Posted on 10/30/2007 12:50:09 PM PDT by fanfan
Can jet lag trigger mental illness? It sounds absurd, but in fact it's just one of the many strange medical theories that could actually be true. Here, Roger Dobson looks at other extraordinary claims and the evidence behind them...
DOGS GIVE WOMEN BREAST CANCER
Could it really be true that keeping a dog increases the risk of the disease?
Both dogs and humans carry the same virus that can induce cancer
Analysis of breast cancer cases by researchers at the University of Munich showed that patients with this type of cancer were significantly more likely to have kept a dog than a cat.
In fact, 79.7 per cent of all patients had intensive contact with dogs before they were diagnosed.
Only 4.4 per cent of the patients did not have pets at any time compared to 57.3 per cent of a healthy control group — so there was a 29-fold increased risk for pet owners.
Another study in Norway reported a very high level — 53.3 per cent — of breast cancers in 14,401 dogs.
In looking for a reason, scientists found a virus common in both dogs and humans.
The one they homed in on is the mouse mammary tumour virus (MMTV), which triggers breast cancer in mice and which has been investigated for possible links to human breast cancer.
The theory is that dogs, and possibly other pets, harbour and transmit MMTV or MMTVlike viruses that can induce human breast cancer.
The researchers say the theory may help to explain why women from Eastern countries are at increased risk of breast cancer when they move to Western nations — Asian or Oriental women seldom keep dogs as pets.
Migration to Western countries may cause them to alter their lifestyle, including keeping pet dogs.
NUTS CURE TOOTHACHE
It'a not just in science fiction novels and horror movies that scientists experiment on themselves.
The dentist Horace Wells tested the effects of nitrous oxide by having some of his teeth extracted while breathing in the gas; William Morton, a pioneer of anaesthesia, almost died during his experimentation.
In the same honourable tradition, Charles Weber, from North Carolina, put his oral health on the line when he tried cashew nuts as a cure for an abscess under a tooth.
He says research shows that Gram-positive bacteria, the bugs that cause tooth decay, acne, tuberculosis and leprosy, are killed by chemicals in cashew apples (the swollen stalk the nut is attached to), cashew shell oil and probably cashew nuts.
The suggestion is that the active chemicals in the nuts are anacardic acids, which in test tube experiments appear to be active against Streptococcus mutans, the cause of tooth decay. Weber says the acids can be lethal to bacteria in 15 minutes.
"I have made raw cashew nuts the main part of my diet for 24 hours on four occasions and have eliminated an abscessed tooth each time.
"There were no obvious side-effects. A fifth time required several day"
BEER BELLIES PROTECT MEN IN OLD AGE
When you hit your 30s, the poundsually start piling on, regardless of diet or exercise.
The average Western adult starts to get wider and thicker after their 20s, putting on 6lb to 11lb a deccade.
By age 50 we've gained, on average, an extra 1st 8lb to 2st 5lb.
Fatty acids in pork increase vulnerability
Obesity epidemic aside, this pattern is consistent in nearly every Western country.
While it could be due to men becoming less active or eating and drinking more as they get older, Israeli researchers suggest it's down to what they call young hunter hypothesis.
They believe that age-related weight gain.....
~snip~
:-)
No kidding.
Series.
;-)
Oh well, there goes my boobs.
My doggies are more fun than my boobies anyways ;)
I know what you mean.
Throwing a stick without a dog is no fun.
;-)
Ron Paul is a dentist?
NUTS CURE TOOTHACHE ................. Sure if you stick them in a vice, you’ll forget about the tooth ache!
...and if so, how?
Isn’t there a statistic that having a pet makes us live longer?
I’ve read that too.
Oh, well.
If you follow these things, you’ll notice that what they say kills you on Monday, they will tell you is good for you on Tuesday.
I wonder why my husband would say if I told him he has to get rid of his dog or I might get breast cancer. I’m not going to push it.
UFO/conspiracy/weird medicine day in full swing.
That’s right! I don’t know if that skinny babe is actually hot and would have to interview before deciding.
Notice: Wife and dog missing. Reward for dog. ;-)
Some of us felt that way about our cigarettes but they took them from us anyway.
No kidding and today is our 52nd wedding anniversary, too. I’m staying away from this one.
Happy Anniversary!
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