HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Newsgroups: sci.med

>Contacts are also safer in lab situations where you can wear standard
>goggles over your lenses, but rarely over glasses. 

I'm no expert, but I've heard that soft contact lenses can absorb "stuff"
from the surrounding atmosphere, so if you're exposed to non-healthy
vapors in a lab situation, those gasses can be absorbed by the contact 
lenses, ==> even after the vapor goes away, it's still in the lenses, 
which are in direct contact w/your eye.  This can also be a problem 
when wearing contacts to swim in a chlorinated pool.

-Ted
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: bsimon@elvis.stsci.edu (Bernie Simon)
Subject: Re: evidence for homeopathy - who pays?
Organization: None. This saves me from writing a disclaimer.
	<dank.721767362@blacks.jpl.nasa.gov> <1992Nov16.170512.3418@island.COM>
	<annick.722490968@cortex.physiol.su.oz.au>
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 18:03:13 GMT

In article <annick.722490968@cortex.physiol.su.oz.au> 
annick@cortex.physiol.su.oz.au (Annick Ansselin) writes:

   Drug companies have to comply to certain standards which includes clinical
   trials - as far as I know the drug companies pay and no doubt the cost of
   the drugs cover these expanses as well as development cost etc.

   Why can't the companies whic push the homeopathic drugs do the same? At
   least in this neck of the woods, there are several companies pushing
   homeopathic medicines very hard with expansive advertising etc. I might add
   that the profits must be quite respectable judging from their prices, I
   find it hard to believe they couldn't afford the trials. Indeed, why they
   they do not have to abide by the same stringent rules that allopathic
   drug companies have to is difficult to understand!

When the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed in 1938, it was written so
that medicines that were currently in use were exempted from the
testing requirement. This applied equally to both homeopathic and
allopathic medicines. Since very few new homeopathic medicines have
been introduced since 1938, the majority of homeopathic medicines have
not been tested. No special favoritism was shown to homeopathy, and
the FDA is the last organization (besides the AMA) that I would expect
to show favoritism to homeopathy! Drug companies spend large sums to
test new medicines because they are protected by patent, giving them
exclusive right to manufacture these medicines. Homeopathic medicines
currently in use cannot be patented.  Without patent protection, there
is no incentive for any profit making company to test them.

--
Bernie Simon	(bsimon@stsci.edu)		O tempora! O mores!

Newsgroups: sci.med
From: fs@cs.tulane.edu (Frank Silbermann)
Subject: Re: Chondomalacia, kneecap tracking problems
Nntp-Posting-Host-[nntpd-17945]: caesar
Organization: Computer Science Dept., Tulane Univ., New Orleans, LA
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 18:21:44 GMT

<dank.721768553@blacks.jpl.nasa.gov> dank@blacks.jpl.nasa.gov
Daniel R. Kegel):
>	I have been suffering from patellofemoral pain 
>	that is, my knees hurt, especially after walking or skiing,
>	but their function is otherwise unimpaired.
>...	The condition is thought to be caused by kneecap tracking problems-
>...	The therapy for this condition is to strengthen the medial quadriceps
>	so they can compete with the normally very strong lateral quadriceps,
>	and keep the kneecap moving in the right direction.
>	...
>	The secret aid to therapy is a special method of taping,...
>	many people probably use neoprene knee braces for the same reason.
>	Does anyone else have experience with taping or knee braces
>	for this condition?

I get this in both knees from playing tennis,
perhaps because I'm so bow-legged and have
ultra-tight hamstrings.

I found I could play completely free of kneecap pain
by wearing a little strap below each kneecap
(I ordered them for about $7 each from a newspaper ad;
a more expensive version is called the "Cho-Pat Strap."
After a while the irritation disappeared and I could
play without them, though the pain comes back
(and the straps back on) whenever I increase
my level of activity too suddenly.

A friend developed the same problem,
and also got instant relief (and eventual healing)
when he borrowed one of my straps.

fs@cs.tulane.edu
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: susan@falcon5.ericsson.se (Susan Cohen)
Subject: gluten allergy
Organization: Ericsson Telecom, Stockholm, Sweden
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 12:34:42 GMT

I am looking for information about gluten allergy.  What are the symptoms
of this type of allergy?  Can the allergy effect the sufferer's mental	
function (perhaps when the allergy is very severe)?

