Have you ever bought snake oil?

[banquo's_bumble_puppy]

That is: a product that claims to be a miracle cure- eg. magnetic bracelets, etc? My Dad always wore a homemade copper bracelet for arthiritis.

[Lurker]

Hey!! The magnets in my shoes are amazingly effective!!! :lol:

[John Jones]

I bought a homeopathic rememdy for leg cramps. I didn't realize it until I got home with it. Pharmacies actually sell that stuff.

[Swift]

Some previous discussions (http://www.badastronomy.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=221014&highlight=magnet#221014)

[Humphrey]

Rachel is sold on those "cold eeze" drops that are supposed to prevent a cold. I looked at them and they seem to be nuthing more than homeopathic caugth drops. But she swears by them.

[John Jones]

Rachel is sold on those "cold eeze" drops that are supposed to prevent a cold. I looked at them and they seem to be nuthing more than homeopathic caugth drops. But she swears by them.

I can't say if the leg cramp remedy did anything. I took two of the tablets, soaked in an epsom salt bath, and took a natural potassium supplement (AKA "a banana"). The cramps did go away, however.

I was kinda desperate, but had I seen the homeopathic 'levels' of quinine on the label of the remedy, I would have saved my money. I'm just kinda surprised that a pharmacist recommended the stuff.

Edited for speeling.

[Humphrey]

Yah i am in the belief that the drops that she takes are more mental "feeling better" than anything. But they cost only a few bucks for a bag of them and she's happy, so eh. its not hurting her. She knows to still go for a doctors visit if she really is sick.

[jrkeller]

Well I have bought a few books on the moon hoax and some of Hoaglands books too. Fortunately, all of these, except one, were bought at a used book store, so the author got no profit from.

[Celestial Mechanic]

I've always found that a little WD-40 works on just about anything, even snakes! 8)

But seriously (and back on topic!), some years ago I used to take vitamin C regularly.

[Andromeda321]

Humphrey- my dad is in love with Cold-eeze as well, I personally think they taste disgusting so I don't use them. Didn't know they were supposed to prevent colds though, I thought they were supposed to just be good at getting you better when you had one.

[Careless]

I'm not sure if traditional chinese herbal medicines can be categorized under this. *grumbleinlawsgrumble*

[xbck1]

Now, Celestial Mechanic said that he used to take vitamin C a while ago. Does that really do much at all? Does it prevent you from getting sick or help with getting well?

[Morrolan]

no, never...

but i don't consider vitamin C to be in the snake oil category, actually.

[kucharek]

no, never...

but i don't consider vitamin C to be in the snake oil category, actually.
Of course. The body really needs this stuff. Question is just if it makes a difference to your health if you get the minimum needed to keep off the bad effects of taking in none at all or taking in a much higher dose. Didn't Linus Pauling went off on a tangent on this subject?

[Morrolan]

Question is just if it makes a difference to your health if you get the minimum needed to keep off the bad effects of taking in none at all or taking in a much higher dose. Didn't Linus Pauling went off on a tangent on this subject?

rather... IIRC, he figured that vitamin C would help against cancer and whatnot and your body would absorb as much vitamin C as necessary to get rid of the cancer etc. he suggested taking huge amounts of vitamin C since it is one of the few(? the only?) vitamin that won't cause hyper-vitaminosis, but just leaves the body.

i'm not sure there is any scientific basis to this, although Mr. Pauling was quite an accomplished scientist in his own right.

[Careless]

Question is just if it makes a difference to your health if you get the minimum needed to keep off the bad effects of taking in none at all or taking in a much higher dose. Didn't Linus Pauling went off on a tangent on this subject?

rather... IIRC, he figured that vitamin C would help against cancer and whatnot and your body would absorb as much vitamin C as necessary to get rid of the cancer etc. he suggested taking huge amounts of vitamin C since it is one of the few(? the only?) vitamin that won't cause hyper-vitaminosis, but just leaves the body.
Actually, most vitamins are water soluble and won't poison you if you take large quantities. A and D (isn't there 1 other?) are fat soluble and can cause poisoning.
edit: the most unusual thing about vitamin C is that primates are virtually the only animals on earth that need to eat it. Other animals get it from symbiotic organisms living inside them

[frogesque]

Yeah. If you want woowoo medicine then look up vitimin C. The verdict seems to be that high doses ~1g / day won't do you any harm but it won't do you any good either.

I got chickenpox earlier in the year (which as an adult is NOT funny) and became very run down so I tried high dose vitimin C orange drink fizzy tablets for a couple of weeks (quite nice actually). I don't think that sort of level above what the body needs is a great idea long term but when your mouth is sore and appetite gone they have their place. Any effect is more likely to have been psycological and the extra fluid would have been beneficial. Anti histamine helped a bit to controlling the itching but the only real healer was time.

[John Jones]

Question is just if it makes a difference to your health if you get the minimum needed to keep off the bad effects of taking in none at all or taking in a much higher dose. Didn't Linus Pauling went off on a tangent on this subject?

rather... IIRC, he figured that vitamin C would help against cancer and whatnot and your body would absorb as much vitamin C as necessary to get rid of the cancer etc. he suggested taking huge amounts of vitamin C since it is one of the few(? the only?) vitamin that won't cause hyper-vitaminosis, but just leaves the body.
Actually, most vitamins are water soluble and won't poison you if you take large quantities. A and D (isn't there 1 other?) are fat soluble and can cause poisoning.
edit: the most unusual thing about vitamin C is that primates are virtually the only animals on earth that need to eat it. Other animals get it from symbiotic organisms living inside them

Guinea pigs need to eat it too. I had a guinea pig come down with scurvy shortly after I got her becuase she hadn't been getting any vitamin c at the pet shop/breeder. It's pretty awful to behold.

[Humphrey]

Humphrey- my dad is in love with Cold-eeze as well, I personally think they taste disgusting so I don't use them. Didn't know they were supposed to prevent colds though, I thought they were supposed to just be good at getting you better when you had one.Ahhh. You are right. "Clinically probven to reduce the duration and serverity of the cold" and its "Naturally homeopathic". Phew, glad she didn't buy some unatural homeopathic stuff. Thats all over the market. Those damn pharmacutical companies creating medicins out of thin air.
[she bought a generic version this time, but the same stuff. ]
She only uses it when i'm sick with a cold (about once a year), or someone she is in contact with alot is very sick.

But don;t worry, she still has her witts about her and will got o the doctors if tshe gets any way bad.

[sarongsong]

Rachel is sold on those "cold eeze" drops that are supposed to prevent a cold. I looked at them and they seem to be nuthing more than homeopathic caugth drops. But she swears by them.
Wouldn't ya' know---right out of this morning's local paper:
"Nine users of the cold remedy Cold-Eeze sued its Doylestown manufacturer Thursday, alleging that the nasal spray version of the product caused them to permanently lose their sense of smell...suit cites clinical studies dating to 1937 that showed ''zinc is toxic to the olfactory epithelium"..."
http://tinyurl.com/69bgg

[Humphrey]

She uses the form that dissolves on the toung. Not the spray. But thanks, i'll pass the info on.

I once bought some homoeopathic headache tablets. The headache didn't shift... ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,)

[Humphrey]

I once bought some homoeopathic headache tablets. The headache didn't shift... ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,)

Well if you keep on doing that i understand why. :-P

[SciFi Chick]

I bought some herbal supplement that's supposed to help with smoke cravings. Ha! Didn't do a thing.

Thank Scientists for Zyban!

I once bought some homoeopathic headache tablets. The headache didn't shift... ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,)

Well if you keep on doing that i understand why. :-P

It was in 1988. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: