Asian lion treated for arthritis with injections of gold

Hindustan Times ^ | December 7, 2005

[nickcarraway]

Veterinarians have treated an elderly lion in Rome's zoo for arthritis by inserting some 50 gold pellets into the animal's muscles, the zoo's chief veterinarian said today.

The Asian lion, named Bellamy, had difficulty walking until the procedure two weeks ago in which 24-karat gold pellets each measuring 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) in diameter were inserted, Klaus Gunther Friedrich said.

"We implantd gold into his spinal muscles and near the joints," he said, adding that gold helps to relieve muscle contraction around painful areas.

"The lion is getting old, if we hadn't intervened the situation would have got worse," crippling the lion's mobility, Friedrich told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Bellamy is nearly 13 -old for lions in the wild whose life expectancy is around 16 years, Rome's Bioparco zoo said. In captivity, life expectancy isfrequently longer it said.

The lion arrived from England in 2001 and has been living at the zoo since then.

After the 3 1-2 hour operation, Bellamy was taken to a new enclosure from which he later emerged looking a little weak and shaky, but managing to walk. Small dots along his back indicate where the injections were made.

"I think he lost his pain now. Obviously, I can't ask him but I can observe him and it looks like the pain is absolutely reduced. It's a great result," Friedrich said.

He said the technique has been used on dogs, cats and a tiger. Bellamy was believed to be the first lion to undergo the treatment, Friedrich said.

[Doogle]

headline two weeks from now: Lion carcass found missing limbs

Doogle

[mnehring]

I've heard that high spin gold (gold turned into powder by passing it through an electrical arc, changing it's molecular property) has a lot of medicinal proprieties.

[dennisw]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cg_exchange/

[dennisw]

Zoo injects gold into aching lion

Freed of arthritic pain, the animal is now walking again (ANSA) - Rome, December 2 - Vets at Rome zoo, anxious to relieve an aging lion's arthritis, have injected tiny particles of gold into its aching muscles .

Bellamy, a 13-year-old male who has had increasing difficulty walking recently, was operated on by an international team of specialists led by the zoo's chief vet, Klaus Friedrich .

The injection of particles of gold 'salts' into the body has sometimes been used to treat arthritis in humans. The gold bonds with certain compounds found in tissue and reduces the pain, experts say .

Friedrich said the injections had started to take effect and Bellamy was now beginning to walk again. He said the full effect of the treatment would only be apparent in a few days, when the animal would be moving normally .

In the meantime, technicians at the Roman 'Bioparco' have installed better heating in the lion's enclosure so that he will be comfortable as he recovers full mobility. The average lifespan of a lion in the wild is 15 or 16 years, although they often live well beyond that age in captivity .

[cchandler]

Could you say that he got the.......lion's share of the gold?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Gold is inert.

It can't react within the body. It would either puddle somewhere or be gathered up and passed.

I can't imagine it can have a medicinal effect. It would be very interesting to see proof of it, though (beyond the rantings and oaths of some holistic healer).

They ought to be feeding shark cartilage to the lion. But, oh no, PC conflict. (Head spinning.)

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

Actually, gold therapy has been around for a long time.

I have no idea how it works (or if), but it's not new.

[mnehring]

Odd, I thought colloidal gold was a common part of cancer treatments?

[Vinnie]

This therapy has been used on people at least 25 yrs.
I know someone that had it.

[17th Miss Regt]

At first, I thought this said 'Aslan lion treated for arthritis'.

[thesharkboy]

Probably due to a placebo effect.

[FormerACLUmember]

Panthera leo persica
Endangered
The Asian lion once occurred in southeast Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and India. By 1884, it survived only in an area of about 3,000 square kilometres in northern India’s Gir Forest, under the private protection of the ruler of the small state. Official protection by the imperial government was given in 1900, but with increasing human population, overgrazing, and destruction of forest cover, suitable habitat was reduced to about 1,300 square kilometres. In 1957, three African lions, hardly different from their Asiatic relatives, were released in the Gir Forest sanctuary. Their increase has indicated that such an approach may ensure the continued existence of the lion in Asia. About 85 Asian lions survive in captivity.

[Waverunner]

Bling

[backhoe]

Gold salts have been used for years on humans for this condition:

WEB RESULTS

1. Gold salts for rheumatoid arthritis
   Example(s): Ridaura (gold/auranofin), Aurolate, Myochrysine (gold sodium thiomalate), Solganal (gold ... What To Think About. References. Gold salts for rheumatoid arthritis. Examples ... how gold works to treat rheumatoid arthritis. However, gold salts appear to accumulate slowly in the ...
   www.webmd.com/hw/rheumatoid_arthritis/aa18620.asp - 40k - Cached - More from this site - Save - Block
2. Gold salts for rheumatoid arthritis - Kaiser Permanente
   Gold salts for rheumatoid arthritis - Visit Kaiser Permanente's Health Encyclopedia to find information and resources on Gold salts for rheumatoid arthritis.
   members.kaiserpermanente.org/kpweb/healthency.do?...+arthritis - More from this site - Save - Block
3. Gold salts for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
   Example(s): Solganal (aurothioglucose) - ... Gold salts for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Examples. Gold salts injected into the muscle (intramuscular) ... Gold salts are seldom used to treat children with JRA, because methotrexate ...
   www.webmd.com/hw/rheumatoid_arthritis/hw102829.asp - 41k - Cached - More from this site - Save - Block
4. Gold salts for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis - [Medication]
   ... Gold salts for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Examples. Gold salts injected into the muscle (intramuscular) ...
   www.bcbswny.com/kbase/topic/detail/drug/hw102829/detail.htm - 10k - Cached - More from this site - Save - Block
5. auranofin - Arthritis and arthritic conditions, medications, and treatment on MedicineNet.com
   Explains arthritis conditions includes symptoms, causes, medications, and treatment. Written and reviewed by a Rheumatologist. ... used in treating inflammatory arthritis. Exactly how gold salts work is not ... arthritis, such as adult and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, gold salts can decrease the inflammation ...
   www.medicinenet.com/auranofin/article.htm - 46k

[Joe 6-pack]

"Actually, gold therapy has been around for a long time.

I have no idea how it works..."

Regardless of your present health, you'd feel a whole lot better if your pockets were filled with gold...

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

I know it's been around for a while as a treatment. And I know they sell it to the elderly in some pill form to take (like a vitamin). I don't know much about this sort of thing. But what little I know of chemistry and the elements makes me wonder how something inert could be absorbed and processed and used medicinally.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

I don't know anything about that. A quick search, though, came up with this:
http://www.ebsciences.com/papers/cationic.htm

It sounds like they inject the gold and then measure how the electronic discharge of the cells change because of the gold. If this is accurate, the gold is not being processed, but is sort of serving as an amalgam as mercury once did in extracting gold.

As I said, I don't really know anything about this subject.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"But what little I know of chemistry and the elements makes me wonder how something inert could be absorbed and processed and used medicinally."

Well... my doctor told me to drink eight glasses of water a day... [grin]