M. Ted: Pardon this comment from an non-medical type, but why is it that the "natural" remedies don't get studied? I am told, e.g. that Saint John's wort is used in Europe, and works approximately the same as some of the expensive anti-depressants we use here. I would never dream of buying Saint John's wort in the U.S., because it is not regulated and you can't tell what it is that you are buying. What I can't understand is why these things are not regulated here, and speculation leads to slightly sinister explanations.

I had two good friends who taught medical school, who told me vitamin supplements had no merit, you could get your MDR from eating a balanced diet. And I responded, for animals they calculate optimal vitamin intake and that is higher than the MDR necessary to prevent scurvy or beri-beri; is it not probable that this is also true for humans (who are, after all, very like animals, and who are sometimes said to be a species of animals). And they replied, no, vitamin supplements cannot do you any good, because research has not established that this is so, and because "we scientists" do not deem such research worth performing.

This same couple were fond of deploring the gap between the "two cultures," and the ignorance we laypeople display of science. They were extremely intelligent. And they made me very angry.