john@ur-tut.UUCP (John Gurian) (12/07/85)
> >Incidently, no one has ever proved the familar anti-diarrheal, Kaopectate, > >works clinically. > > That's quite a strong statement! Saying that no one has ever proved > something implies that you have read all the medical literature in > the world! Either that, or that I allow reputable people to do all my reading for me. The reference for the following is Goodman and Gilman's "Pharmacologic Basis of Therapeutics"; I can assure you that they HAVE read the world literature. Kaolin is a hydrated aluminum silicate which acts as a good adsorbent. Pectin is a carbohydrate product made from apples; in fact, ground raw apples are a good way to get pectin into your system, if that's what you're set on. It is claimed that pectin acts as a demulent - in general, a demulent is a high molecular weight molecule that coats surfaces (skin, mucus membranes) and physically protects them from irritants. The combination of these two is available commercially as (cleverly named) Kaopectate; the kaolin adsorbing the bad guys that irritate your gut, and the pectin preventing them from reaching your GI mucosa. But, caveat emptor, "(Kaopectate) is claimed to act as an adsorbent and demulent in the treatment of diarrhea. However, adequately controlled clinical studies that demonstrate the efficacy of of these popular but minimally effective anti-diarrheal mixtures are lacking." To be unbiased, I should point out that this does NOT mean that they don't work. It only means no scientific studies have been produced to date which prove that they work, for whatever reason. Since diarrhea is a common and life-threatening disease in many parts of the world, perhaps we should start a net.diarrhea to discuss this more fully! :-) - John Gurian (seismo!rochester!ur-tut!john) - Univ. of Rochester School of Medicine
craig@pyuxv.UUCP (12/09/85)
>... perhaps we should start a net.diarrhea to discuss this more fully! :-) > - John Gurian (seismo!rochester!ur-tut!john) > - Univ. of Rochester School of Medicine Would the newsgroup include topics on cheese, enemas, and divers subjects?
craig@pyuxv.UUCP (12/09/85)
>... perhaps we should start a net.diarrhea to discuss this more fully! :-) > - John Gurian (seismo!rochester!ur-tut!john) > - Univ. of Rochester School of Medicine Could that newsgroup include topics on cheese, enemas, and divers subjects? -- -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- ..!ihnp4!pyuxv!craig (RB Craig @ Bell Communications Research) Piscataway, NJ 08854-1300 To the fleet go life's greatest rewards...