Tonic water Quinine

On the basis that all tips are useful, especially if they're easy and cheap and unlikely to do you any harm, I found this one on Wellsphere.com I'll certainly try it out myself.

neuropathy remedy: tonic water/quinine Posted Jan 18 2010 12:00am
In reading about remedies for neuropathy, one of the side effects of Taxol, I came across a number of suggestions. One of them, available over the counter, was tonic water, which contains quinine. As a drug, quinine is used to treat malaria. It also has some followers who use a non-prescriptive low dose for other applications, namely neuropathy and leg cramps. The medical dose seems to be something over 300 mg; tonic water contains 40 mg per eight ounces. Some people who drink tonic water report improvements in neuropathy after only a few days.

My fingers are worse with pain while my toes are still just numb and tingly. When the fingers first got worse, it was sudden and it feels like I have a bad hangnail, causing pain when I press a clawed finger against something–like pressing the button of my iPhone. Typing on a keypad does not seem to cause much of a problem. Gripping items is a challenge, and I have to concentrate to avoid dropping them.

Anyway, I’m drinking tonic water and hoping that it will reduce the neuropathy in my fingers and toes. Of course, I’ll also be doing further research on other remedies and will report back here

2004-2010 Donna Peach:
http://www.wellsphere.com/breast-cancer-article/neuropathy-remedy-tonic-160-water-quinine/953571

DONT DRINK THE WARM WATER

Americans can take a warning from a University of Florida study of bottled water in China ─ don’t drink the liquid if you’ve left it somewhere warm for a long time.

Plastic water bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate. When heated, the material releases the chemicals antimony and bisphenol A, commonly called BPA.

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said BPA is not a major concern at low levels found in beverage containers, it continues to study the chemical’s impacts. Some health officials, including those at the Mayo Clinic, say the chemical can cause negative effects on children’s health.

And antimony is considered a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization.

UF soil and water science professor Lena Ma led a research team that studied chemicals released in 16 brands of bottled water kept at 158 degrees Fahrenheit for four weeks, what researchers deemed a “worst-case scenario” for human consumption.

Of the 16 brands, only one exceeded the EPA standard for antimony and BPA. Based on the study, storage at warm temperatures would seem to not be a big problem, Ma said. But she said more research is needed to know if other brands are safe.

Ma’s study found that as bottles warmed over the four-week period, antimony and BPA levels increased.

“If you store the water long enough, there may be a concern,” said Ma, an Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences faculty member who has a research program at Nanjing University in China.

The UF scientist warned against leaving bottled water in a hot garage for weeks on end or in your car all day during the summer.

Because of what Ma calls cultural differences and because Chinese citizens have less faith in their tap water, some leave bottled water in their car trunks for weeks. China consumed 9.6 billion gallons of bottled water in 2011, making that country the commodity’s largest market.

By comparison, Americans drank 9.1 billion gallons of bottled water that year, according to the International Bottled Water Association. While most Americans don’t store bottled water in their cars for extended periods, they often keep it there for a day or two. Drinking that water occasionally won’t be dangerous, but doing so regularly could cause health issues, she said. And it’s not just water containers that merit more study, Ma said.

“More attention should be given to other drinks packaged with polyethylene terephthalate plastic, such as milk, coffee and acidic juice,” she said. “We only tested the pure water. If it is acidic juice, the story may be different.”

Although not part of the study, Ma touts tap water over bottled water. Both are regulated by the federal government, tap by the EPA and bottled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The study is published in this month’s edition of the journal Environmental Pollution.

DRINKING TOO MUCH WATER CAN BE FATAL TO ATHLETES

The recent deaths of two high school football players illustrate the dangers of drinking too much water and sports drinks, according to Loyola University Medical Center sports medicine physician Dr. James Winger.

Over-hydration by athletes is called exercise-associated hyponatremia. It occurs when athletes drink even when they are not thirsty. Drinking too much during exercise can overwhelm the body's ability to remove water. The sodium content of blood is diluted to abnormally low levels. Cells absorb excess water, which can cause swelling -- most dangerously in the brain.

Hyponatremia can cause muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting, seizures, unconsciousness, and, in rare cases, death.

Georgia football player Zyrees Oliver reportedly drank 2 gallons of water and 2 gallons of a sports drink. He collapsed at home after football practice, and died later at a hospital. In Mississippi, Walker Wilbank was taken to the hospital during the second half of a game after vomiting and complaining of a leg cramp. He had a seizure in the emergency room and later died. A doctor confirmed he had exercise-associated hyponatremia.

And in recent years, there have been more than a dozen documented and suspected runners' deaths from hyponatremia.

Winger said it's common for coaches to encourage athletes to drink profusely, before they get thirsty. But he noted that expert guidelines recommend athletes drink only when thirsty. Winger said athletes should not drink a predetermined amount, or try to get ahead of their thirst.

Drinking only when thirsty can cause mild dehydration. "However, the risks associated with dehydration are small," Winger said. "No one has died on sports fields from dehydration, and the adverse effects of mild dehydration are questionable. But athletes, on rare occasions, have died from over-hydration."

Winger is co-author of a 2011 study that found that nearly half of Chicago-area recreational runners surveyed may be drinking too much fluid during races. Winger and colleagues found that, contrary to expert guidelines, 36.5 percent of runners drink according to a present schedule or to maintain a certain body weight and 8.9 percent drink as much as possible.

"Many athletes hold unscientific views regarding the benefits of different hydration practices," Winger and colleagues concluded. Their study was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.