I am grateful for all help.

Sue Cohen
Ericsson Telecom AB
susan@beppe.ericsson.se
-- 
Susan J. Cohen  susan@beppe.ericsson.se [Enclosed opinions are mine alone]
Ericsson Telecom AB, 126 25 Stockholm, Sweden
Newsgroups: sci.med,ia.talk.politics,isu.talk.politics
From: jejones@microware.com (James Jones)
Subject: Re: Health Care Costs
Organization: Microware Systems Corp., Des Moines, Iowa
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 18:19:24 GMT

In article <BxMK9q.9Mo@news.iastate.edu> cmriggin@iastate.edu (Christin M Riggins) writes:
>1.  Do you feel that the current U.S. health care system is effective? (Y/N)

Since there are probably many different notions of what "effective" means,
what possible meaning could the survey results of this question have?

	James Jones
Xref: sparky sci.med:21161 alt.support.diet:2802
From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: sci.med,alt.support.diet
Subject: lipase inhibitors
Date: 17 Nov 92 19:32:24 GMT
Article-I.D.: spdcc.1992Nov17.193224.15949
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA

>>BTW, anybody else hear about trials of a drug that interferes with fat
>>digestion?  I believe it's called Olistat, and it cause up to 30% of ingested
>>fat to be excreted undigested.  Of course, I read this in that 
>>highly-regarded medical journal Family Circle (or was it Women's Day :-).

If you're in the Boston area, BU is doing a two-year study of this drug,
a lipase inhibitor, and is recruiting volunteers.  Call 617-638-5980 and
ask about the volunteer study.  I've been on a diet and have lost weight,
so I'm not eligible.  (When I called about an obesity study for a different
drug, sibutramine, a few months ago, I was too heavy for their criteria!
I just can't win.)

>Like mineral oil and Olestra (sucrose polyester), I wonder if this might
>cause an, er, cosmetic problem.

In fact, it does cause steatorrhea (fat in the stool), occasionally
clinically significant.  The study will be looking at the drug's
effects on the levels of fat-soluble vitamins, and other laboratory values.

I don't know anything more about this particular drug, other than
it may have a generic name "lipostatin" (or something which sounds
a lot like this--the few published studies refer to tetrahydrolipstatin),
and that it's being investigated by Hoffmann-La Roche.

-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
From: turpin@cs.utexas.edu (Russell Turpin)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: What homing device does a virus use?
Date: 17 Nov 1992 13:17:32 -0600
Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin
NNTP-Posting-Host: peaches.cs.utexas.edu
Summary: Huh?

-*----
In article <17491@pitt.UUCP> geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks) writes:
> The same way that plant seeds distinguish soil from rocks: they don't, ...

For once, you lose me.  Seeds clearly do distinguish soil from
rocks: they grow in the former and die on the latter.  I suspect
either of us could even make a reasonable explanation of the
mechanisms involved.  Now ... What are the mechanisms in the case
of the question I posed?

Russell
From: mmm@cup.portal.com (Mark Robert Thorson)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Blood in Stools
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 09:19:33 PST
Organization: The Portal System (TM)

The e-mail I've received is so far unanimous that I probably have
a hemmorhoid or fissure.  The main clue is the color of the blood.
Internal bleeding results in very dark blood, but mine was bright red.
Also, although there was initially no pain, there is now a slight
discomfort, which further supports the hemmorhoid/fissure theory.
Also, both my parents have had hemmorhoids, so it wouldn't be surprising
if I develop them too.  Also, essentially all the blood was found on the
toilet paper, not the stools themselves.  Being my typical hypochondrical
self, I panicked and assumed the worse when I saw that blood.  Until
I received the first e-mail, it didn't even occur to me that blood
in the school could indicate anything but cancer.
From: turpin@cs.utexas.edu (Russell Turpin)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Circumcisions as Medical Fraud
Date: 20 Nov 1992 12:52:14 -0600
Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin
NNTP-Posting-Host: peaches.cs.utexas.edu

-*----
In article <1992Nov20.142310.20960@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com> markn@ssd.comm.mot.com (Mark Nowak) writes:
> It's a shame our society accepts mutilation of our children so easily.
> At least we don't clip our children's ears to make them more aestetically
> pleasing, but I guess that's what ear piercing is for.

