Question about production numbers

Ancestry strong with arthritis... again, not meaning to belittle your condition Rich. I can't imagine what it is like to have that going on a day, much less 40 years.

I don't have a ready answer for you, but one MUST think that the human body was not designed to be a hindrance... we wouldn't have survived as a specie if we were hobbled in our daily work, so there must be a reason WHY it's doing this. Something wasn't right in environment somewhere along the way to make your body react the way it is for you and your ancestors.

It's gona be a major detective story to figure it out, and not many doc's these days have the time or inclination to play Columbo..

Think of many of those of African ancestry with sickle cells, designed to help fight malaria. Or many that are predisposed to diabetes because it was designed to help survive in times of famine.

There is probably some simple thing that is causing this condition...and so far not many answers other than pain killers or steroids or even scraping the bones with surgery.

The Chinese have their acupuncture, but a nerve expert believes that the needles release small pockets of body chemicals akin to endorphins that are the real reason people get relief with the needle treatment....not a mystical "chi" or energy system.

My wife's 86 year old grandmother suffers from arthritis as well, but she has been better lately. She has cut fluoride from her water for over two years now (Tenn. pumps it into public water). X-rays of her bone spurs on her heels and elbow are smaller. Maybe a coincidence. It probably is not the answer for all your condition, Couldn't hurt to try for a while.

In the mean time, Virgin Airlines IS going to be probably awarding passage for a sample of "space" in the near future as a promotional gimmick...maybe you will get lucky and hitch a ride.

From: Richard
To: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 11:07 PM
Subject: [spacesettlers] Re: Question about production numbers

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, wrote:
> With no disrespect intended Rich, perhaps better nutrition and
lifestyle would do more for your condition than micro gravity... and
easier to get in the "now".
>
> Less gravity may make some of the symptoms seem easier to bear, but
it's doing nothing for the root causes...
>
a major root cause is that I was careless in choosing my ancestors.
Mother's side of the family was riddled with arthritis.

Low gravity means less stress on my body.

I seriously doubt there is anything that can remove the bone spurs
from my hips and shoulders.

> And my dear Rich, you state your age like you are at the end of your
life's expectancy...64 is hardly the point to consider giving it up!
Not with so many exciting events and discoveries just about within our
reach! Medicine has found that scotch whiskey is better for you than
red wine... as also are dark beers. :-))
>
My spine partly fused in 1975. Spinal calcification has led to
pressure on my sciatic nerve and leads to balance problems. I have
enough trouble staying on my feet without mixing in alcohol.

After 40 years of arthritis, it's hard to keep plugging on. Not to
mention being optimistic about the future.

> Doing some research on old grave sites has suggested that mortality
risk was greatest only in babyhood, and in high risk occupations or
locations where wars were common. The rest of folks seemed to have
ripe old age. The stats on average age of people in the past (as a
suggestion of population health) being in the 40's comes from
factoring in HIGH infant mortality, which to me would skew the mode of
real ages past babyhood.
>
> One economic stat that is saddening is that approx. 3% of the USA
population will be OK financially in retirement... which doesn't
sound like it would be much chance for your average geriatric having
the funds to get themselves a residence off-earth, even considering
launch costs dropping to $1,500 a lbs. or $240,000 for an adult of 160
lbs.
>
> All things being equal, one would think that economics would dictate
placing into Space humans who are in as healthy a state as possible to
be able to get maximum productivity from them over the longest
timeframe. It would seem that folks with superior mental knowledge or
experience alone could be accessed more cheaply through
telecommunications.
>
> :-(