# What is "Doctor Good?" (Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2008, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058 "2008-04-05T08:12:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 9
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/9 "2008-04-05T17:39:44Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] No one’s claiming it is any different, especially around here. [/QUOTE] Nah, snake-oil had a chance of being some use - if you used Chinese snakes > [@](#): > > Given Dr. Richard Kunin’s 1989 analysis[2], it appears that the Chinese snake oil made from Chinese water snakes is very high in EPA. This substance is known to be a pain reliever, as EPAs are absorbed through the skin and are the parent of the series 3 prostaglandins which inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory series 2 prostaglandins, and the Chinese snake oil products may contain up to 4% of it. > From a purely pharmacochemical perspective, it is likely that the genuine Chinese snake oil is not fraudulent, at least for its intended purpose, since EPA indeed is an effective anti-inflammatory agent. On the other hand, American products made from rattlesnake fats, which have at most 1/3 of the EPA concentration of Enhydris chinensis fat, are likely to have been inferior or even useless for similar purposes [Wiki again, sorry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_oil) I suppose you could claim there is so little of the active ingredient in the American snake-oil that it counts as a homeopathic medicine - and therefore is _ **more** _ effective --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058)._