wws@ukma.UUCP (Bill Stoll) (08/31/85)
Here is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the absolute superiority of Holistic Medicine over Conventional Medicine alone. After all, when it is all said and done, it is results that count! S.M.Henning has had athletes' foot for two years and has "tried everything". S/he is getting desperate enough to throw the problem out into the universe and find an answer. It appears the problem has been present long enough to get his/her attention. THE FIRST REQUIREMENT FOR CURE HAS NOW BEEN ACHIEVED! To solve a problem such as this one must understand the mechanisms behind a stubborn case of "tinea pedis (the technical name for athletes' foot). There are many kinds, of course, but the type described here is usually caused by a common group of fungi. Fungi grow on moist dead material. They prefer a warm, dark area to do their growing in. We are continually shedding our skin. As the basal layer divides it pushes the older cells up toward the surface of the skin where they flatten out,dry up & flake away. The more dead skin there is on the surface of the body, the more food there is for the fungus to grow on. People who make a point of rubbing the terrycloth washrag between their toes during their bath, and rubbing the terrycloth towel between their toes during drying, have much less chance of getting, or sustaining, athletes' foot. Unfortunately, since it is somewhat embarrassing to have your Doctor tell you that you haven't been washing between your toes (Is there no privacy?-- it even reminds most of us of the last time our mothers yelled at us to wash behind our ears),the physician whose practice depends in part on the quality of the bedside manner tends to avoid those kind of challenges to the patient. It is much safer for the Doctor to write a prescription (quicker too) since 90%, or better, will respond to Micatin or Lotrimin--the two most commonly prescribed topicals for this condition. The more moisture there is in the area, the more likely the fungus will be happy and decide to have a party. The more stress a person is under the more moist their hands and feet are--a perfectly normal consequence of the repressed "fight or flight" mechanism present in a growing % of our population. The average person in this culture is exposed to >1000 times as many stresses per day as people were just 100 years ago. A second consequence of "dysautonomia"(a technical term for continuous sympathetic stimulation to the point of less than optimum response when needed) is a reduction in the blood flow to the hands and feet. That's why people get cold hands and feet when they are nervous. The combination of increased moisture, and decreased blood flow (which, of course, reduces the immunity in the area), greatly increases the susceptibility of the tissue to the fungus. An effective skilled relaxation technique will, in about 3 months time, reverse this condition. Now tell me: Who but the patient is going to profit by the application of the above information? If I am willing to simply write an Rx, and hurry on to the next patient, I am doing what is socially acceptable, see 50-60 patients (easily) per day and make 150,000-200,000 dollars per year as a reward. If I take the time to explain the above to the patient so that my cure rate will be 100%, with NO recurrence (of course, supplying the conventional Rx at the same time); I will never see the patient again for the same thing (which is where the really easy money is). I cannot possibly charge the patient enough to make up for the extra time spent so my income will typically be 30,000-50,000 dollars per year. In addition: if the patient practices an effective relaxation technique regularly, the side effects greatly reduce the chances of all known chronic diseases. My annuity of the satisfied patient coming back to me for the rest of their lives with more and more expensive diseases is being threatened. Almost anything will cure athletes' foot if one gets rid of the "susceptibility factors". There will be many patients who will opt to ignore the causes and just "put something on it"; thus ignoring this early warning sign of the above factors which will continue until a LOUDER warning is necessary. More than 90% will get away with it; the other <10% will be like S.M.Henning. I don't think that fact excuses the Doctor from offering both options. Physicians must decide whether they are healers or businessmen. The patient must decide which path to take once all the information is imparted. Since the cure for anything requires patient education, we insist that all our patients tape record their sessions so they can play the info back over and over. The average patient remembers only 30% of what is said during the encounter with the physician. By the next day only 10% is recalled. That is the same as going to the grocery store, buying your groceries &, as you leave the store,throwing 70% in the garbage. The next day, when you open the refrigerator, you find only 10% left of what you purchased the day before. Is it any wonder "disease care costs so much? Which type of medicine do you prefer? Today it is still hard to find a good Holistic Physician; although you can if you really try. At the very least you can talk to your purely conventional doctor to get the above info. Unfortunately, most have not bothered to take the extra training and will look blankly at you when you try. The stated goal of the American Holistic Medical Assn., for this year, is to have 30% of the patients who see a physician to ask: "Are you a Holistic Medical Practitioner?" The most powerful influence to change the system is coming from the lay population. After all, they are the ones that are benefiting; not the hospitals,not the pharmacists, not the drug companies, not the insurance companies, etc. The physician who practices Holistic Medicine receives great benefit. There are "TREASURES MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD". There is no "burnout" problem among Holistic Physicians. Finally, it is more fun to practice during the day than it is to spend the money after we get home. I offer to anyone who would like a copy of our routine Athletes' Foot protocol: if you will send a self addressed, stamped envelope to me, I will send one free by return mail. We have had no failures yet. I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who does not solve their problem. You should be checked for Diabetes, or some other serious cause of such a failure. Craig Werner suggested you see a regular MD. A regular MD will write an Rx for one of the two topicals mentioned above or, which should not be done routinely, order griseofulvin (a systemic[internal]medication with some interesting side effects--be sure to read about it in the PDR before you agree to take it). An Any medication taken for a skin fungus must be used for at least 4 weeks (the length of time it takes for the skin to replace itself) since none of them kill the fungus. They only inhibit its growth while you replace your skin and grow it off your body. Whoever recommended putting the shoes out in the sun also had a good suggestion since the fungus does stay in the shoes. If you get rid of the "susceptibility factors", you can stand knee deep in fungus and you won't get it (I can hear the outraged howls from some of our less well informed readers of the net now). cbosgd!ukma!wws -- Walt Stoll, MD, ABFP Founder, & Medical Director Holistic Medical Centre 1412 N. Broadway Lexington, Kentucky 40505
ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) (09/01/85)
Well, let's see -- I know a fellow who had a foot fungus problem (don't know if it was exactly athlete's foot or what) and went to see a conventional physician. Said doctor started out by saying "you know -- we only have these problems because we wear shoes." My friend's response was to go out and buy a pair of sandals which he now wears at the office after changing out of the shoes he wore enroute. End of fungus problem.
