An Idea :idea:

Discussions can be posted here about mediator release testing (MRT), as offered by Oxford Biological Technologies, in conjunction with the LEAP program, which is claimed to determine a relative level of sensitivity to various foods and chemicals by measuring an increase in the ratio of liquids to solids in a blood sample that has been exposed to a specific allergen.

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Polly
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An Idea :idea:

Post by Polly »

Hi MS (multiply sensitive) buddies!

I am wondering if we could ask Tex to make a section in the MRT forum where we can list those foods that we have researched - like Gloria's Barney's almond butter or Arlene's turkey injection - that might be helpful for LEAPERS who are testing individual foods. I think it makes sense to document this research somewhere. This would be for foods "beyond" the big 8 - IOW, only foods that are safe from the big 8 offenders would be listed for additional potential offenders.

What do you think?

Hugs,

Polly
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mbeezie
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Post by mbeezie »

I think that's a great idea. We all seem to find products and do our own investigations but it would be helpful to store this info in a central location.

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TooManyHats
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Post by TooManyHats »

Great idea! There are some days I feel like I'm inventing the wheel over and over again.
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tex
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Post by tex »

Hi Polly,

Sure, we can do that. As I recall, Arlene suggested a broader variation of that, a couple of months ago.

What do you want to call it? I'm thinking something along the lines of "Manufacturer's Responses To Inquiries About The Ingredients In Their Products". If every post includes the name of the product in the subject line, that will make utilizing the information later, much easier. Of course, ingredient lists change over time, but at least the date of the post will give an indication of when the information was verified.

Love,
Tex
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Gloria
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Post by Gloria »

Sounds like a good idea.

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Post by Matthew »

Thanks for all the posts on MRT, i am sure it would help me. I am fascinated and read everything but need to find the expense. In the meanwhile I will live vicariously.

Just a thought , nothing in stone. The sight as of now has so many nooks a crannies that in the few moments i have time to look in it is impossible to keep up. My problem not yours .

I totally believe in the kiss principle . Keep it simple. stupid, When people come with no idea it seems to me that keeping the MRT concept in on place would be a godsend to those at thier wits end.

So just a brainstorming idea why not just put a sticky at the top of the MRT page for foods "beyond" the big 8 - IOW, only foods that are safe from the big 8 offenders would be listed for additional potential offenders. “ and keep everything in one place. It would be so easy for new comers to connect the ideas if they are all in one space. If it becomes to long add another sticky#2 If it becomes to cumbersome it can be changed later. Just an idea .

Love

Matthew
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Post by sarkin »

Matthew,

I can see that being helpful - it does take some time to get up to speed, and I am sure there are amazing resources here I've barely gotten the hang of. It really is an unbelievable body of knowledge...

Also, as a relatively new member, it might help to list the "big 8" in a place where you can't miss it - at least in this context. I think I've worked out what they are (and I know my magic number may not be 8! and may not overlap exactly)... Sara
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Post by TooManyHats »

Wheat, milk, eggs, soy, shellfish, peanut, tree nuts, and fish are considered to be the big 8 allergens. I didn't realize that corn wasn't on that list. Although I'd love full disclosure of all ingredients.

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Post by tex »

OK, I'm just thinking out loud here, but here are some of my thoughts on the points that have been raised.

Yes, this site has a lot of forums, and most of them are rarely/never posted to. Of course, some are designed to not be posted to, and most are designed to not be posted to regularly. All but a few of these forums were either considered to be "vital" when we were initially setting up this board, or someone strongly felt that they would be a great addition, along the way.

There are actually only several primary discussion forums, and that is where most of the discussion takes place. Even so, when you consider that we already have close to a hundred thousand posts, and we add at least several hundred posts each week, on the average, no one is likely to be able to keep up, if they aren't able to check in but once every week or two.

Those who derive the most benefit from this board, are those who usually visit multiple times each day, daily, or at least every few days. With intervals longer than that, the number of new posts is likely to be overwhelming, which leads to frustration. Reducing the number of forums will not reduce the number of new posts, it will simply create a less-organized structure. Most members have certain interests, and when they have a limited amount of time to devote to reading/posting, they naturally try to concentrate on the forums in which they are most interested. If everything were posted in a single forum, then it would take longer for most people to find the posts in which they are most likely to be interested, because they would have to wade through all the fluff, to get to what they consider to be the good stuff. Right?

