[Subjectivist]

I could not find a thread on this topic though I did spend an hour searching for one. From early childhood I have had a problem any time I ingest pork products or foods tainted with pork fat as frequently happens eating breakfast in resturaunts while on vacations and such. Most places fry eggs or pancakes on th same surface they use to ook bacon and sausage so cross contamination is almost assured. A a consequence for the last 25 years I have avoided eating many menu items for fear of getting sock soon after eating.

A few months ago I was diagnosed with a large gall stone and after refusing surgery and doing some research I convinced my Md to perscribe Ursodiol. Ursodiol is a manufactured form of liver bile. The chemical formula used is derived from the bile of Bears (Ursus) which prevents them from developing gall stones when hybernating and not eating. Humans naturally produce this form of bile in very small quantities, the perscription just adds greatly to your natural amount.

I don't know what effect if any the Ursodiol is having on my gall stone, but one thing has become abundantly clear. I now eat pork with little or no GI distress. I have had bacon, sausages, regular hot dogs, pork chops and pork roast over the last two months without ill effects. Before taking this medication a few drops of pork grease in my food would make me queasy, and anything over a bite of pork would put me in the restroom with cramps and extreme urgency. Use your imagination, it was the opposite of fun.

Anyone else with pork sensitivity might benefit from talking to their Md and trying a perscription. It is $20.00 for 90 tablets at my pharmacy so if you can aford to try it the results might be worth the price.

[KaiserJeep]

Interesting, another Chinese folk medicine is shown to have real benefit. Read the Wiki entry "Bile Bear": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bile_bear

[Subjectivist]

That is all well and good Pstarr but the stuff I am talking about is made by some big pharmecutical company in train car size batches and is in medical cost terms, dirt cheap.

[KaiserJeep]

Are you under the impression that Bear Bile production does not involve bears?

I doubt that horses who are killed in making anthrax vaccine or sheep who get slaughtered and processed to make insulin for diabetics to inject are any better off. But when one animal has the potential to help multiple humans, the human needs overcome the animal rights.

The anthrax thing was publicized at the time of Gulf War 1, called Desert Storm if I remember correctly. Horses have evolved a lot of natural resistance to anthrax which is often found on farms. So if you want to keep a horse alive to produce anthrax anti-bodies, you cut the tendons of his legs free so that the muscle contractions don't injure him, and suspend him from cables screwed into his shoulders and hips (withers?). Then you use a feeding tube in his stomach and and one IV tube in a major vein and another in an artery. Then you basically torture him for 7-10 days while you process his blood to remove anthrax antibodies and replace it through the second IV tube. Afterwards when he is too weak to be usefull any more, you kill him with an electric solenoid gun that is actually called a "Humane Killer".

Chinese Bears are better off than American horses when it comes to medicine production. I think that the major impact of Desert Storm was the approximately 78,000 horses that were tortured and slaughtered to immunize various government employees against anthrax. At least the disgusting pictures of those suffering horses are no longer so easy to find on the internet.

[Subjectivist]

Synthesized compound also found in bear bile chemical could help keep hearts in rhythm
Date:
August 2, 2011
Source:
Imperial College London
Summary:
A synthesized compound which is also found in bear bile could help prevent disturbances in the heart's normal rhythm, according to new research.

Ursodiol sold in North America and the EU is synthesized, not harvested from animal sources. By the same token insulin in North America is synthesized by genetically modified bacteria. Before humilin modified bacteria were created pancreas organs from slaughtered cattle and swine were used to supply human needs.

[PrestonSturges]

Our cat is the opposite - he can eat pork all day, but just a whiff of beef makes him puke.

[Shaved Monkey]

Have you heard of this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_bacteriotherapy