HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: geb@dsl.pitt.edu (gordon e. banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Nerve damage in type-II diabetic
Date: 22 Aug 92 00:50:10 GMT
Organization: Decision Systems Laboratory, Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA.

In article <l4!n_7h.sss@netcom.com> sss@netcom.com (Small Systems Solutions) writes:
>Open question for Gordon, and others:
>
>What is the mechanism in diabetes that causes the neuropathy?
>
No one knows for sure.  There are more than one type of neuropathy
in diabetes.  One type is caused (presumably) by infarction of
the vasa nervorum which carries blood to large nerve trunks such
as the femoral or sciatic.  This is called diabetic mononeuritis
or amyotrophy.  The more common sensory motor polyneuropathy is
probably due to toxicity to axons from a defect in carbohydrate
metabolism.

>If an early diagnosis of diabetes is made, and the patient achieves
>normal blood sugar levels from diet and exercise, is the risk of
>nerve, kidney, etc. damage diminished?

It seems to be.  But it isn't eliminated.  Certainly retinopathy
can improve demonstrably with better control.  The retina is
our best way of seeing directly the damage to vessels.  Perhaps
the nerve damage is akin to the vessel damage.
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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: doyle+@pitt.edu (Howard R Doyle)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: hydrocele
Date: 22 Aug 92 14:57:30 GMT
Organization: Pittsburgh Transplant Institute

In article <57440002@hpscit.sc.hp.com> gw@hpscit.sc.hp.com (Gordon Wilson) writes:
>
>  My urologist told me that the only surgical solution for
>a hydrocele (spelling?) is ambulatory sugery with general
>anesthetic.  He explained that it was a cyst that was not
>absorbing fluid at the normal rate.  But, when it is removed
>where does the fluid then go?   His answer was that he did
>not know, but the cyst does not come back.
>It seems that a local anesthetic would be sufficient.


By all means have it done under local anesthesia. A hydrocelectomy is
conceptually the same operation as that for an indirect inguinal hernia.
There is no reason why you could not have it done either under local or
spinal anesthesia. I your urologist insists on having you go to sleep
go somewhere else. Any urologist or general surgeon can take care of that
problem.

What you remove in this operation is a fibrous sac in direct communication
with the abdominal cavity. That's where the fluid comes from. When you
take the sac out and close the communication the fluid stays inside the
belly.

------------------
Howard Doyle
doyle+@pitt.edu
From: amigan@cup.portal.com (R Michael Medwid)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: estrogen patch side effect
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 92 16:29:50 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: na

My mother recently started using the estrogen patch for menopausal
symptoms.  She had to stop using it because of painful swelling in
her legs.  However the patch was initially very effective in stopping
the menopausal sweats, hot flashes etc.  

My question: is leg swelling a common side effect of estrogen 
replacement therapy?  Might an oral estrogen have a different
side effect profile?  What is the liklihood that the estrogen
caused the leg swelling?  

please e-mail your reply:  amigan@cup.portal.com
From: geb@dsl.pitt.edu (gordon e. banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Vitamin C dosage?
Date: 18 Aug 92 16:49:22 GMT
Organization: Decision Systems Laboratory, Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA.

In article <16qbedINN1vk@agate.berkeley.edu> jaffray@jif.berkeley.edu (Alan Jaffray) writes:
>Is there a current consensus regarding the proper dosage of vitamin C?  
>Are high dosages (such as 3g / day) useful, useless, or possibly harmful?
>
Probably useless, possibly harmful.

>I am looking for responses regarding what expert *consensus* is, I've seen
>plenty of individual opinions already and don't need those...  Is the 
>C-megadose group (one reference I've seen suggests 4-15 g/day normally,
>30-60 g/day having a cold, even higher doses for some other conditions)
>a small fringe group, or do large numbers of experts feel the RDA is 
>inadequate?
>
Definitely lunatic fringe.  The RDA may well be inadequate though, if
you are using ascorbate as an anti-oxidant.  There is some evidence
that anti-oxidants retard cell death due to free radicals and perhaps
even tumor formation.  I myself take 500mg/d.  I think there is ample
evidence that any higher doses will simply pass out quickly in the
urine.  

