Text 446, 91 rader
Skriven 2007-01-04 21:12:08 av Ardith Hinton (1:153/716.0)
    Kommentar till text 433 av James Bradley (1:134/77.0)
Ärende: Food & Drugs...  2B.
============================
Hi, James!  Catching up on my replies now that classes have resumed for Nora.
Toward the end of November you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AH>  His palms were sweating because of the lights on stage,
AH>  and he rubbed his eyes with one hand.  He had to leave
AH>  before he'd eaten the peppers.  His eyes watered
AH>  profusely, then his nose began to run....  :-)))

JB>  I do that on purpose at my Vietnamese noodle house.
JB>  Well, the eyes watering, and nose running part. If
JB>  you're familiar with the oil at all, you know not to
JB>  rub your eyes after handling the stuff, sweaty palms
JB>  or not.


          As the writer put it, he unintentionally "pepper-sprayed" himself.  I
reckon there were a few gaps in his understanding of volatile oils....  ;-)



[Re gastric reflux]
JB>  That sphincter is still what it is, and I doubt ph
JB>  manipulation is going to stop that from spasms, (Or,
JB>  whatever it does or doesn't do, to keep bile from
JB>  backing up.) but the burning effect might be calmed
JB>  by neutralizing an imbalance.


          That's my take on it too.  The usual treatment is symptomatic... e.g.
neutralizing acid in the esophagus, coating the stomach contents with something
which sits on top & serves as a barrier (I'm told that's how Gaviscon works) or
(in more severe cases) by using prescription drugs which inhibit the production
of stomach acid.  According to our GP people don't really need a lot of acid in
their stomachs & having seen what can be done with enzymes in the laundry room,
I believe him!  The folks I know who use prescription drugs don't miss it.  :-)



AH>  One of the ingredients is capsaicin...

JB>  Yup. I'll forget how to spell it the next time I need
JB>  to recall the name. /-:


          Oh, well.  I had to look it up & check it three times....  :-))



JB>  The only 'ailment' I've heard it link to treating, is
JB>  heat regulation in hot climate.


          Ah... I wondered about that!  Maybe it was used to regulate fevers as
well.  It was apparently more effective in treating certain bacterial illnesses
than what doctors used before antibiotics were discovered.  I imagine the fever
must be hot enough to cook the bacteria but not so hot that it cooks the brain.
Folks in more northerly climes probably used the bark & leaves of the willow...
("Salix" in botany --> "salicylic acid" to you & me) for similar purposes.  :-)



AH>  When I go to museums now I see a lot of the same things
AH>  my parents & grandparents had years ago....  ;-)

JB>  The artifacts smelled like the Grandparents house, because
JB>  they *came* from the Grandparents house?


          AFAIK they didn't, but I suppose it is possible... [chuckle].



JB>  I had a good laugh with a propriator, who sells new
JB>  and used tools. When I started through the *really*
JB>  used tools, I mentioned "It smells exactly like Grampas'
JB>  garage." I don't know if they were more likely to use
JB>  tallow for a lubricant, or if the kreosote had an aged
JB>  smell...


          My mother used beeswax to make it easier to thread needles.  Nora & I
noticed some at a craft fair recently... but apart from that, I haven't seen it
for ages.  Then there was heating oil (seldom used by city folk now), kerosene,
3-in-1 Oil, axle grease, smoke from coal/wood/burning leaves, shoe polish, moth
balls, and (of course) creosote.  Thanks for the trip down memory lane....  ;-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)