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"ECT" is what you mean. One of the side effects of ECT is memory loss, not memory enhancement, so this new procedure is somehow different.

You don't have a fucking clue what you are talking about.

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes:

Eating primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts
Replacing butter with healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil
Using herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods
Limiting red meat to no more than a few times a month
Eating fish and poultry at least twice a week
Enjoying meals with family and friends
Drinking red wine in moderation (optional)
Getting plenty of exercise

Source

Yeah the illegals swarming the border are causing HUGE tuberculosis problems for the US. A bit worse than fucking measles bro. Ask John Keats how bad dying of tuberculosis sucks.

Or we could, I don't know, treat them for tuberculosis since that's a thing now that wasn't available in John Keats' day.

And also, it was three cases of tuberculosis and 4 of HIV from a group of thousands of migrants. Hardly a huge problem as you claim.

Both of these were top results in a 2 second Google search. Maybe just the tiniest bit of fact checking next time?

I'm sorry you're having this loss at such a young age. I'm a good bit older and regularly run (mix) sound (and I'm pretty good at very gentle augmentation of classical, to full-on rock). I haven't had my hearing tested, but I don't perceive it to be any worse than when I was 20, and now that I've gotten into audio work, I ardently/fiercely protect my hearing.

I know they're pricey but you've bypassed the world of junk hearing aids, and some argue that the super-cheap ones can do more damage.

I'm much more concerned that you might have one of the many inner-ear infections. They can be very difficult to detect until after they've done much damage. One is "mastoiditis" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4176546/ and
  https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ear-infections/symptoms-causes/syc-20351616. Like too many conditions / diseases, it's often overlooked because it's considered more of a childhood disease; and may well set in during childhood.

Miser confessed:

I'm going to undo all my moderation to post this.

WTF? All you have to do is to post as an AC in order to keep your previous mods in effect, and still be able to weigh in on this topic.

Or do you have some philosophical objection to posting as an AC?

I have known relatives that have had to spend down all their assets to stay in a "memory care" unit when they could no longer be legitimately safe at home. It's horrible to see everything you've worked for just flushed down the toilet for you to "just exist".

I agree. The whole range of neurological diseases that reach their terminal stage via dementia is horrible enough, without their victims being forced to lose their possessions and estates simply in order to afford residental care.

Nor do I have any ethical or philosophical objection to patients who have terminal conditions being granted the right ro choose to commit medically-assisted suicide, rather than spend their final weeks or months in steadily-increasing, intractable pain. However, I have a serious problem with allowing Alzheimer's patients the same right, because their ability to make an informed decision becomes increasingly problematic as their dementia deepens. Even in the case of "moderate" dementia (that term is pretty broad, and very definitely includes patients who experience what's called "sundowner syndrome," where they're reasonably coherent during the day, but turn increasingly paranoid, fearful, and irrational after sunset), patients display markedly-impaired judgement. That makes it hard to honestly view any decision they might make as entirely voluntary.

The complete lack of anything like a clear, bright line between "impaired, but still capable of making informed choices" and "too impaired to be able to make critical choices" is, for me, the central roadblock to making medically-assisted suicide available to Alzheimer's sufferers. I think chances are good that they're mentally capable of making that decision if they've been recently diagnosed, but the flip side of that is that an initial dianosis of Alzheimer's is inveitably going to trigger major depression in the vast majority of patients who receive it. By definition, a person experiencing major depression (not simply 'the blues," but someone displaying a sufficient number of the symptoms listed in the APA Diagnostic Manual to meet the medical definition of MDD) is incapable of making objective choices about suicide. In fact, persistent thoughts of suicide, along with overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness are among the symptoms of the disorder.

The thing is, though, even after an initial Alzheimer's diagnosis, patients usually experience a period of time - sometimes as long as several years - in which their quality of life can be reasonably good. Mild Alzheimer's typically is more an annoyance than a disability, and there's no real reason for them to forego the opportunity to enjoy that period, despite the horrifying prospect of the later stages of the disease looming on the horizon. To me, at least, it'd be hard to justify killing yourself when you're still perfectly capable of enjoying the company of friends, family members, and beloved pets, traveling with a companion, listening to - or even playing - your favorite music, and, in general, getting as much pleasure from other leisure-time activities as you ever did.

