science center, syracuse      voice: (315) 422-1050
================= courtesy of syracuse university ================
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: green@island.COM (Robert Greenstein)
Subject: Re: Questions for MDs
Organization: Strawman Incorporated
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 19:52:20 GMT

In article <15788@pitt.UUCP> km@cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum) writes:
>In article <1992Jul20.220034.8390@island.COM> green@island.COM (Robert Greenstein) writes:
>>
>>I agree with you in principle. But the problem is that very often,
>>particularly with cancer, patients are told they have a chance with
>>treatment which the doctors know full well won't work. IF the patient
>>was told the truth, he or she might have time to look into some alternative
>>treatment. Now the doctor in question might think that all alternative
>>treatments are a big crock. But isn't that for the patient to decide?
>
>No ethical physician will attempt treatment of a hopeless case unless
>it is at the insistence of the patient and family. If you look in
>oncology textbooks, you will find that treatment of advanced cancers
>is palliative, not curative, and this is always explained to the
>patient. Palliative therapy may lead to longer survival and to a
>higher quality of life before the patient dies.

It certainly would be unethical to treat a hopeless case in most circumstances.
My objection is that its the physician that decides when a case is hopeless.
THe oncology textbooks do not have all the answers.     
-- 
******************************************************************************
Robert Greenstein           What the fool cannot learn he laughs at, thinking
green@island.com            that by his laughter he shows superiority instead
                            of latent idiocy - M. Corelli
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Inderal vs. Inderal LA
From: Tom.Kashuba@f99.n101.z1.fidonet.org (Tom Kashuba)
Date: 25 Jul 92 13:28:05 GMT
Organization: FidoNet node 1:101/99 - Real Times #1, Boston MA

In an article of <13 Jul 92 18:47:48 GMT>, steege@bchm.biochem.duke.edu (Lora 
LeMosy) writes:

Re: Migraines, Inderal, et al

 LL: If anyone has any general information or advice, I would be 
 LL: most appreciative.

Lora, I've suffered acute, crippling Type I Migraines (full aura with all 
popular effects - grin) for 20 years and have tried just about every 
preventive and suppressing drug (including Inderal) - except the Beta blockers 
and related designer drugs which I'm leary of.

In the process, I've learned a little along the way.  I had little, if any, 
success with Inderal but did have several side effects.  However, I've 
recently had *very* significant success with short-term, fast swing, 
hypoglycemic theory.  I now suffer a Type I migraines no ore than once per 4-8 
weeks - rather than every 4-8 days, as before.

As a fellow victim, I'd be happy to discuss my experiences with you, should be 
so inclined.  I can be reached at ...

 .-------------------------------------------------------.
 | Tom Kashuba                                           |
 | PO Box 2001, Brookline Post Office                    |
 | Boston, Massachusetts   02146-9998                    |
 | Voice: (617) 782-6660: 1400-0100 UTC                  |
 |   Fax: (617) 783-8823: G3, Std/Fine/Xfine, Line/Gray  |
 |   BBS: (617) 783-8820: 24 hrs, 1200, 2400, HST:9600   |
 | F-Net: 1:101/99                                       |
 `-------------------------------------------------------'



 

--  
Internet: Tom.Kashuba@f99.n101.z1.fidonet.org
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: rjb3@cbnewsk.cb.att.com (robert.j.brown)
Subject: Re: 60 Minutes-Heart Disease & The French
Organization: AT&T
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 21:06:13 GMT

In article <15861@pitt.UUCP>, km@speedy.cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum) writes:
> My favorite was "daily blood tests", which they got some hick
> doctor to ridicule ("Well, gee, I never do that on my patients.")
> but which were probably mandatory on this patient, whose wife had
> no doubt told the doctors to "do everything you can." They somehow
> got the listeners to believe that the doctor was making money
> by these blood tests.
> 
>  -Ken Mitchum MD
>  km@cs.pitt.edu
> 
> 
Dag nab it Doctor Ken,

We hicks are tarred of you damyankees ridiculing us at every turn.
Why don't you just go "dahn tahn" in Steelerville and find somebody
to give a blood test :-)

