Do it yourself health care

Jul 2 23:04 UTC 2001

Clever ways to save on doctors' bills.

response 2 of 22:

Jul 3 00:48 UTC 2001

STeve needs an insert for one foot at a very high cost.  Our GP told him to
just buy the Dr Scholl's insert. Much cheaper and can be transfered between
different pairs of shoes.  The prescription insert had to be fitted to the
shoe as well as to his foot and couldn't be transfered (and it had to be a
certain type of shoe to bring the cost up even more).  Since a pair of shoes
lasts him 2-3 months, tops, this is not an option.  Insurance will only cover
one insert per foot once every few years, not once every couple of months.

response 4 of 22:

Jul 4 00:04 UTC 2001

He has a tendancy to walk on the inside edge of his feet, this causes a lot
of ankle pain and aggravates his gout.  Dr. Scholl's has a hard plastic insert
that is higher on the inside edge and has a very firm arch support.  It does
help when we remember to buy them i.e. unless the ankles hurt he doesn't think
about them or complain, when they do hurt he isn't walking let alone shopping.

response 6 of 22:

Jul 5 05:08 UTC 2001

Something got lost in the translation there.  Last I heard, every living
thing had DNA.

response 8 of 22:

Jul 5 15:30 UTC 2001

Huh?  I know that red blood cells are denucleated (but I don't know how or
why) before being put into service, but I'd never heard that about fat or
other "energy storage" cells.  If a cell has a nucleus, it has all the
DNA of any other cell of that species.

(An argument could be made that, as a percentage of volume or or mass,
'storage' cells have less DNA than some other cells, but that is probably
not relevant to the source of gout: cells are relatively small, after all.)

response 10 of 22:

Jul 5 18:04 UTC 2001

In any case, last I heard (source was mid-20th-century), cause of gout was
unknown.  It is associated with a buildup of uric acid, and there was dispute
as to whether this was the cause, but (at that time) the consensus was that
it was not.  In advanced cases, uric acid crystalizes in the tissues, but the
common symptoms appear before this happens, and injecting much higher levels
of uric acid into people does not produce gout or its symptoms.

Historically, treatment by diet has been popular but not very effective. 
Again, my knowledge is some half a century old, and there may have been
progress in that time.  (I happened to run across the thing yesterday, purely
by coincidence.  Haven't pursued it.)

response 12 of 22:

Jul 5 19:51 UTC 2001

Now linked to the Health conf. as #80.

response 14 of 22:

Jul 5 21:41 UTC 2001

Seems like both uric acid and urate are involved in gout.  

Vegetable Juices

   Procure a juicer and make fresh juice of the following: carrots,
   cucumber, celery.
   Carrot juice is very beneficial in alkalising the blood and
   neutralising & excreting uric acid. Consume generous quantities.
   
Fruits

   The following fruits are helpful in cases of gout attacks: black
   cherries, black grapes; chew thoroughly.
   As a therapy they are very affective if consumed exclusively for
   several days until the attack subsides and symptoms disappear.
   
   
Avoid

   Avoid the following in cases of gout:
   Alcohol;
   Alcohol metabolisation produces lactic acid in the blood, increases
   the production of purine by the body and severely interferes with the
   kidneys' ability to filter and excrete uric acid. This is often enough
   to pass saturation point of uric acid in the bodily fluids and start
   the crystallisation process.
   Tobacco;
   Foods that form purine; i.e. animal derived products and in particular
   organ meat, brain, sweetbread, pate, sausages.
   These contain high levels of purine which is further broken down in
   the body into uric acid, which is the bane in gout.
   If the excretory functions are no longer able to cope with high levels
   of uric acid, it courses through the bloodstream and deposits in the
   form of urate crystals in soft tissues and in the joints' synovial
   fluids.
   The problem is accentuated by a modern, meat-based diet that produces
   acidosis in the blood. This tips the balance beyond saturation point
   and uric acid crystallises.
.....
   Overweight sufferers should reduce their weight, and aim to maintain a
   more healthy level. The adherence to a proper alimentary regimen will
   automatically achieve this and bring a plethora of health benefits
   with it.
   
[section on deer velvet and bee pollen omitted - this site is commercial]

response 16 of 22:

Jul 6 05:45 UTC 2001

Where do you get this stuff? Carrot juice? Well-chewed black grapes? This
all sounds like witchcraft (which is a big component of "alternative
medicine"). 

response 18 of 22:

Jul 6 17:40 UTC 2001

In the US urinary calculi are 80% composed of calcium oxalate (stay
away from that spinach!); 5% of uric acid; 2% cystine; and the rest of
magnesium ammonium phosphate for infection residue. [Merck Manual]

response 20 of 22:

Jul 6 20:16 UTC 2001

Stay away from an animal-based diet heavy on milk products, too.
Does cooking break down the oxalate?  Rhubarb is very high in oxalic acid -
is that what makes it sour?  So is swiss chard.

response 22 of 22:

Jul 7 06:57 UTC 2001

Oxalate is not broken down by cooking. You can remove it with bleach,
however.                     8^P