Medicine and its related products and regulations

I recently bought a package of "SweetLite Natural Fructose Sugar".  
What I want to know is if there is any truth to the  claims they
make on the back of the package.  

Here’s a little of what they say:

        The major difference between natural fructose sugar
        and common sugar is the way it is converted to
        energy in the body.  Natural fructose sugar is absorbed
        from the intestine more slowly than common sugar.  
        Most of common sugar passes through the liver and
        immediately enters the bloodstream causing a rise in
        blood sugar level.  Insulin is then secreted by the
        pancreas to either help convert the blood sugar to
        useable energy or to store it as fat within the body.

        Natural fructose sugar, however, is immediately
        trapped in the liver and stored as carbohydrate.  There
        it is very slowly converted to blood sugar and enters
        the blood stream in an orderly, time delayed sequence.  
        Small quantities of insulin may be secreted to help
        utilize the blood sugar as energy or store it as fat.  
        It is this unique difference that distinguishes natural
        fructose sugar from all other sugars.  Natural fructose
        sugar is so slowly released into the blood stream that
        it causes even less rise in blood sugar than many
        complex carbohydrates such as breads, oatmeal, rice,
        potatoes and peas.

It goes on to say that the American Diabetes Association has
indicated that up to 75 grams of fructose can be consumed daily
as long as it is accounted for on an exchange basis (1 tsp is
1/3 of a fruit exchange).

Anyway, I want to know if their claims are true.  Am I improving
my health by consuming fructose instead of sugar?  I am trying to
quit using aspartame, and I thought fructose might be a good
alternative.  I’ve heard plenty of people say that sugar is sugar
is sugar, whether it’s fructose, honey, or whatever.  Are these
SweetLite people just lying to us?

        Thanks,

        Yvonne

–
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  Yvonne Van Olphen -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
           University of Texas at Austin CS Dept.
                     y…@cs.utexas.edu            
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

To all interested,

        The following is a summary of the activities in the attempt
to create the newsgroup sci.med.physics:

        On about April 12, announcements were posted to obtain a general
feel for the level of interest in the group.  Postings went to
sci.physics, comp.graphics, sci.med, and sci.misc.

        On April 21, a CALL FOR DISCUSSION was posted in these groups, as
well as COMP.AI.VISION and NEWS.GROUPS

        There was really no active discussion, but I received instead
22 replies by mail from people interested in the group, and discussing
what they would like to see in such a group.

        On May 8, a CALL FOR VOTES was posted to the above mentioned
groups.

        On May 9, two votes were lost after I initially read them.  I posted
a message asking people to reaffirm their votes for this date.  I received
three messages from people whose votes I already had registered for May 9.

        On May 21, due to a mistake in reading the rules, voting was closed.
This was quickly corrected on the same day with postings to all affected
groups.

        Voting closed yesterday.

The vote total, after any known corrections, is:

YES:            140
NO:              11
——————-
YES-NO          129

Based on my initial proposal, the group is to be un-moderated, and it will
be left up to a general concensus of the participants to keep the level
of discussion on an appropriate plane.

The purpose of this group is to allow a forum for discussion of applications
of physics in Medicine.  The broad categories include:

Biophysics

Biomechanics (eg. movement science)

Health Physics (eg. radiation safety)

Diagnostic Applications (eg. Imaging applications)

Radiation Therapy Applications

Nuclear Medicine Applications

The following is a list of votes:

YES VOTES
kil…@mimsy.umd.edu (Darren F. Provine)
oeb…@idca.tds.PHILIPS.nl (Oebele Dijkstra)
ha…@cvs.rochester.edu
tjh%bu-pub.BU….@bu-it.edu (Tim Hall)
k…@uncecs.edu (David Kopf)
st…@oscsuna.osc.edu (Rick Stein)
e…@spdcc.com (steve Elias)Sar…@cis.ohio-state.edu (Marc Sarrel)
WWTM…@HEITUE5.BITNET (Dr. Herman J. Woltring)
moor…@tutoring.cs.rpi.edu
je…@emx.utexas.edu (Jesse Driver)
w…@suns.UMD.EDU (William L. Sebok)
y…@wasatch.utah.edu (Benny Yih)
m…@mayo.edu (Mahlon Stacy)
k…@maxwell.nde.swri.edu (Keith S. Pickens)
stjhmc!stjhmc.fidonet.org!ddod…@asuvax.asu.edu (David Dodell)
slh%b…@lanl.gov
erlebac…@turing.toronto.edu (Beverly Erlebacher)
37147_1…@uwovax.uwo.ca (Marv Sherebrin)
c…@ece-csc.ncsu.edu (craig Hamilton)
oa…@emx.utexas.edu (D. Brunder)
fed!mqws2!m1sw…@uunet.uu.net (Sean Doyle)
msche…@hawk.ulowell.edu (martin Scheldbauer)
msm…@topaz.rutgers.edu (Mark Smith)
su…@beppe.ericsson.se  (susan Cohen)
bstr…@sierra.cray.com (Brad Strand)
d…@saturn.wustl.edu (Donald L. Snyder)
mrk@lfu_one.wustl.edu (Mark R. Kaufmann)
clo%oclcsun.butnet (Charles L. Ohrstedt)
k…@orion.mc.duke.edu (Kim Greer)
va…@tut.fi (Alpo Varri)
or…@cup.portal.com
mar…@med-image.compsci.bristol.ac.uk (Dr. Martin Shortley)
phill%med-image.compsci.bristol.ac.uk (Phill Everson)
ca…@med-image.compsci.bristol.ac.uk (Carol Taylor)
alan%essex.ac.uk (Alan M. Stanier)
desw%cogs.sussex.ac.uk (Des Watson)
j…@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu (Jeff Alexander)
kauffman-…@yale.arpa (Jon Kauffman)
shell!jody@somewhere jody Winston
east…@me.utoronto.ca (Doug Eastick)
elwin@oddjob (Shin)
rebel!didsgn!r…@gatech.edu (Jean-Luc Chatelain)
giova…@topaz.rutgers.edu (Steve Giovannetti)
huc…@ms.uky.edu
rei…@isy.liu.se (Reiner Lenz)
man…@ehsnet.fidonet.org (Hector Mandel)
shero…@godot.radonc.unc.edu (Dr. George Sherouse)
aoa!c…@harvard.harvard.edu (Carl Witthoft)
ke…@ds-rtp.dg.com (Karen Kenny)
ma…@hubcap.clemson.edu (Madhu Raman)
johns…@lbl-csam.arpa (Bill Johnston)
annala%neuro.usc.edu (A J Annala)
ephraim%techunix.bitnet (Ephraim Silverberg)
mda…@daitc.mil (Mike Dante)
stjhmc!f12.n106.71.fidonet.org
james.hojmanow…@f4.n233.71.fidonet.org
east…@me.utoronto.bitnet
conrad!…@cs.utexas.edu
clive%med-image.compsci.bristol.ac.uk (Clive Haworth)
gindi%gi…@venus.ycc.yale.edu (Gene Gindi)
n…@techunix.bitnet (Nahum Kiryati)
di…@cis.ohio-state.edu (Diana Smetters)
munnari!facet.ee.su.oz.au (Michael Braun)
ernest.stok…@evax.arl.utexas.edu (Ernie Stokely)
bourl…@godot.radonc.unc.edu (J. Daniel Bourland)
pierre.lan…@brl1.nyu.edu
stens…@kbsvax.crd.ge.com (j. Ross Stenstrom)
bloo…@mozart.crd.ge.com (John J. Bloomer)
seg…@caip.rutgers.edu (Ed Segall)
j…@ads.com (John W. Dye Jr.)
engel…@cs.yale.edu (Sean Philip Engelson)
el…@dna.the.se (Anders Holm)
d…@cs.wisc.edu (Chuck Dyer)