And some people have their infants' ears pierced.  I do not
see what the furor is about.  

Russell
From: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: What homing device does a virus use?
Date: 19 Nov 92 15:34:09 GMT
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <lgihacINN6hm@peaches.cs.utexas.edu> turpin@cs.utexas.edu (Russell Turpin) writes:
>-*----
>In article <17491@pitt.UUCP> geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks) writes:
>> The same way that plant seeds distinguish soil from rocks: they don't, ...
>
>For once, you lose me.  Seeds clearly do distinguish soil from
>rocks: they grow in the former and die on the latter.  I suspect

Just so the virus.  It either "bumps" into a cell that is "receptive"
or it doesn't.  The virus has no intelligence.  It depends on
physics to encounter a suitable host.  If it doesn't, it dies.
If it does, it sets up shop.  The HIV is exactly the same.  It
has to encounter a receptive cell or you don't get infected.
The problem is the word "distinguish" which implies some sort of
discriminatory behavior.  The seed doesn't really distinguish the
rock.  The rock just doesn't provide a suitable environment for
the seed to sprout.  Sorry it was not a clear example.

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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: slzh9@cc.usu.edu
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: O+ Father + O- Mother = ? Childs Health.
Date: 16 Nov 92 13:52:32 MDT
Organization: Utah State University

I have a question. Not being a student of biology or medicine, I am wondering
what the significance of blood types is when determining the health of children
if the father is O+ and the mother is O-. What are the potential health 
problems of offspring and what can be done to ensure healthy children. Mostly,
is this any thing that I should worry about.

Any information will be greatly appriciated and will help me resolve my
concerns.

			Eric Winsor
			slzh9@cc.usu.edu
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Physician Assistants on The Net
From: schira@ab.wvnet.edu (John Schira, PA-C)
Date: 15 Nov 92 12:05:52 -0500
Organization: Alderson-Broaddus College



I am looking for Physician Assistants on the net. Please email me your
email address, where your at, and what you're doing. Perhaps we can put 
together a disscussion group/ PA Forum.

John Schira, PA-C
Master's Degree Program in Emergency Medicine
Alderson-Broaddus College
Phillipi, WV

schira@ab.wvnet.edu
From: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Adiposity 101
Date: 19 Nov 92 20:28:33 GMT
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

As usual, Chuck, when you post your tome, I end up at the library.
Unfortunately for your thesis, I often find other articles,
sort of swept under the rug by you, I suppose, that are more
credible and opposite in their view in the same issues you
cite.  I'm sure your answer to them will be "they fudged their
data", etc.  Too bad the peer reviewers weren't so perceptive.

For example, in the July 1992 Supplement to the Am J. Clin. Nut.,
we find a whole section on "Cycle Dieting".  Here is an article
by Stunkard (famous obesity researcher) that studied cycle dieters
quite extensively.  (No, they didn't start 30 years ago before
the dieters started their first diet, we'll have to wait 30 years
for such as study, since 30 years ago no one paid much attention
to the phenomena).  Lo and behold, Stunkard found that there was
no correlation between the number and depth of cycles and Lean
Body Mass (contrary to what you've been saying), metabolic rate
(contrary to what you've been saying), ability to lose weight
on a new diet, etc.  Yes, there was a correlation between BMI
and cycle dieting, but that is what would always be expected,
since thin people don't diet.  It certainly doesn't imply that
dieting caused the fatness.  All of these women were fat before
they started dieting.  There was no evidence that they ruined
their metabolisms by dieting, as you have been saying.  This has
been the conclusion of every study I've seen done on humans.
Only your one or two rat studies have indicated otherwise, that
I've seen.  Another article in the same issue had the same
conclusions.