Bobby - akgua!rjb

From: markg@hpmwtd.sr.hp.com (Mark Goldsworthy)
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 18:48:40 GMT
Subject: Re: Thrush
Organization: HP Santa Rosa Site (NMD MTA MWTD)
Newsgroups: sci.med

>/ hpmwga7:sci.med / vrs0@bunny.gte.com (V. Stern) /  6:15 am  Jul 22, 1992 /
>I think my 19 month-old son has thrush.  I noticed a lot of white stuff on 
>the roof of his mouth yesterday while he was crying.  He has not been 
>interested in eating for the past couple of days.   He's also been a 
>little restless at night, which is highly unusual for him.  It's almost 
>like he is having bad dreams, so it's probably coincidental.  Otherwise he 
>seems normal.   I called the pediatrician, and he simply phoned in a 
>prescription for Nystatin.  I told him I had never seen thrush, so 
>couldn't be sure that's what it is, but he didn't want to see him.
>
>I would like to know where this could have come from.  My books say very 
>little about it.  It seems to be more common in infants.  My son has been 
>in good health and has not been on antibiotics lately.  We were at a lake 
>over the week-end and I know he ingested a little bit of lake water.  
>Could that have done it?  I gather that the thrush is painful.  The doctor 
>also did not say how long to use the medicine.  I have enough for fifteen 
>days, but that seems overly long to me.
>
>Last question.  What exactly is Nystatin?  Is it an antibiotic or an 
>antifungal medcine?

I have a 2-yo daughter who has had thrush once. It was when she was on
antibiotics, which caused a yeast infection in the diaper area, which then led
to the thrush.

Our doc has said thrush is common in children. They will often get a yeast
infection that will cause a diaper rash, especially if the infant is on
antibiotics, or has diarrhea. Infants will often accidentally or playfully
touch their genitals, transferring the yeast to their hands, which inevitably
end up in their mouths. The yeast then grows in the mouth, and voila thrush
develops.

Nystatin is a fungicide. It is also prescribed for those severe cases of diaper
rash. I would certainly follow the doctor's advice and take the medicine for
the entire course, or like a bacterial infection, you may have a relapse. But I
would ask my doc or pharmacist to make sure that 15 days is correct.

Mark Goldsworthy 
HP-Santa Rosa
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: stone@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Glenn Stone)
Subject: Re: Sex Organ Transplant - more info please
Reply-To: stone@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Glenn Stone)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 01:35:51 GMT

(Scott Wood - EVENSONG) writes:

>I heard a quick tidbit the other day about a sex change operation that
>was alledgedly just completed somewhere in East Asia (Japan I think)
>in which two willing individuals (one male and one female) agreed to have
>their sexual organs exchanged to allow for a change in their gender as
>per sexual preference.

I sure hope they had an affair after the quid quo pro (quim quo
prong?).  It would give new meaning to the expression, "go fuck
yourself".


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Glenn Davis Stone                                BITNET: stone@cunixf
  Columbia University            INTERNET: stone@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: *** Frequent Stomach upsets. Reasons? ***
Date: 22 Jul 92 21:14:19 GMT
Article-I.D.: spdcc.1992Jul22.211419.24646
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA

In article <1992Jul22.194128.4628@island.COM> green@island.COM (Robert Greenstein) writes:
>There is a problem with your simple treatment. It doesn't work very well.
>When I did a medline search of this topic some months ago, I discovered
>that the success rate of this combination as well as most other treatments,
>is pretty low. What happens is that the helicobacter tends to return after
>several months if it even worked to begin with. Also, as can be expected,
>this treatment is not without side effects. 

(Excuse me while I faint...)

I think most doctors would agree with you.
-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: green@island.COM (Robert Greenstein)
Subject: Re: Colonic irrigations
Keywords: alt medicine
Organization: Strawman Incorporated
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 19:45:59 GMT

In article <1992Jul20.131133.24184@eng.umd.edu> georgec@eng.umd.edu (George B. Clark) writes:
 
>The only doctors involved in colon cleansing today are quack
>doctors. The colon cleansing stuff you see sold in
>health food stores is also worthless. It won't do you any
>harm, but it also won't do you any good.

