dyer@spdcc.UUCP (Steve Dyer) (04/21/86)
In article <139@PSUECL>, pat@psuecl.BITNET writes: > Arthritis is very common in my family. My mother is a music (piano) > teacher, and arthritis got in her way. So she went to a doctor in San > Fransico who specializes in these things. (what does this have to do with > calcium? I am getting to that.) > The doctor found that the majority of my mothers arthritis was caused > by allergies, and lack of certain vitamins. One of them happened to be > calcium. Why am I telling you this? Because I too have arthritis. My > mother spoke to her doctor who told her that my arthritis could be caused > by totally different things, in fact it probably is (my mother has to take > HCL because she doesn't have enough acid in her stomache, while I have an > acidic stomach) and I should see a doctor and have tests run before I start > taking any kind of vitamin or whatever. If your doctor has determined that > you need calcium, or whatever, by all means take it. But don't take any > kind of minerals unless you KNOW that it is needed. Otherwise you may end > up sicker after than before. Arthritis is not caused by lack of vitamins or minerals, the amount of acid in your stomach, or allergies to food or dust. I wonder if your mother might have misunderstood what her doctor had been saying, because the summary you give doesn't jibe at all with traditional medical knowledge (other than the warning against self-medication instead of visiting a qualified doctor.) If that *is* what her doctor is saying, I'd get the both of you to a more t-r-a-d-i-t-i-o-n-a-l allopathic practitioner pronto for a second opinion of your conditions and recommended treatments. -- Steve Dyer dyer@harvard.HARVARD.EDU {bbncca,bbnccv,harvard,ima,ihnp4}!spdcc!dyer
pat@psuecl.BITNET (04/22/86)
Mr. Dyer:
Perhaps you do think that my mother's doctor is not t-r-a-d-t-i-o-n-a-l
however, she has helped my mother a great deal, and my mother's arthritis is
no longer acting up. The point of that little note was not to tell anyone with
arthritis to immediately see an allergy doctor, but not to talk calcium without
some testing. If it is getting rid of my mom's arthritis she will continue to
go see this "non-t-r-a-d-t-i-o-n-a-l" doctor. And no, I think maybe you mis-
understood--or maybe I just didn't explain myself clearly enough (I just didn't
see how it is relevent), my mother will probably always have arthritis. But
many of these allergies can aggravate it. "Dust", as you mentioned, is very
abundant where I live as we have many mushroom farms in the area. And while
HCL in your stomach isn't going to affect arthritis, it was one of the things
my mom's doctor noticed, and I was using it as a comparison: Don't take anything
without seeing a doctor and being tested. You may end up sicker.
Thank you for your time.
Kitten