Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!samsung!olivea!oliveb!bunker!hcap!hnews!104!424!Gary.Bewell From: Gary.Bewell@f424.n104.z1.fidonet.org (Gary Bewell) Newsgroups: misc.handicap Subject: MS/Mercury fillings/sensitivities Message-ID: <16721@bunker.UUCP> Date: 9 Jan 91 21:58:56 GMT Sender: wtm@bunker.UUCP Reply-To: Gary.Bewell@f424.n104.z1.fidonet.org Distribution: misc Organization: FidoNet node 1:104/424 - Ready Room(IDIC), Denver CO Lines: 98 Approved: wtm@bunker.UUCP Index Number: 12788 On 16 Dec 90, Chris Brown wrote to Nadine Thomas CB> If ever there was an argument against self-regulation in CB> the medical professions it is the American Dental CB> Association's position on Mercury amalgams (fillings). CB> (There was a program on Sixty Minutes today, but this is CB> only the most recent exploration of the issue by those CB> not invested in protecting dentists reputations.) Hi Chris, I disagree. I'll address your second statement first. 10 years ago I took a friend to Dr Vimy. She had a cavity in one of her rear molars. What I saw and heard while I sat in the waiting room gave me the impression that he was in dentistry for the money, not the good of his patients. This became more evident when Julie came out having only had her teeth cleaned. He presented her with his suggested course of treatment. She was told that the tooth couldn't be filled. She would have to have a root canal at a cost around $1000. It was ironic that the amount was nearly the same as the cost of the stereo he was planning to buy. Coincidence? Since we both felt she was being conned, I accompanied her to another dentist. He looked at the tooth and said she didn't need a root canal. He filled the tooth and charged her around $100. Patient and tooth are still doing well. Back to the first. There are abuses in any self-regulating organization--for example, medical, dental, governmental and media. I am very leery of any research done by the University of Calgary. There tends to be lack of scientific method. (This comes from being at both ends of the research--subject and researcher.) The MS Clinic, for instance, refused to acknowledge that there could be pain in MS for years. I was told by both the head nurse and head of the clinic that there was no such thing as pain in MS and that they didn't have any patients with pain from MS. When a doctor in the States published research that there was pain in MS, there was a dramatic increase from no pain to around 33% of patients having pain. It's also very difficult for us to know how thorough the research is. My questions are ones like: 1) if mercury fillings affect the kidneys, why aren't the hospitals filled with patients with kidney problems?; 2) if breathing in the vapor is so serious, why aren't the hospitals filled with dentists with kidney problems?; 3) if amalgam fillings are so bad, why would a dentist risk having them put in his own mouth or the mouths of his loved ones? The number of subjects in this study was too small and as far as I know there wasn't a control group. ie. use of sheep twins--one having fillings and the other not having fillings. I also have a question about the side effects of the resin fillings that are being used instead of the almalgum ones. How safe are they? Would we be changing from one poison to another? Or how about the 'poisoning' effect of having all your amalgum fillings removed and replaced? If the research is true, removal would result in a drastic increase in mercury in the body. This would also cause a dramatic increase in mercury in the dentist's body ie. Dr Vimy. On the sensitivity side, anything going into our bodies might cause an adverse reaction. We are all complex beings. Drugs that work for you might kill me. Percentage-wise amalgum fillings reactions are probably similar to my reaction to drugs in the valium family. A couple of us have these reactions while the majority don't. Here is a response to the show from the head of the Multiple Sclerosis Research Clinic. It shows how ignorant medical researchers in Calgary can be. If you have MS like me, sit back and take a valium if your not allergic to them. "It doesn't matter what you do to an MS patient, if you do it with enough conviction, 50% of then will get better temporarily." Gary, the cynic # Origin: Total Perspective Vortex,Calgary,AB (201:5500/198) To respond netmail, use FSC-0038 DOMAIN lines or as 1st line of msg use: @DOMAIN METRONET 201:5500/198 === FNPGate 2.00 Release -- Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!104!424!Gary.Bewell Internet: Gary.Bewell@f424.n104.z1.fidonet.org