>For that matter, is it generally felt that RDAs for other vitamins are
>adequate or inadequate?
>

Probably adequate for most vitamins.



-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and
geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu   |  it is shameful to surrender it too soon." 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: dwallach@wilbur.nas.nasa.gov (Dan Wallach)
Subject: Re: Don't moderate sci.med
Organization: NAS Program, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 92 15:45:45 GMT

rrempel@selkirk.sfu.ca (Rodney Dwight Rempel) writes:

>A group with close to 100 postings a day, ranging from scientific-based
>discussion to "my corn hurts" to "eating mung beans made me smarter" is
>indeed "broke and needs fixing". While I agree that the discussion is
>valid and should exist I think (a) there are already a bunch of fringe
>groups in existance - don't know their names since I unsubscribed long
>ago - or (b) there should be. There should be something more general 
>than sci.molecular-bio.chromosome13 (or whatever your favorite hard-
>science group is) yet more structured than alt.crystals.cure-everything.

>Moderation may be the way to go...

I disagree.  The solution to a volume problem is to fork off sub-groups,
such as sci.med.occupational, which is already doing quite well, in its
first week.  Sub-groups siphon off postings from the main group, and
everybody is happy.

This also means that you can RFD to make sub-groups like sci.med.food-therapy
to get rid of that sort of discussion in sci.med!

Of course, once you siphon off all the interesting topics, all you're left
with is "So, like, I found this really neat rock, that when I put on my
forehead and listen to _Rubber_Soul_, I have visions of true karma." :-)

--
Dan Wallach              "One of the most attractive features of a Connection
dwallach@nas.nasa.gov    Machine is the array of blinking lights on the faces
                         of its cabinet." -- CM Paris Ref. Manual, v6.0, p48.
From: klier@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: amnesiac drugs
Date: 16 Aug 92 15:26:57 GMT
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

In article <1992Aug16.123244.21415@usenet.ins.cwru.edu>, bf455@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bonita Kale) writes:
> In a previous article, rind@binoc.bih.harvard.edu (David Rind) says:
>   I have had people request to have sutures
>>placed without anesthetic, and while I go along with it, I'm always
>>very uncomfortable having people feeling each successive stitch, and
>>I sew more quickly and probably do a worse job.
> But what's the connection between this and the amnesiacs?  If the amnesia
> is a result of not -feeling- the pain (so there's essentially nothing to
> remember), fine.  But if the pain is felt, would it make you slower and
> more careful to know that the patient won't remember it? 

IMHO, fast stitching without anesthesia is far preferable to slow. Since
I'm sensitive to the common local anesthetics (xylocaine and derivatives),
I've had a lot of minor procedures (skin and shallow muscle biopsies)
done with just ice before starting.  Fast is much easier to handle.
The actual placing of the stitch doesn't bother me nearly as much as
the knotting, for some odd reason.

And yes, I'm fairly calm and pain tolerant. 

Kay Klier  Biology Dept  UNI.
From: vrs0@bunny.gte.com (V. Stern)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Question about hepatitis vaccine
Date: 19 Aug 92 13:49:01 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: GTEL

I have gotten a little confused reading the discussion about hepatitis 
vaccines.  My son received the Hib vaccine, which I thought was for 
hepatitis.  Is there another one?

Vanessa R. Stern
vrs0@bunny.gte.com
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: tim@sitpc1.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM (Tim.Cogan)
Subject: MS Question
Originator: tim@sitpc1.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM
Organization: NCR Corp
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 23:48:05 GMT

Hello,

Can anyone tell me if ones life expectancy is reduced when diagnosed with MS?
My wife, diagnosed with MS 4 yrs. ago, was turned down for life insurance
after the insurace company contacted her neurologist.  I've done some
reading since the diagnosis and am well aware that this disease can be quite
disabling, but I didn't get the impression that it could be fatal.

