Speaking of gallstones...

[Guest guest]

I found the below text from a site a few weeks back:

http://www.pathguy.com/altermed.htm#gallstone

I have been wanting to do the liver flush for some time, but have not

yet got around to it, but this article got me wondering, especially

the issue about what constitutes real gallstones (sinking or

floating), ultrasonogram proof, and concentric layers inside the

gallstone.

I didn't post this to start any battles, but comments are welcome. It

has been some years since I read her books, and I haven't kept up very

much with new info since then, unfortunately.

Sometimes I wish this guy below and people like Dr could sit

down at a table together and talk this all out and come to some level

of agreement about what's true or not. The fact that these two

opposing sides never do this makes it very hard for fence sitters

(probably most people - people who like to listen to doctors because

of their education and background, but also want the hope that

alternative medicine often offers) to come off the fence.

Text below....

-Ken Bagwell

---------------------------

Gallstone Flush PESSIMISTIC

People who have gallstones, or think they have gallstones, are invited

to " flush " them out by swallowing a concoction of 1/2 cup of olive

oil, a big grapefruit, 4 tablespoons of Epsom salts, and three cups of

water.

It was a nice idea, and interesting things will appear in the toilet

bowl soon after. But I'm afraid that they're not your gallstones.

Here's why:

* Real gallstones are faceted polyhedra, like the ones in the

picture on the links below, or else shaped like mulberries. What

you'll get from the recipe are spheres. One of my correspondents

describes a friend who saved the spheres and displayed them to his

friends.

* Real gallstones hurt bad when they pass through the cystic and

common bile ducts.

* Real gallstones sink in water. (As an autopsy pathologist, I'm

very familiar with this.) The " gallstones " you'll produce from this

recipe will float, as the " alternative thinkers " themselves point out.

(They claim that real gallstones float, too. Liars.)

If you know a little basic chemistry, you'll realize what is

happening. The Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate, and the grapefruit

contains some complex carbohydrates. When these slosh around in the

stomach and small intestine, they'll form a tough film which will

encase drops of olive oil. This will produce some yellowish balls

which will float in the toilet.

Hulda Regehr , the author of " The Cure for all Cancers " and " The

Cure For HIV/AIDS " promotes this. Since she claims to have both a

doctorate in naturopathy and a Ph.D. in something (the latter implying

having done substantial original lab research), one would think she

would have made an experiment with a real gallstone and discovered

that it sinks. There's a nice photo which she stole from my friend,

pathologist Ed Klatt. She calls them " such small stones " though

they're obviously 7-10 mm across. She thinks the stones she displayed

formed in the liver and " rolled " into the gallbladder, which is silly.

You see many more stones in the gallbladder because that's where bile

is concentrated and stored; if they all " rolled " there from the liver,

we'd see much more biliary colic. She says gallstones " can be of any

color " which is a hoot. She also claims that the major cause of

gallstones is wearing shoes.

If you want to believe these people, that is your business. If you try

the purge, please chew your grapefruit up thoroughly. Otherwise,

you're asking for a gastic bezoar and a trip to the endoscopist to

remove the obstruction.

Gallstone cleansing

The premiere site is now down. Gallstone Flush from Hulda Regehr

. Much of the material on these sites is identical though it's

not clear who has borrowed from who.

Follow-up: April 2003. My notes on the gallstone flush have generated

considerable " controversy " . I look forward to a real surgeon taking

these people on a visit to the surgical ward to see whether it's

really true that 99% of people who pass a gallstone have no pain, or

whether most gallstones sink or float in water. (The impurities make

them heavy. They sink. If you have any doubts about who is massively

ignorant, go ask any general surgeon or pathologist.) There are also

photos, some of which appear to be real smooth faceted gallstones, and

others showing shaggy surfaces which are obviously not gallstones.

Instead of continuing to sling mud at me, these people should take

somebody with ultrasonographically-proven gallstones, administer the

" flush " , and repeat the ultrasonogram. If there are now no gallstones,

publish the finding in a non-refereed junk journal. The fact that

nobody's done this invites the obvious conclusion. If you are

presented with the physical results of a " gallstone flush " , cut it in

half. Real gallstones have concentric layers of colors often varying

from pale yellow through black, sometimes with a center of radiating

crystals.

END