h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The most astounding medical fact I've heard was reported by Douglas Adams, on the BBC, when he was being interviewed about his book 'Last Chance to See'.

He was speaking of the importance of maintaining as much of the rain forests that are left as possible; and, as an example, he related the story of quinine.

That it cures Malaria, and was being used for that purpose by aboriginal tribes for many years, was interesting enough; but the story of how the medical community fought to stifle news and experimentation on the matter seemed to reflect the same bone-headed mindset with which the current medical community fights so many potentially valuable holistic or natural treatments, and the way that churches fight against science.

Dear Frods towell,

Well, how nice to meet you again. !! And really very fortuitous.

I am fighting a battle in trying to get the medical fraternity to believe me when I tell them that my BP drops 10 -15 untis in the same amount of time, when I drink a glass of beetroot juice.

So thank you for the story about DNA. What an extraordinarily wonderful man.

There is still so much to do...I just do not have time to go even though I am virtually an ancient monument. !!

Sincerely,

Christiane.
AlsoRan80

Apologies
Fords Towel

I need a proof reader as I can hardly see. !!

CME
AR80

I've spotted you, here and there, as well! Glad you're keeping active on the site.

I hope you posted that thing about the beet juice. Was this a result that you expected, or discovered accidentally?

Was there some basis for a correlation?

I may have to try that, experimentally, to see if I can corroborate your results!

Dear Fords Towel,

It was a friend who who phoned me and told me she had read it in either the Guardian or the Express last year. Apparently whatever is significant is found in the beetroot water - I boil three big beetroots stalks and all in one litre of water for about two hours. Then keep the water and throw away the beetroot, It seems that it must be absrbed in the mouth with the digestive juices of the mouth.(ptyalin?) It definitely works. I have enormously high BP, in spite of having had an aneursym in my left coronary artery being bypassed in August 1994 and being given "10 years" extra life. !!. As you can see I have had considerably more and my BP has gone up again over the 200 mark. !! The doctors faint, and |I just look at them and think that there is a lot of fuss being made!!. I am certain that it is because I trained for four years as a swimmer and swam literally a mile and a hlf a day for that period - hoping to go to the Olympic games in 1948!! - also I practised Hatha Yoga for thirty years and stood on my head for fifteen minutes every day.!! I reckon the circulation in my brain is very good.!!

I had a "Global stroke ! about two months ago, and I just laugh at the adverts which say that you should have a scan withing three hours. My scan was done on Christmas eve - nearly a fortnight after my stroke. !! It seems that I have had that stroke but that the damage done was not too invasive. At the moment it is only the fact that my short term memory is not what it should be. !! I long to write about it as I have found out all sorts of tricks which keep me going, but feel that if I tell any of the local medical fraternity about it they will just laugh their heads off. !! Fortunately I have a wonderful cardiologist who diagnosed the aneurysm after I had been on a heart monitor for ten days and which the local doctors did not recognise. They just informed me that I was very fotunate that I had not had a heart attack. My eldest son sent me to my cardiologsit in London and two days later I was having open heart surgery. !! From which I have made a wonderful recovery. !!
but I am getting slightly anxious now.

Are you in the medical field.? The story of DNA is so prescient - is that the word? Quinine is the only remedy for malaria. I often shudder when I think of what we have done to our planet. I trained as a radiographer about twenty years after Marie Curie and her husband were working in Paris and discovered the Xray technique. In fact my grandfather was at University with the two Curies.

Thank you for your interest. I just know that because of the wonderful advances made in medcine succeeding generations are going to live very much longer than my generation. I would like to contribute something to helping them to grow old healthily. !!

Sincerely,

Christiane
AR80!!

Christiane:

How amazing and interesting note!

I think I'll start checking my BP over the next week, then start my regimine of Beet Juice to see if I can help to corroborate the results. Some questions: Why throw out the beets? Do you do anything to the water that makes it tastier? How do you absorb it in your the mouth?

I'm sorry to hear about the stroke, but I'm very glad that there has not been a heart attack. A BP of over 200 is certainly no laughing matter; but what about the other number?

No, I'm not in the medical field, though I do write some on medical mattes (these links are available on my Personal Space):
A2054602 Burning Mouth Syndrome (Feb 6, 2004)
A2818668 Adult Sleep Apnoea - Apnea - OSA (Jul 23, 2004)
A2922167 Trigger Thumb (Oct 19, 2004)
A3283049 Whipple's Disease (Dec 13, 2004)

You may have meant pertinent, versus prescient. Quinine, however, is not the only remedy for malaria, if you include the artificial quinines. But, when all the artificials fail, the natural quinine (from the cinchona tree of the Andes in South America) seems to be the dependable silver bullet.

Version of the story to which DNA referred:
[These European explorers brought quinine, which was a powder-like substance, back to Europe, where it was rejected until later in the 17th Century, when a doctor secretly used quinine powder to cure King Charles II of England and the son of King Louis XIV of France of malaria. After the means to these cures became public, quinine became an accepted medication all over the world.]

The Olympics, and in London, how great would that have been! Still, all of that training is still serving you well from the sound of it.

And, a connection to the Curie's!! Pity about her husband, Nobel Prize for them in 1903 and he dead by 1906.

Allow me to thank you for all your contributions now!

All my best,

Dear Frds Towel

Lots of questions

It has been 212/over 110
Generally is 180/97
With beetroot juice goes down to
150/78
I also have BP tablets/

I don't eat the beetroot. I just thought that the goodness was in the juice. ( put nothing in the water. Tt does not taste unpleasant. I thought that it would be worth seeing how the Russians and the Poles cope with BP in view of the fact that Borscht is sucha a favourite of theirs.

I just sort of swill it around in my mouth. I do try to drink it slowly.

I am very tired now. I look forward to you testing it correctly and seeing if it does lower your BP. But what if you do not need to have your BP lowered? Then would it not harm you? Be careful.

I cannot remember what other qiestions ou asked me. I shall read your contributions on health tomorrow.

good night

Christiane
AR80

I saw this note, just a couple of minutes after you posted it; but I decided I'd better not respond immediately for fear of delaying your rest. I sometimes have a problem leaving notes unanswered when I know I should be doing something else.

212/100? Yes, that is very high. I'm happy to hear that 150/78 is youir new norm, but I hope you're eating to reduce that number even further (oatmeal and such).

I suspect that I'll eat the beets as well as swish/swallow the juice after my week of BP monitoring is up. I've found them to be quite good, although I've never actually made Borscht.

Beets are a healthful food for reasons other than blood pressure, so I doubt that there is any danger to a healthy circulatory system. It's like turning the valve on plumbing, pressure backs up until the valve is opened. Once it is fully opened, it can't open any further.

In any case, my BP could due with a drop of 20 or 30 points for both numbers.

Last night's was 153/93, and this morning's was 164/100.

The 100 would put me in the danger area for stroke. If it was regularly up there, I'd be working even harder at reducing it.

Thanks again, and I'll keep you informed!

Good luck dear Fords towel,

I did not realise that the lower one was also important.
I suppose that hardening of the arteries I cannot remember what it is called thank goodness -has something to do with the very high uppper one. !!

Lots pf porrodge. no eggs. butter. cream etc/ etc/ ~But I still manage to enjoy my food. A fresh green lettuce with a vinaigrette a la francaise )I actualoy season all my fresh vegetable with it except spinach anc cabbage!! - makes it very pleasant. And I have been practially a vegetarian except for poulty and fish for over five years. And i love fruit. so I really thinik that one can enjoy one's food even if one has to be careful.

Go well

Christoame