Also, if I understand correctly, MS is diagnosed by ruling out all other        diseases that might be causing the symptoms at the time testing is done.
As I understand, there is no test that can be run to show that a person has 
MS.  Since the initial diagnosis, my wife has not had another episode of 
numbness/loss of muscle control.  If the symptoms reappear... Would it be 
wise to go through the tests once again?


ADVthanksANCE
Tim
tim.cogan@columbia.ncr.com
From: birchall@pilot.njin.net (Shag)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Request for Information: CMV
Keywords: Layman's terms... please.
Date: 18 Aug 92 18:43:57 GMT
Organization: Screaming in Digital, the Queensryche Net Digest

bhjelle@carina.unm.edu writes:

>You may just have CMV antibodies, indicative of past infection. If
>your doc stopped with a single antibody test, he may not be able to
>tell any more than that.

I don't know how many tests he did.  I do know that I had total fatigue,
swelling of lymph nodes and organs, and a constant high fever - all
indicative of an active CMV infection - for several weeks, at that time.
I never had any tests done after I "got better" from that.  I certainly
hope I've got the antibodies _now_.

>CMV's not nearly as bad as you seem to think. More than half of
>adults in the U.S. have antibodies. There is a good 50% chance up
>front that she has the antibodies, cold or no.

That means there's also a 50% chance that she doesn't have the antibodies.
In that case, the fact that she already had a cold would tend to make it 
a bit more complex for her body to fight CMV.  The fact that I also had
a cold would - I should think - make it easier for any latent CMV in me
to either reactivate or be transmitted.

>Severely immunocompromised people can probably get "superinfected" with
>a second strain of CMV, but not people with good immune systems.
>Recipients of organ transplants can "reactivate" latent CMV and
>get severly ill, or get it from the transplanted organ.

Last time I checked, I had a good immune system.  Of course, I got CMV
totally out of the blue in 1990, and I had a good immune system then.  To
me, CMV continues to be something that I can't get good answers about,
at least not good enough to explain what happened to me.

>"CMV survivor"? Join the other 100,000,000 adult CMV survivors in the U.S.

I don't think there are 100,000,000 people who've had active cases of it
in adult life...  Considering that when I asked my doctor what it was, he
said to look it up in the library, I don't think there are 100,000,000
people who are really aware of what it even is.

>Secondary infections? No such thing.

You're telling me that someone whose immune system is being suppressed by
CMV can't get something else too?  Huh?  I'd think it would be more likely
to get something [pneumonia, for instance] when your immune system's down.

>It can be transmitted sexually, transplacentally during an acute
>(maternal) infection, or via fomites (exact mechanism uncertain, but
>probably includes saliva).

If my friend ends up with an active CMV infection, I think we'll have to
blame it on saliva, as none of the others would apply.

>There is no way to "zap" it.

Wonderful.  :(

Thanks for the info, though.

-Shag
-- 

     Freedom belongs to only those without video screens for eyes and mouth.
		- Queensryche
Newsgroups: sci.med,dc.general
From: marc@aplpy.jhuapl.edu (Marcus Gates)
Subject: Re: Looking for Toyota repair shop
Organization: JHU/Applied Physics Laboratory
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 16:00:02 GMT

avlb@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (A V Louis Biggie) writes:


>Charles Toyota in Nebel street, Rockville and Won's Foreign Auto Service in 
>Columbia have both given me good, honest service at low prices.

>Louis

    I second the recommendation of Won's in Columbia (it's off of Dobbin road near
175).  One intersting thing to note is that the bill always seems to come to some nice
round number.  I have an 83 Cressida and have had some minor stuff done there although I
have since found another mechanic to work on my cars - if you'd like his name send me mail
and I'll give it to you.  He is in the Clarkville area.


--
				marc gates
				johns hopkins applied physics lab, laurel, md
				UUCP: ...bpa!cp1!aplcen!aplvax!marc
				Internet: marc@aplpy.jhuapl.edu
From: plebrun@vub.UUCP (Philippe Lebrun)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Strange Cure For Burn?
Date: 13 Aug 92 14:29:03 GMT
Organization: Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels
Summary: I have treated quite a few burns but have never heard of anything likelike
	 this. Nor can I think of a reasonable explanation. Anyone else?

