From: ((Steven B. Harris))
Subject: Re: Vertigo
Date: 13 May 1995
Newsgroups: misc.health.alternative

In <0034D0D8.fc@pop.com> p_iannone@pop.com (Paul Iannone) writes:

>In message ID <3ohqvo$hm5@ixnews2.ix.netcom.com> on 5/6/95,
>((Steven B Harris)) wrote:
>
>> >> Loved one, 80 yrs old,suffers from chronic dizzyness when standing.
>> >> He is able to sit and lie comfortably, he can even drive a car! He
>> >> is keen minded and healthy but the dizzynes is so bad that some days
>> >> he cannot get out of bed.
>> >> 
>> >> Drs have tested ,tried drugs and given up..saying that he has a
>> >> middle ear degeneration and that nothing can be done.
>> >> 
>> >> Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.
>>
>>
>>     You might also try (if you haven't already) capsules of
>> ginger-root  (same as the ginger spice), which you can find in any
>> health store.   Dose is one per meal.
>>
>>                                           Steve Harris, M.D.
>
>Ginger root treats nausea, not dizziness. What is the cause of this
>dizziness, Steve (since I know you only practice rational medicine)?


Treats dizziness (vertigo, specifically, but not pre-syncope) too, quite
often.  Mechanism is some kind of anaesthetic action on the vestibular
system.  Ginger helps when the patient is vertiginous from getting
signals from the vestibular system on one side, but not as much from the
other, as when degeneration is not symmetrical (common in aging, for
reasons I don't know).  I am proceeding on the assumption that this man
has already been worked up for the common middle ear problems, as the
writer says, and found to have nothing wrong but the vestibular
degenerative problems which sometimes attend old age.

Yes, ginger here is being used purely symptomatically.  There is
something to be said for symptomatic treatment.  It quite often goes
along with not knowing the exact cause of the problem you are treating.
Which is indeed much more common in my profession than you say it is
with yours.  The difference being that I think you're kidding yourself
about how much you think you know about the body.


                                            Steven Harris, M.D.

From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com (Steven B. Harris )
Subject: Re: Sea-sickness remedies - G
Date: 24 Sep 1995
Newsgroups: sci.med

In <43v0cd$idt@scotsman.ed.ac.uk> cam@castle.ed.ac.uk (Chris Malcolm)
writes:

>In article <4394l5$1aj@chleuasme.francenet.fr> rcraig@francenet.fr (Rod
>Craig) writes:
>
>>howard.leighty@nwcs.org (Howard Leighty) wrote:
>>
>>>S>    Are there specifics about how these Ginger Capsules would prevent
>>>S>or attenuate sea-sickness;  not just "it works".  It may not "work" on
>>>S>me when I'm in the middle of nowhere!
>>
>>Ever since someone told me that the British Navy cure was Pink Gin
>>I've not suffered since - and I've travelled extensively.
>>Pink gin is gin and a few drops of angostura bitters.
>>
>>Secretly I don't think it matters what you put in the gin as long as
>>it's not sickly. Try it neat...
>
>My family, which contains a lot of doctors and sailors, has always
>used ginger beer and pink gin as anti-seasickness and anti-motion
>sickness remedies.  Experiments have confirmed that it is indeed the
>angostura, and not the gin, e.g., gin and tonic doesn't work, cola
>with angostura does.
>--
>Chris Malcolm    cam@aifh.ed.ac.uk         +44 (0)131 650 3085
>Department of Artificial Intelligence,    Edinburgh University
>5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK                DoD #205
>"The mind reigns, but does not govern" -- Paul Valery



  We should not confuse ginger, the tuberous spice related to turmeric,
which really is a very effective anti-nausea agent, with gin, the
alcoholic drink flavored with juniper berries and getting its name from
them (gin = jin = juniper).   Ginger in nearly all forms (ncluding
ginger beer) is great to try for nausea.  About gin and angostura I
have no information.

                                       Steve Harris, M.D.

From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris)
Subject: Re: Natural anti-inflammatories (was: Products that are good for you, 
	and the environment!!)
Date: 22 Oct 1996
Newsgroups: alt.business,alt,business.multilevel,misc.health.arthritis,
	misc.health.alternative,misc.health.diabetes,misc.health.infertility,
	sci.environment,talk.environment

In <326D2952.3D7B@newnet.co.uk> Fred <fred@newnet.co.uk> writes:

>As an AS sufferer for 14 years, I am constantly looking for help in
>relieving the symptoms I have.  Although I have found little relief from
>the arthritic pain using herbal remedies,  I have found ginger to excel
>in the relief of stomach related problems.
>
>I had taken many different prescribed drugs for stomach irritation but
>nothing seemed to help. I took ginger capsules after being recommended by
>a friend and the relief from the discomfort, I had been feeling for
>around 3 years, was unbelievable. I would recommend a ginger supplement
>to anyone taking NSAID's and feeling the typical stomach discomfort
>associated with these drugs. To me with would be cheap at double the
>price.
>
>
>Mr. Andrew L Thomas



Ginger itself has some impressive anti-inflammatory properties, as does
its cousin-herb turmeric.  The main active ingredient in turmeric seems
to be the flavonoid-like compound that makes it yellow: curcumin.  You
can get curcumin from Nature's Way ("Turmeric Power") if your health
food store has that line (no, I don't work for Nature's Way-- I just
happen to know of the product).  Curcumin is about half as potent at
maximum dose as the best NSAIDS for chronic pain of inflammation, but
then again, it's also a lot less likely to make a nice hole in your
stomach.  Same for ginger, though the warm feeling in you stomach you
get when you take it suggests differently, if you're not expecting it
(it's harmless).


                               Steve Harris, M.D.