Vodka replaces expensive heart medicines

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Ananova: Romanian doctors treating heart patients with vodka to save money

Doctors in a Romanian hospital say a pilot scheme to treat patients with vodka to save money on medicine is proving a success.

Heart patients have been asked to go each morning to the Recovery Clinic in Cluj Napoca to take their 30 grams of the spirit.

Doctors say the alcohol lowers their cholesterol levels for a fraction of the price of specialist medicines.

They started an experiment using 60 patients suffering from certain heart conditions. A local company donated 100kg of vodka.

Professor Dumitru Zenghea, who coordinates the experiment, told the Libertatea newspaper: "We started this research last year in autumn.

"We were trying to find a way to replace some expensive medicines and obtain a normalization of cholesterol.

"Thus we thought using a small quantity of alcohol may have the same effect. And the results are encouraging."

Doctors said they decided to use vodka because it is a pure product, it is very cheap and the overall treatment becomes affordable for the heart patients.

They stressed that the patients used in the experiment are not suffering from diseases that can be aggravated by alcohol. Doctors also advise other heart patients to continue their regular treatment and not start drinking vodka.

"What we are doing here is a research and cannot be put into practice yet," Dr. Zenghea said.

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2002

Answers

Do they need a bartending license?

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2002

What's new? go to the doctor and get a shot.

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2002

LOL! You're funny, Barefoot. And there's probably a pie tin of fudge around here some place . . .

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2002

Is that Alice B. Toklas fudge?

-- Anonymous, July 03, 2002

Nope. It's "Meemur" fudge -- with walnuts -- no recreational chemicals. Gotta stay straight in case a stray firework falls on the roof.

-- Anonymous, July 03, 2002


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