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At 03:58 PM 6/20/95 +0100, [log in to unmask] (Mike Johnson) lamented:

>What I can't understand is why the medics aren't investigating this obvious
>link. Why spend all this money developing drugs that have harmful side
>effects and are only partially successful for all these conditions when the
>logical approach is to bring pressure to bear on governments to force food
>manufactures to produce a percentage of foods that are suitable for minority
>groups. In the same way that legislation is developing for disabled people.

The biggest problem is that the entity that funds studies, has an
expectation of profiting from the anticipated results. When the solution is
a diet change, no money can be made. As billions and billions of dollars is
being made on drugs sold for schizophrenia (Clozaril costs $25,000 per
year), arthritis, depression, attention-deficit disorder, epilepsy, IBS, MS,
etc. the pharmaceutical industry would rather we not know about gluten and
its effects. This is especially noticeable in the US where relatively few
studies are even being done on celiac disease itself. And the direction of
government funded studies is controlled by lobbyists and revolving door
bureaucrats.

Marijuana was made illegal in the US back in 1937-8. Why? The pharmaceutical
industry whipped up public opinion to get it made illegal. Why? Because it
is a natural substance and can't be patented (see "The Emperor Wears No
Clothes," Jack Herer, HEMP/Queen of Clubs Publishing, 1992). Even today, the
control is so tight that absolutely no studies are legally done in the US on
its health benefits. When the industry does find something natural that has
benefits, they make a small change in it so that it can be patented, despite
the side effects that this change produces.

The business of the drug industry is to patent and sell drugs and
treatments, not to find cures. Cures are BAD FOR BUSINESS!

Here is a book a Net friend recommends on the subject:

>  Racketeering In Medicine:  The Suppression of Alternatives
>  James P. Carter, M.D., Dr. P.H.
>  Hampton Roads Publishing Co, Norfolk, VA, 804/459-2453
>  c1993
>  "Can we assume that our health is always the prime concern of
>  organized medicine? Or are Americans being deprived of effective,
>  economical treatments because those treatments are not highly
>  profitable for surgeons and pharmaceutical companies?
>
>  "Dr. James Carter exposed disturbing and thought-provoking
>  evidence that:
>
>  - Bona-fide therapies are being disparaged as quackery.
>  - Health-care givers who offer alternative treatments are being
>    persecuted.
>  - Government agencies are participating in the harassment of
>    alternative practitioners.
>  - Drug companies are unduly influencing medical professionals'
>    actions.
>  - Kangaroo courts are convicting honorable men of trumped-up
>    charges.
>  - The financial bottom line all too often determines what
>    medicine or treatment is researched, tested and approved.
>
>  "Dr. Carter does not speak in generalities or put forth vague
>  accusations. He presents names, events and facts, which are of
>  interest to all concerned Americans, and leads the reader to the
>  inescapable realization that we must become more aware of
>  health-care practices and speak up for our right to the best
>  available medical treatment.

This is why I feel the HMOs are the ones that we need to get to focus on the
effects of gluten. They are the ones that could actually save money. But are
they independent enough?

Don <[log in to unmask]> New York City