WHile what you say may be true, got any *facts* to back up your statement?
-- 
******************************************************************************
Robert Greenstein           What the fool cannot learn he laughs at, thinking
green@island.com            that by his laughter he shows superiority instead
                            of latent idiocy - M. Corelli
From: rod@wet.UUCP (Rod McKim)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Colonic irrigations
Keywords: alt medicine
Date: 22 Jul 92 02:23:43 GMT
Organization: Wetware Diversions, San Francisco

In article <1992Jul20.163615.25127@spdcc.com> dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer) writes:
>In article <Brp1A5.DEy@hpbs654.boi.hp.com> kmarko@hpbs654.boi.hp.com (Kurt Marko) writes:
>>It comes as no surprise that `conventional' medicine considers this
>>quackery,

[ much discussion deleted ]


>In Massachusetts, "colonic irrigations" are illegal except when performed
>by an MD, which thankfully means that the practice is almost extinct.

And I thought that our state legislature (CA) was wasting our tax IOU's!!
There currently is a bill pending in Sacramento to make C. I. illegal also.
It was sponsored by a nurse who was funded by the CMA (Calif Medical Assoc).

Rights to choose what I want done with my own waste must certainly be
protected under the consitution(e). :-)

California now must play second fiddle to the great commenwealth of Mass.
in absurd legislation.  (I live here, so I know we have too much time on
our hands; but when I lived in Waltham & Quincy I always seemed to be too
busy to wory about precious bodily fluids.)
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: sss@netcom.com (Small Systems Solutions)
Subject: "Why Are You Still Fat?"
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 92 17:54:54 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Keywords: Macronutrient Ratio, Diet, Flamewar
Summary: Problems with high carb/low fat diet

I have been bantering with Gordon about this, and now it's really time to
get the diet war going.

The following is from several papers and presentations by Barry Sears, who
has a company that produces foods and dietary supplements specifically for
athletes (Bio/Syn).

He challenges the conventional wisdom of the high carbohydrate/low fat
diet that is now in vogue, especially among athletes -- and especially among
those trying to reduce their percentage of body fat.

He points out:

	Carbo-rich foods, especially high glycemic index foods like pasta, bread,
	potatoes (no Q. jokes), increase insulin levels, blocking access to fat
	stores.

	High insulin levels trigger lipoprotein lipase activity.

	The body cannot produce CCK under these conditions (carbo craving becomes
	an "addiction")

	Increased hunger, reduced endurance result from high-carb diet.

	Your brain depends on liver glycogen stores -- which will be depleted
	if fatty acids cannot be released from adipose tissue.

	There is a very narrow target zone of protein to carbo ratio that
	produces a favorable insulin/glucagon ratio -- which will prompt
	the burning of fat stores rather than glycogen.

He claims that the best ratio for losing body fat (on the basis of consuming
fewer calories than expended) is

30% calories from protein;
40% calories from carbohydrates;
30% calories from fat.

They produce a bar (natch) that has, oddly enough, 14 grams protein, 18
grams carbs, 7 grams of fat.  Sears also claims that this ratio should be
maintained at every meal, in order to produce the desired hormonal
response.

Their propaganda cites numerous endorsements from athletes and coaches, and
a study in which highly-trained athletes reduced body fat and increased
their endurance.

What's more, he makes the very simple and provocative observation that will
power is not the problem, but endocrinology is the answer.

Gordon and others have responded by saying that 30% is too much fat.  I'll
let you know my own personal results -- it is clearly having a favorable
effect on my percentage of body fat, but I am concerned about what it might
be doing to my blood lipid profile.  I'll get tested again in six weeks.

(btw, I am not selling anything, nor am I a True Believer...as Mark Twain
said, "Beware of health books -- you may die of a misprint.")

-- 
Small Systems Solutions                   1563 Solano Avenue, Suite 123
sss@netcom.com                                  Berkeley, CA 94707-2116

The above-expressed opinions aren't necessarily