hong%…@venus.ycc.yale.edu (Hong Yan)
kpra…@caip.rutgers.edu (K. Venkatesh Prasad)
black…@hodgkin.med.upenn.edu (David Blackman
so…@ee.ecn.purdue.edu (Jisheng Song)
mal…@apple.com (Malcolm Slaney)
d…@uwovax.butnet (Devkumar R. Sainani)
cucard!ccnysci!pa…@columbia.edu (Patt Haring)
p…@rover.uchicago.edu (Dr. Hu)
m…@bmc.uu.se (Michael Szardenings, Uppsala)
lu…@cs.wisc.edu (David L. Luner)
cme…@isl.stanford.edu (Craig Meyer)
soren…@athena.mit.edu (Greg Sorensen)
mcgre…@ncicrf.gov (George Mcgregor)
slh%b…@lanl.gov (Sally L Harris)
ah%ipg.ph.kcl.ac.uk (Anthony R Hare)
bpang…@wpi.bitnet (Brian J Pangrle)
sedsp…@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Steve Abrams)
ne…@moe.mcrcim.mcgill.edu (Sean Marrett)
d…@osteocyber.ortho.hmc.psu.edu (David S. Channin)
he…@cvl.umd.edu (Jean-Yves Herve’)
stens…@kbsvax.crd.ge.com (J. Ross Stenstrom)
su…@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov (Susan Eberlein)
t…@rover.uchicago.edu (Kim Kiat Tan)
binf…@anaconda.stanford.edu (Tom Binford)
r…@pavlov.bcm.tmc.edu (Richard H. Miller)
cogg…@cs.unc.edu (Dr. James Coggins)
ficc!je…@uunet.uu.net (Jeff Daiell)
a…@ares.cs.wayne.edu (Arindam)
sono!hol…@sun.com (Greg Holley)
ficc!…@uunet.uu.net (Stanley M. Sutton)
gao%…@venus.ycc.yale.edu
ne…@garnet.berkeley.edu
h…@ethz.uucp
goree%…@venus.ycc.yale.edu
roe…@rover.uchicago.edu (John Roeske)
r…@utkcs2.cs.utk.edu (John Rose)
da…@csam.lbl.gov (David Robertson)
unido!gmdzi!…@uunet.uu.net (Bernd Messenbrink)
d…@facet.ee.su.oz (Dr. Dov Rosenfeld)
ja…@rover.uchicago.edu (James Balter)
h…@tank.uchicago.edu (Ben Hermann)
liz%…@venus.ycc.yale.edu
thomas%usuhs.bitnet (Jerry Thomas)
allen%biomed.abdn.ac.uk (Dr. Alistair Allen)
mike%mgh-r…@harvard.harvard.edu
br…@facet.ee.su.oz
ng…@facet.ee.su.oz
to…@facet.ee.su.oz
w…@facet.ee.su.oz
hed…@facet.ee.su.oz
y…@facet.ee.su.oz
tre…@uwovax.uwo.ca (Trevor Cradduck)
guti%psi#iafe%ssl.s…@io.arc.nasa.gov (Alberto L. Barengols)
jianhui%…@venus.ycc.yale.edu
MED015%DJUKFA11.BITNET (Otto Muzik)
weinh…@castor.wust1.edu (Marty Weinhous)
j…@unix.cis.pittsburgh.edu (Jeffrey James Brian Carpenter)
magu…@cs.columbia.edu (Chip Maguire)
s…@cadre.dsl.pittsburgh.edu (Sean McLinden)
danth…@ariel.unm.edu
l…@netsys.com (Len Rose)
tv…@polyslo.calpoly.edu (Gwen)
t…@ifi.uio.no (Truls Solheim Myklebust)
mann%yalevm.bitnet (Ed Manning)
pe…@aramis.rutgers.edu
s…@uts.amdahl.com (Steve Schoettler)
edh…@rand.org (Ed Hall)
NO VOTES
bbu…@BRL.MIL
ari…@mcc.com (john Arisco)
elsie!…@ncifcrf.gov (Arthur David Olson)
c…@venera.isi.edu
tom…@weissenburger.crin.fr (Karl Tombre)
mvac23!tho…@udek.edu (Thomas Lapp)
n…@ocha.bcm.tmc.edu (Norman Furlong)
to…@bu-it.bu.edu
j…@rpp386.cactus.org (John F. Haugh II)
b…@omni.com (Bob Weissman)
icdi10…@cdin-1.uu.net (Fred Rump)