In article <1992Aug13.005931.12031@odin.corp.sgi.com>, sajid@jam.wpd.sgi.com (Sajid Zia) writes:
> I have experienced a strange cure of burn ...
> ... If you put kerosine on that part of the skin, it
> gets cured immidiately, not even a sign is left.
From: km@speedy.cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Smart Drugs
Date: 21 Aug 92 12:19:57 GMT
Reply-To: km@cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum)
Organization: Computer Science Dept., University of Pittsburgh

In article <1992Aug19.173933.7488@athena.cs.uga.edu> mcovingt@athena.cs.uga.edu (Michael A. Covington) writes:
>Re your experience of vitamin B12 helping your brain function, the obvious
>question is whether you had (for any reason) a B12 deficiency to begin with.
>That is, maybe you were not using a "smart drug" so much as curing a
>deficiency that had been wearing you down.
>

B12 is probably the best example of folk medicine incorporated into
some elements of the medical profession as a form of quackery. Millions
of people who dont quite feel right go to doctors who give them B12
shots, after which they feel better. 

B12 deficiency on a nutritional basis is extremely rare. The body keeps
B12 around, and in the average adult maintains appoximately at three
year storage of the vitamin, such that if the person absolutely quit
getting any intake of the vitamin, it would be three years before
deficiency would develop. Thus, the concept of an "RDA" for this vitamin
is a little silly, since you don't need it daily at all.

B12 deficiency certainly exists. Pernicious anemia was one of the first
well-studied autoimmune diseases: the body makes antibodies against
the parietal cells which line part of the stomach, and against
instrinsic factor, which is a substance that helps absorption of B12.
When this occurs, B12 is not absorbed, and after the bodily stores
run out, the person becomes 12 deficient. Other common causes of B12
deficiency are total gastrectomy (removal of the stomach), and
diseases or surgery resulting in loss of the terminal part of the
ileum, where B12+instrinsic factor are actually absorbed. In all of
these cases, it takes several years for body stores to dwindle before
the deficiency develops. 

Treatment consists of monthly B12 injections, intramuscularly.
This can be used to treat deficiencies, or to prevent deficiency
if a known predicatable cause of deficiency exists (i.e. total
gastrectomy). 

The nice thing about B12 is that deficiency can be determined quite
easily through serum B12 level. This blood test is available essentially
everywhere, and is one of the first tests ordered in workups of
macrocytic (megaloblastic) anemias, dementias, and with certain
neurological findings. Because of the test, there need be no
guessing about who is deficient and who is not. If deficiency is
documented, then there are other tests (i.e. Schilling's tests and
anti-parietal cell and anti-instrinsic factor antibodies) which can
help pinpoint the specific cause of the deficiency.

All of this does not prevent thousands of doctors from routinely
injecting normal people with B12. It makes the patients feel better
and makes the doctors richer. It is perhaps the best placebo use
of a medication on a widespread scale, which could be prevented
through better health education. It's defense is the defense of
placebo medicine, which I do not subscribe to at all.

 -Ken Mitchum MD
 km@cs.pitt.edu









Newsgroups: sci.med
From: mazur@inmet.camb.inmet.com (Beth Mazur)
Subject: Re: Atkins Diet
Organization: Intermetrics Inc, Cambridge MA
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 13:59:39 GMT

In article <1992Aug09.042805.14979@omen.UUCP> caf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX) writes:
>I'm preparing a new edition of the famous Adiposity 101, this time with a
>subchapter on low carbohydrate diets, including Atkins.

You may want to check out the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet from Drs. Rachel
and Richard Heller.  Also, there is the Endocrine Control Diet from
Dr. Calvin Ezrin, which is essentially Atkins minus fat.  Both of these
have pointers to (supposedly) relevant literature. 

Beth Mazur                   "...life is more than a vision.  The sweetest
mazur@inmet.inmet.com         part is acting after making a decision."
...!uunet!inmet!mazur                                  -- The Indigo Girls
From: geb@dsl.pitt.edu (gordon e. banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Is this a mental or emotional illness?
Date: 12 Aug 92 14:01:22 GMT
Organization: Decision Systems Laboratory, Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA.