IMO, organizing posts into appropriate forums is always better than putting them all in one or two forums. That's the difference between an organized filing system and a shoebox. Everyone has different ideas of what is most important, and what is not important, because we are all different, and we all have different needs. New posts, by default, show up at the top of the forums. That makes them easy for everyone to find. Stickies are used, to keep topics that will not be responded to, at the top of the forum, (so that they don't disappear forever). Therefore, creating stickies of various types, to fit everyone's needs, in a single forum, means that everyone would have to scroll way down the page every time they log on, to get to any new topics, and IMO, that is a very disorganized way of doing things. Virtually everyone ignores stickies, for that very reason - they get tired of scrolling past them on all the discussion boards that use far too many of them - I know I ignore them whenever I visit boards that use a lot of them. That means that by one's second or third visit to a forum, most of those stickies are nothing more than a nuisance, an obstacle to speedy navigation.

I agree, though, that we need to take some time to consolidate and reorganize some of the data, and discard some of the superfluous categories. That's easier said than done, though, in many situations. Take the issue of journals. When we started, they were a hot item - now they are rarely used. However, I have a hunch that many newbies still refer to them for the valuable information that they contain.

I've added a few new forums from time to time, thinking that they would be popular. For example, I really thought that the forums on natural treatments would appeal to enough people that they would soon be flourishing with posts - instead, they were DOA. :shrug: Obviously, they can be cut without anyone shedding a tear. :lol:

Anyway, my point is, as we continue to grow, organization of information becomes even more important. Sure, we can simplify a few things, but as we continue to add information, and diversify into new areas of interest, it's sometimes necessary to add new ways to organize the information, so that it's easier to find, in the future. At least, those are my thoughts, FWIW.

Tex
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Post by ant »

Interesting and important topic. I have no solutions, but here are some thoughts......

One of the charms of PP is that the conversations stimulated by a particular topic spark other comments. We have real, spontaneous conversation that sometimes meander from the original thread topic - as good conversations often do, especially when intelligent, highly-motivated people start "brainstorming" and thinking outside the box.

I sometimes try and use the search function to have a go at tracing a theme across different posts, but this means I have to go through a whole thread of many posts to find one that has the key word in it, and repeat this across different threads.

I think cross tabbing posts within a thread would be complex and very time consuming, unless some brilliant Google-like search engine could be applied to our ever growing library of posts.

As I said, no solutions, just some thoughts :roll:

Best, ant
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TooManyHats
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Post by TooManyHats »

I found that once I was not getting well after watching so many people show up and do the standard recommendations that are given (go g/f, s/f & d/f), I started reading a lot of those long abandoned threads. It's where I finally found a way to make progress. I like the way the forum is divided into "sub-categories", it gave me areas to concentrate on. I think I've read most of them now. LOL! But, in the end I found what I needed. The point is, when you are sick long enough, you'll take the time to read through those different areas in the forum.

I'm not in favor of a stickie because they do tend to get long and involved. I'd rather see a separate area with topics on specific foods within it. I find that's much more organized and makes finding information easier. And giving people a way to get well from this confounding disease is what we're about.

JMHO...take what you want and leave the rest.
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Post by irisheyes13 »

Great idea Polly!

When it comes to products which have vague ingredients and a member takes the time to reach out to the manufacturer and verify a suspect ingredient it would be so helpful to easily locate these in one area. I would love to have a reference area to go to and if it was set up as Tex proposed, it should be easy to find whatever you are looking for and even if there would be lots of posts (which would be a good thing!) the search feature could allow for easy retrieval.... kind of like Dee's Kitchen.
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tex
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Post by tex »

OK, I opened a new forum in the Special Information for People Who Have Multiple Intolerances category, since that seemed like the logical place to put a listing of manufacturers' responses to questions about the ingredients in their products.

Looking at that section, though, I wonder if we might be better off if we consolidated the forums/data from that section with the MRT section, since everyone with multiple intolerances seems to be concentrating on posting in the MRT section, anyway.

Any thoughts?

Love,
Tex

P. S. You can go ahead and post anything you want there, though, because it's easy to move entire forums.
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Post by irisheyes13 »

Thanks Tex :yourock: The placement makes sense to me but if everyone decides it should be within MRT, I think I'll find it there too:)
Kelly

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