One vote was posted in SCI.MED due to a failure to reach me (e…@spdcc.com).
This vote was not counted.

There is now a five day period to correct voting errors and settle any
other problems.

James Balter
ja…@rover.uchicago.edu
"If the hat fits, slice it!"

Jeffrey Silber writes, more or less, that Red Cross voluntary blood donations
are flat or down nationwide, which he attributes to a general fear that
giving blood might cause AIDS, which all readers of USENET know is false.

I think maybe you and many others are misunderstanding something.

It may be true that there are people out there who think that they can get AIDS
by giving blood.

But if you were to ask the question correctly, I think you’d find that many
more don’t donate, because of the certainty of being TESTED for AIDS if they
do.

If I knew that if my blood were found to be HIV+, that they’d toss it but NOT
tell me, I’d start giving again. (Actually I can’t, because I’m taking
prescriptions you folks don’t like, but that’s beside the point.)

Considering the economic and social and emotional load that HIV+ folks bear,
even though they are usually years from any debilitating sickness, and the fact
that the knowledge does them little good anyway at present state of the art,
many people, even though at very low risk, don’t want to be tested…

…which means they can’t give blood.

[By the way: Yes, I practice safer sex. No, I'm not high risk. No, I don't
sleep around. And so on. The only reason I might want to know that I was HIV+
is to modify my behavior so as not to pass it on - but I'm ALREADY acting that
way. So the knowledge would do me no good at all, but could do me immense
harm. (Insurance, job, living environment discrimination? We've all heard the
horror stories.) Anyway, I'm referring to "me" generically, for the many people
who have this same attitude.]

Steven C. Den Beste,   BBN Communications Corp., Cambridge MA
denbe…@bbn.com(ARPA/CSNET/UUCP)    harvard!bbn.com!denbeste(UUCP)

> In an article of <26 May 89 15:15:38 GMT>, eesny…@boulder.Colorado.EDU  
> E. Snyder) writes:

 EE>I am not an MD (thank God) but I have a really difficult time believing
 EE>that de-ionized water could be detrimental to one’s health.  In even
 EE>the
 EE>foulest water, I can’t imagine the ionic strength being higher than the
 EE>mM (mili molar) range.  Whether it is potassium, sodium or calcium,
 EE>water
 EE>has long ago ceased to be an important source of minerals in the human
 EE>diet.  Drinking DI water (how much, say 1-2 litres a day?) would only
 EE>fail to make a contribution.  Eat one bite of beef and you have more
 EE>potassium than you can shake a stick at (intracellular [K+]=140mM). A
 EE>bag of potato chips and you get more than your share of sodium…..
 EE>One would have to have a pretty messed up diet to begin with for DI
 EE>water
 EE>to be a problem…..
 EE>
 EE>I think the suspicion is that drinking a lot of DI water would cause
 EE>hypokalemia.  ….but then who drinks physiological saline?
 EE>Any MD’s care to comment?

> I’m not an MD either, I am a hospital pharmacist.  It is indeed possible to
> become water intoxicated from drinking deionized water.  We see several cases  
> every summer.  The scenario goes something like this:  A jogger runs during  
an
> especially hot day.  When he finishes his run he tanks up on bottled,
> deionized water.  Later that day he presents to the emergency room with
> headache and nausea – it seems that overloading on deionized water when you
> are volume depleted causes cerebral edema (if I remember correctly).  Hope
> this helps.
> Douglas

Excess water drinking can cause the above in special circumstances and it need  
not be distilled water. We occasionally see symptomatic hyponatremic patients,  
usually psychotics who have simply drunk too much tap water
(psychotic polydipsia).

Michael

–  
Uucp: …{gatech,ames,rutgers}!ncar!noao!asuvax!stjhmc!167!1.0!Outremed*.Mr
Internet: Outremed*…@p0.f1.n167.z1.fidonet.org

Here’s a question prompted by a conversation I was having a while ago:

Does general anaesthesia pose any special hazards to people with sickle-cell
anemia or sickle-cell trait?  In particular, are there problems with using
some kind of gas?

One worry was that the anaesthetic might reduce the oxygen level in the
patient’s blood, and so trigger an attack.  Is this possible?  If so,
what lessens the risks?