In the Oct 92 issue of the same journal, your theory that the
obese violate the laws of physics was also shot down.  When
both fat and lean volunteers were overfed and their metabolism
was studied using whole body calorimetry and their intake and
exercise carefully accounted for, all of the weight gain was
just as predicted.  When they stopped feeding them too much,
the weight loss also occurred just as predicted.  There were
no "magic" malabsorptions or fluctuations in thermogensis
except that expected from increased body mass.  

In the same issue, another paper studied 204 obese women and found
that, contrary to your theories, the amount they ate correlated
with their level of obesity, and that the fatter ones ate more
fatty foods and less protein and carbohydrates, as a percentage
of total intake.  

I'm sure you'll be discussing these papers in the next edition of Adiposity
101.

-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "I have given you an argument; I am not obliged
geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu   |  to supply you with an understanding." -S.Johnson
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: Dr. Norman J. LaFave <lafave@ial4.jsc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Condoms and the effect on AIDS transmission rates
X-Xxdate: Mon, 16 Nov 92 12:37:01 GMT
Organization: Lockheed Engineering & Sciences Company
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d12
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 18:40:26 GMT

To any doctors out there with data and sources:

What is the current data on the effect of condom use on the
long-term transmission rates for AIDS. Note that we are not
talking about the probability of transmission for one
episode of intercourse.

I am asking this because a colleague of mine has claimed that
condoms are not an effective means for arresting the rate
of growth of the AIDS epidemic (he quotes a study that supposedly
says that 25% of condom users will get AIDS over time).
This arguement is religious
in nature. He claims that the use of all contraceptives is a
violation of apostolic tradition (Catholic reason for prohibition)
and that using condoms to stop the spread of AIDS is not
sanctioned because it is not effective for this purpose.

Dr. Norman J. LaFave
Senior Engineer
Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Company




When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
                               Hunter Thompson
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: larryh@microsoft.com (Larry Houch)
Subject: Information needed about MS treatments
Date: 16 Nov 92 20:31:06 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corporation

Hello. A friend of a friend has multiple scleroisis (I apologize in
advance for the many errors of spelling and possibly fact I'm about
to make. I am a humble programmer, unused to precise technical
communication ;) and has developed Optic-neuritis, a form of
blindness.

She has heard conflicting information as to treatment options, but
one name that came up was a Dr. Hans Nieper of Germany. Since her
funds are limited, if she travels to Germany she will not be able to
afford any other treatment course. Is Dr. Nieper well-known? Is his
success rate in this disorder good?

Are there any alternative treatments that would be effective? She is
open to anything that might help.

Please respond via email, as I am not a subscriber to this
newsgroup. 

Thank you very much, as they say, in advance...

larryh@microsoft.com

[Standard disclaimers apply]
From: jrt@omega.kcr.uky.edu (J. Randall Thompson)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Circumcisions as Medical Fraud
Date: 20 Nov 92 22:12:32 GMT
    <1992Nov20.142604.21021@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com>
Organization: Kentucky Cancer Registry, Univ. of Ky

In article <1992Nov20.142604.21021@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com> markn@ssd.comm.mot.com (Mark Nowak) writes:

>Ritualized mutilation is still mutilation even if it is socially
>accepted.  And we think we're so superior to "savage" tribes living
>in the jungles of third world countries.
>-- 
>Mark Nowak                          | By means of the easy and the simple we
>SWM, 25, 5'11", seeking SF ...      | grasp the laws of the whole world.  When
>Chicago, Illinois                   | the laws of the whole world are grasped,
>INTERNET: markn@ssd.comm.mot.com    | therein lies perfection. - I Ching

Of course, you are right. I guess the reason we got a good deal on
the circumcison was because the medicine man used a sharpened stone
to do the procedure and then later used the removed tissue as
a sacrafice.

-- 
[]  J. Randall Thompson                                      jrt@kcr.uky.edu []
[]  University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky                              []
Newsgroups: sci.med
From: Mark W. Dubin
Subject: fibromyalgia and Prozac
Originator: dubin@spot.Colorado.EDU
Reply-To: dubin@spot.colorado.edu
Organization: Univ. of Colorado-Boulder
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 16:07:11 GMT

Wow, a conjunction of two long threads.  Will this lead to an impossible
tangle.

