Subject: Re: *** Pain ***

From: [email-masked] (Patricia Ziliani)
Date: Sat, 04 Nov 1995 09:45:42 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, John Badanes ([email-masked]) writes:
>  In article <[email-masked]> Al Pinsi wrote:
>  >Can anyone help with an herb or nutrient that is good for general 
>  >pain or inflammation?  I am interested in actual experience 
>  >recommendations, NOT a quote or information from a book. 
>
>Yeah, you wouldn't want to get your information from an actual book on 
>the subject of 'pain and inflammation' written or edited by people who 
>have spent the bulk of their professional life examining these medical 
>phenomena. It would be MUCH more reliable to pop your question to 
>Usenet's MHA readership and leave it up to the random psychoaesthetic 
>whim and judgement of an Alt-enthusiast and their cure-de-jour. Your 
>right...no "quotes or [in particular, no] information from a book." 
>You can't be too careful, after all!
>
>JB.

John, what a sad post this is, not to mention rather unkind.

Whatever is wrong with a sufferer of chronic pain asking for a few
"real life" experiences? Perhaps he has read heaps of books already!

Patricia Ziliani
Mt. Hunter N.S.W. Australia

---

From: Della Noche <[email-masked]>
Date: 6 Nov 1995 17:40:56 GMT

I'd be interested in alternative anti-inflammatories myself.

John, you apparently have forgotten where most of our effective meds come 
from.  (Look up aspirin in any encyclopedia.)

Not only are there plenty of books, many of them are written for 
self-seeking purposes.  Real life experiences are very important, John, 
because they lead the way to discovery. 

Why do you think there is such a thing as "alternative" medicine, John?  
Because people find out from their own experiences that whatever's 
fashionable in mainstream medicine today isn't working for them and there 
are things that are?

What do you think makes up the source of most medical knowledge we have 
today, John?  Right!  Someone noticing that when they ate that plant or 
stretched this way or engaged in certain practices they felt better!!

Do you know that aspirin would probaby not be okay'd for use by the FDA 
if it came out today?  Certainly not OTC.

Did you know there are physicians even *today* who claim that Vit. C has 
little use in preventing or curing colds?

Do you know that there are doctors out there (I've even *met* some!!) who 
claim that Vit. E has no effect on hot flashes or other menopausal 
symptoms?!?!

Personal ("anecdotal" is what yuppie twit docs like to call them) 
accounts are very, very important today in finding out how to treat 
diseases and painful conditions.  Even more so now, as medical 
staffs are recovering from *years* of mistrained physicians.

Remember, we are dealing with years (approx. 1978 to 1992) of horribly 
wrong medical training that told doctors pain and suffering are simply 
indications that the patient is stupid and/or self-indulgent.  

These are the years when the medical students were lied to and told NOT 
to give any painkillers for painful medical procedures because patients 
might go into shock.  Actually, the exact opposite is true - buffer the 
shock to the system through analgesiacs and the body won't suffer the 
shock response and will heal more quickly!

If you still have a strong allegiance to "print", pick up any year's 
Consumer Reports annuals on "medicine".  That'll cure you.  These folks 
have been printing lies for years with absolutely no problem on their 
part.  They can apparently hire MD's who'll say whatever the editorial 
staff wants to print.  The fact that these lying articles have certainly 
diminished C.R.'s readership doesn't bother them or has escaped their 
attention. 

Della Noche

Can't help noticing you're posting through "romdas.HIP".  Anyone who can 
come up with a name like that can tell you the benefits of personal 
rather than academic accounts, esp. relating to drugs.  Do you think Ram 
Dass would be who he is today if he'd just sat around reading medical 
reports and not trusting personal experiences (others' as well as his 
own)?

[email-masked] (Patricia Ziliani) wrote:
>>whim and judgement of an Alt-enthusiast and their cure-de-jour.

Actually, I hope you're never in the situation where you need to learn 
this is true much of the time.

As mentioned below, the original request probably came from someone who's 
 read many books.  Remember that many of today's doctors went to school 
during the yuppie years, where they were taught that the only cure for 
pain was calling it "discomfort".  If that didn't work, then the patient 
was just too stupid to be using the word correctly and there was no hop 
for them.

 Your 
>Mt. Hunter N.S.W. Australia

Right, Patricia!

---

From: Della Noche <[email-masked]>
Date: 6 Nov 1995 17:41:36 GMT

Della Noche

 Your 

Right, Patricia!

---

From: [email-masked] (Richard Austin)
Date: Tue, 07 Nov 1995 00:12:38 -0600

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked]

>  >recommendations, NOT a quote or information from a book. 

Look into acupressure for pain.

-- 
  Richard Austin -- [email-masked]
   Institute for Planetary Renewal
    http://www.rt66.com/~richard/

---

From: [email-masked] (James Nonnemacher)
Date: 7 Nov 1995 13:49:12 GMT

>  >recommendations, NOT a quote or information from a book. 

At the risk of getting in this flame war and getting flamed...

I've read that the following 3 "compounds" are "natural" anti-inflamatories,
no personal experience with them, just read about them in Inside Triathlon:

1) Glucosamine sulfate -- mentioned previously in this news group

2) Tumeric -- a spice or seasoning used in Far Eastern dishes -- curried
    foods I believe.

3) Bromelain