Thanks,

Chris

Everyone-

     As I am not a member of the medical profession, I feel a bit
guilty about leaving a message in this group.  However, I have a
question that can be best answered by members of the medical
profession, and I can use as many opinions as I can get.
     Recently, I read an almost unbelieveable article in an "Ann
Landers" coloumn.  The article contained information on a program
being offered by the U.S. Department of Defense.  Apparently, one
can study medicine at no cost; that is, tuition and books are
entirely free.  Further, all students recieve a commission in the
armed services upon enrolling.  The final result is an M.D. from
the F. Edward Herbert School of Medicine.
     I am wondering if any of you have either heard of this
remarkable program, or of this particular school.  Any information
would be helpful in making a decision.
                                 Sincerely
                                     Ken Ramsey

–  
Uucp: …{gatech,ames,rutgers}!ncar!noao!asuvax!stjhmc!109!414!Kenny.Ramsey
Internet: Kenny.Ram…@f414.n109.z1.fidonet.org

 sil…@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Jeffrey Silber) writes:

>The policy of the Red Cross is that if a male has had sex with another male
>since (?)  1978 they are not to donate.  Partners (of either sex) of those
>previous statement are not to donate.  Same for IV drugs users, prostitutes,
>those who have patronized prostitutes, hemophiliacs, and partners of the
>aforementioned.

        the last time i donated blood, the printed instructions said
        that males who had boffed other males in the last 10 years
        should not donate…  and that those who had had sex with a
        prostitute *in the last 6 months* should not donate.  their
        policy regarding those who boffed prostitutes is baffling…
        shouldn’t those who have boffed a prostitute in the last 10
        years also be prohibited from donating?  has the policy changed
        since then?

–
 …… Steve Elias (e…@spdcc.com);(6178591389); {}
 { Apple: keep your lawyers off of our computers! }

 > I agree entirely. Unfortunately, a half decent disclosure
 > of possibe side effects often triples the time one must
 > spend with the average anxious patient (who really doesn’t
 > want to take that drug in the first place) and who will
 > then want to know everything about each of the multitude of
 > possible complications. With a waiting room full of
 > patients, corners are regularly cut.

I understand that, of course.  I guess I would have been happy just to have  
been told to call in case I experienced one of the few symptoms (like rash,  
fever, sore throat, etc.) that the manufacturer thought important enough to set  
in bold type in the package insert.

I rely on my physician for his clinical judgement, and have no desire to try  
and "second guess" him.  I do not expect him to list all of the possible  
complications and side effects of the drugs he prescribes (especially since  
many of the ones listed may not actually be caused by the drug anyway)– but  
when there are certain symptoms which may indicate something serious (if rare)  
which would require immediate withdrawal of the drug, I just would feel better  
knowing about them.

–  
Uucp: …{gatech,ames,rutgers}!ncar!noao!asuvax!stjhmc!260!335!Bob.Beilstein
Internet: Bob.Beilst…@f335.n260.z1.fidonet.org

I remember a friend who had his dog put to sleep upon the vet’s
recommendation, the diagnosis being cancer of the hindquarter/joint.
The dog was six years old and full of vigor – no outward indication
of malaise, except when he chased squirrels at high speeds the leg
would give out. This happened 6 or 7 years ago before Lyme Disease
was as identified as it is today. My question(s) is:

Do dogs, deer, mice, etc. get LD? Are they afflicted in the same way?

How is it that the tick is immuned?

Also: Is donated blood now being screened for LD? No? Why?

                                 Thanks,
                                Bob Sudano

(I think this article fell into the void the first time I posted it — I
apologize to anyone who may be seeing it for a second time, though….)

Does anyone know what effect, if any, oral progestins, as in a progestin-
only birth control pill (the "mini-pill") would have on a person’s level
of glucose tolerance?  I know that the combination estrogen/progestin pill
can produce a deterioration in glucose tolerance; unfortunately, most of
the reference material I have does not discuss the progestin-only pill
separately from the combination pill.  The one reference that does claims
that the progestin-only pill does not share this problem with the combi-
nation pill; the problem is that this reference isn’t very authoritative.
So — does anyone have either any better information on this question, or
any pointers to potential references?

Thanks in advance,
Barbara Petersen (guest on John’s account)
jo…@sj.ate.slb.com