Thanks for the recent long post on Fibromyalgia.  Question, given the
fact that Prozac, which I take, blocks Serotonin uptake, should it
help with the FM symptoms (which I have many of)?  It doesn't.

Also, is there suspected relation between FM and ankylosing spondlyitis?

-- the ol' (creaking in the joints) professor
From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Acromegaly
Date: 22 Nov 92 07:55:53 GMT
Article-I.D.: spdcc.1992Nov22.075553.4300
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA

In article <57440003@hpscit.sc.hp.com> gw@hpscit.sc.hp.com (Gordon Wilson) writes:
>  Acromegaly is a disorder of the the endocrine system.  It creates
>too much Growth Hormone.  Typically, a pituitary adenoma is the
>culprit. I have just been diagnosed with this rare disorder.  
>It affects something like 1 in 40,000 people.  I would like to 
>find a doctor that handles lots of acromegalic patients, since 
>there is a lot of development in drugs and xrays (gamma knife).
>The developmental drugs are made by sandoz,

Well, Sandoz's Parlodel (bromocryptine) has been around for about 30 years,
and has been a standard of sorts for treatment of acromegaly.  I wouldn't
describe this as cutting edge stuff; there may be newer treatments, as
you allude.

-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
From: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Mercury fillings
Date: 16 Nov 92 14:42:48 GMT
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <1dgrnoINNa3a@darkstar.UCSC.EDU> starfish@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (Smarter than the Average Blur) writes:
>
>Are they still used and if not, when did they stop being used?
>

Still the most common type of filling used.




-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "I have given you an argument; I am not obliged
geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu   |  to supply you with an understanding." -S.Johnson
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: km@cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Circumcision...
Date: 24 Nov 92 00:32:44 GMT
Reply-To: km@cs.pitt.edu (Ken Mitchum)
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <gdavis.722526023@griffin> gdavis@griffin.uvm.edu (Gary Davis) writes:
>
>If Carl is serious,this may be a good indication of why we need more
>women in medicine. Sensitivity seems to be a pratical impossibility
>for the majority of male MDs.

I love the way people in this newsgroup love to generalize from an
N of one to all of medicine, or of mankind. I know of many insensitive,
uncaring FEMALE physicians, but I would not dare to say that "Sensitivity
seems to be a practical impossibility for the majoriy of female MDs."
These sweeping generalizations hinder communications here and serve
to start the flame wars that some of us are tired of.

 -km
From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Deprenyl
Date: 18 Nov 92 18:12:19 GMT
Article-I.D.: spdcc.1992Nov18.181219.21367
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA

In article <1992Nov17.202906.2411@cnsvax.uwec.edu> nyeda@cnsvax.uwec.edu (David Nye) writes:
>Selegiline is only one of several new medications of dubious or marginal
>worth which are likely to be promoted heavily, demanded by patients, and
>very expensive.  Tacrine (sp?) for Alzheimer's is another.  This raises
>some troubling ethical issues as healthcare costs continue to increase, 
>particularly as regards rationing.

The evidence for the utility of tacrine in Alzheimer's is substantially
less than selegiline in Parkinson's (however minor a therapeutic advance
selegiline is), and tacrine tends to be hepatotoxic.  I got the impression
that the manufacturers of tacrine were going to test, test, test until
they were able to show even the most minor beneficial result.

-- 
Steve Dyer
dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
From: STCS%MARISTB@VM.MARIST.EDU (Christopher J. Schmitz)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Organ Transplants
Date: 21 Nov 1992 10:24:27 -0600
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

Dear Whoever,
     I was wondering if anyone out there, had information about
organ transplants.  I'm basically looking for simple info, like
about how many people have organ transplants, how many peopledonate
organs.  How long does it take to recover from an organ transplant.
And so on.  Any information would be appreciated.  Ohh one more,
how do the people recieveing the new organ usually react to hearing
about the news.  And how does society react to people, that have
had organ transplants.  If you know of any FTP site, or something
like that I would love to know the address.  Thanks
-- Chris --
Newsgroups: sci.med