sdyer@bbncc5.UUCP (Steve Dyer) (09/01/85)
Much of what Walt says here (when he's talking about therapy and not the
Medical Establishment) is perfectly sound, although I don't think it's
necessary to add the stress bit--excessive moisture (Summer heat you know)
and a little fungal inoculation and maceration of the skin is the minimum
that you need. Of course, at that point, individual susceptibility comes
in: Walt likes to embellish this with issues of flight/fight, whereas I
think most medical doctors accept this as a kind of variability which isn't
well characterized for each individual, unless there are obvious disease
factors like diabetes.
I might mention that in my own case of tinea cruris, which at that point
was extremely advanced, washing and powdering was completely ineffective:
each passing day was more uncomfortable. I am quite glad that my doctor
at my HMO prescribed clotrimazole (the same as the Lotrimin Walt mentions),
for within two days, the itching, weeping and maceration had disappeared,
leaving me free to continue with the therapeutic regimen of keeping the
area dry and clean, but with MUCH less discomfort. Avoidance of such
susceptibility factors is hardly the province of "holistic practitioners"
alone, although one might rightly call such a therapy which focuses on
more than just symptomology, "holistic."
Now, I would not dismiss Walt's treatment protocol out of hand, because it
sounds grounded in some solid facts about fungi and human skin. I might
remain skeptical about the "relaxation" exercises being an integral part of
the treatment, but they probably wouldn't do any harm, and might well do
some good. An interesting study would be to compare two identical
protocols, only one with the relaxation exercises. Other than this, what
is the difference between what I'm following and what Walt recommends?
Simply the aggressive topical antifungal therapy, and here, more than
anything else, we are talking about speed of resolution. There is a good
chance that some fungal infections of the skin will ultimately respond to
simple environmental modification, but it takes time. I suppose meditation
can make you feel better about your itchy feet or raw, weeping groin, but I
would prefer some medication along with my meditation, i.e., a tube of
clotrimazole or miconazole, too, thank you very much.
--
/Steve Dyer
{harvard,seismo}!bbnccv!bbncc5!sdyer
sdyer@bbncc5.ARPAabc@brl-sem.ARPA (Brint Cooper ) (09/03/85)
In article <2088@ukma.UUCP> wws@ukma.UUCP (Bill Stoll) writes: >The average person in this culture is >exposed to >1000 times as many stresses per day as people were just >100 years ago. You have made this claim before. It has been challenged before. I have not seen your response and am willing to blame a faulty news system. Is this a quantitative claim or hyperbole? How were the number of "stresses per day" measured? What is the source of the historical data "100 years ago?" For that matter, what is "a" stress? > In addition: if the >patient practices an effective relaxation technique regularly, the >side effects greatly reduce the chances of all known chronic diseases. Do you really believe that "effective relaxation technique(s)" reduce the chances of ALL KNOWN chronic diseases? What about myasthenia gravis? It is known and chronic. If I had practices "effective relaxation" prior to 1979, are you saying that I would probably not have contracted the disease? If so, why not? Much of the rest of your letter is an unwarranted attack on the honesty and ethical behavior of physicians and does not deserve an answer. Brint
peter@graffiti.UUCP (Peter da Silva) (09/03/85)
> Here is a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the absolute superiority > of Holistic Medicine over Conventional Medicine alone. After all, > when it is all said and done, it is results that count! And then you go on and say "keep your feet clean and dry". Gee. I came to that conclusion myself without recourse to holistic practicioners (see previous posting). OK. I have a challenge for you: What would you and your hypothetical money-grubbing doctor do about a bad case of ACNE. When you have done that I'll tell you exactly what two money-grubbing doctors said about mine and what happened.