I think it is a good thing to bear in mind that there are probably
hundreds if not thousands of as yet unrecognized rare diseases
floating around.  Some may be viral, others metabolic or genetic.
The odds that some local practitioner is going to have seen enough
others like you that he is going to recognize a new disease are
practically nil.  It is only in very specialized centers that these
are usually discovered, and that because someone finally recognizes
a pattern after seeing several similar patients.  It sounds like you
have had many well-intentioned attempts to find out what is wrong
with you, and while you clearly seem to have some real abnormalities,
nothing has clicked with anyone.  We all see patients like that,
and I am not inclined to tell them it is mental illness just because
I don't recognize it.  Until or unless someone does recognize a
known syndrome or discover a new one that fits your case, I think
you are probably out of luck.  Calling it CFS may help you, but
until we know exactly what CFS is or whether it is one disease
or many, it is of little practical significance.  My advice would
be to keep reading the literature in the hopes that you will
see some discription of cases similar to yours, but don't expect
an HMO doctor to be able to do much for you other than some
symptomatic treatment.  Some of the antidepressants can make
people with such illnesses feel better, whether the illness is
depression or not.
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "Skepticism is the chastity of the intellect, and
geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu   |  it is shameful to surrender it too soon." 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: jrt@omega.kcr.uky.edu (J. Randall Thompson)
Subject: Re: stomach tube
Organization: Kentucky Cancer Registry, Univ. of Ky
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 23:21:01 GMT

In article <473@nos850.UUCP> bunnym@nos850.UUCP (Bunny Miller) writes:
>I am interesed in any information, medical or personal family experience,
>about a feeding tube placed in the stomach of elderly patients that
>don't want to eat.
>

[...stuff about grandmother deleted...]

>stomach tube nor does the family want it.  In the state of KY however,
>they can get a court order to put the tube in against the will of the
>patient or the family.

Thats funny, I've been practicing medicine in KY for 8 years and haven't
heard about this law - does that cover frontal lobatomies, too?

Seriously, there IS NO LAW that would specifically allow a physician to
place a PEG or PEJ in your grandmother against her, or the families
wishes. 

A PEG or PEJ is a tube that is placed through the wall of the abdomen
into the stomach (PEG) or through the stomach into the small bowel (PEJ).
This is felt to be a superior method for providing enteral feedings to
debilitated people; specifically people at risk for aspiration (i.e
getting stomach contents into lungs), uncooperative patients (keep
pulling feeding tubes through their noses out). Some people feel that
a PEJ is better than a PEG as the risk of aspiration is less, however
this may not be true in all people.

A physician could not place a PEG or PEJ against the wishes of the
patient or surrogate decision makers. HOWEVER, a physician (or actually
anyone, for that matter, if they were so inclined) could try to force
you to feed your grandmother (such as through a nasogastic tube);
 to my knowledge, the legality of withholding
nutrition from a patient in the state of KY has not been tested in
court.

My suggestion would be to have a family conference with the primary
physician and nursing staff. Discuss long term prognosis, expectations,
and any advanced directives your grandmother may have given to 
family members. If you are still unhappy with the plans, etc,
try to find another physician.

>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>-- 
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>Bunny Miller                                     ...bunnym@nos850.uucp
>Naval Ordnance Station   Louisville, KY.
>(502) 364-6617


-- 
[]  J. Randall Thompson                                      jrt@kcr.uky.edu []
[]  University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky                              []
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: stevem@solbourne.com (Stephen Matson)
Subject: Re: Prolonged use of Ibuprofen
Organization: Solbourne Computer, Inc., Longmont, CO
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1992 20:07:01 GMT

 
 I have been diagnosed as having early lupus, SLE type,  (something I don't
believe BTW) and was warned against using Ibuprofen. Seems in lupus patients 
Ibuprofen can cause meningitis with prolonged use. So even if one does not have
lupus I'd stay away from it, you never know what they'll find out in a few 
years. Aspirin is still the best all around pain/inflammation relief I have
found without a prescription. 



 Steve Matson.

Newsgroups: sci.med