My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a couple of years before she had to resort to residential care (only because there was no one available to babysit her on workdays). She wasn't fully-independent during that period, but she wasn't in any real sense incapacitated, either. She competently fixed her own meals, browsed the web, carried on coherent conversations, cared for my sister's family dog during the day, and so on. Her short-term memory was certainly impaired during that time, b

Along the same lines PACs (Premature atril contractions) and PVCs (Premature ventricular contractions) indicate coronary misfires. Skipped beats. I've been told it's pretty common. Depending on diet (aka caffeine) and how much sleep I get, I can have 0 - 5 PVCs a minute. I've been checked with 24 hr & 30 day Holter monitors and cardiologist concluded it ain't a problem. I've gotten where I can feel it when it happens. I don't need a watch to tell me. However, if the watch could detect and warn of a more serious condition like AFIB, I'd listen. A friend (with experience) explained to me that I'd know it's a heart attack by the elephant sitting on my chest.

Reversal success rates vary from about 40% to over 90% according to Mayo clinic, based on a number of factors including how long it's been in place.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tes...

Depending on your personal priorities and risk factors, a 60% (or even 10%) chance of permanent sterilization may be an unacceptable risk. Of course if you're absolutely certain you'll never want kids, then it's probably a great choice.

Personally I'm following the progress of vasagel and similar "temporary vasectomies" with interest - it sounds like they've had great success both in medium-term (5+year) effectiveness and reversal, and even avoid some of the potential side effects of vasectomies, though they do have their own, different set of mostly minor risks.

The pill basically works on women primarily by chemically simulating pregnancy, in order to suppress ovulation. So, you can either get pregnant or have many of the effects of pregnancy except having the baby and most of the weight gain, plus an increased chance of cancer (at least some of the various forms of the pill are classified as carcinogens).

If fact, almost all forms of contraceptives are disliked because of the various side effects. They are just disliked less than having a pregnancy and decades of child care. For instance, vasectomy has several side effects, including many that don't show up for years or decades: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tes...

Plastics go in, plastics go out? Whats the problem?
Do they get into the blood stream? Do they degrade in the body and produce toxins?

Obviously you don't give a shit about your sons future ability to skirt cum or your daughters ability to create viable ovum. Yes the polymers used to produce plastics can concentrate and are concentrating in higher and higher levels, as we very quickly in evolutionary terms, plasticize the entire fucking planet.

Again my sister does bio chemical analysis for a major international corporation and assays are finding slowly increasing concentrations of BPA in tissues of just about every organism on the planet. Canada is all head up about sending gobs of more raw natural gas and oil to China so that Walmart and Save On Foods Inc. and the likes can afford cheap packaging for us "consumers". The petro chemical industry is calling the shots here with science and the truth is we are playing russian roulette with BPAand the reproductive health of all species that produce egg and sperm.

There is also a recent percentile rise in prostate cancer and ovarian cancers, the numbers are statistically small but the rise correlates directly to the use of BPA since the second world war. It took Rachel Carson with silent spring to finally stop the insane use of DDT, only when the truth about the dangers associated with plastic pollution are made public will outcry and change happen. Who knows maybe it is Ancient Aliens working in concert with the petro chemical industry to reduce the world population and make it more friendly for there spawn of AI beings which thrive on petroleum basted plastics because they are created by printers not cum and eggs. Hell the bible tells us that Angels have no balls or cunts!

"The same amount of total trans fats, or the exact same trans fatty acids ? "

Not sure.

"Trans fat is considered by many doctors to be the worst type of fat you can eat. Unlike other dietary fats, trans fat — also called trans-fatty acids — both raises your LDL ("bad") cholesterol and lowers your HDL ("good") cholesterol."

https://www.mayoclinic.org/dis...

That's for fda reasons.

Yeah, those reasons being lack of scientific evidence:

But the recent analysis stopped short of recommending zinc. None of the studies analyzed had enough participants to meet a high standard of proof.

But you probably don't trust the Mayo Clinic or Canada's FDA equivalent.

I bet that it was a seborrheic keratosis. Younger people can them, but it's mostly something you'll become familiar after you get into your 60's. https://www.mayoclinic.org/dis...
Often they just fall off on their own, and there won't be a scar.
Wanna see pics of mine?

Here is a Mayo Clinic article regarding hand sanitizers which says you don't know what you are talking about.

"Alcohol-based hand sanitizers, which don't require water, are an acceptable alternative when soap and water aren't available."

https://www.mayoclinic.org/dis...

Signs and symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder and the severity of symptoms vary. People with the disorder can:

        Have an exaggerated sense of self-importance
        Have a sense of entitlement and require constant, excessive admiration
        Expect to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it
        Exaggerate achievements and talents
        Be preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate
        Believe they are superior and can only associate with equally special people
        Monopolize conversations and belittle or look down on people they perceive as inferior
        Expect special favors and unquestioning compliance with their expectations
        Take advantage of others to get what they want
        Have an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others
        Be envious of others and believe others envy them
        Behave in an arrogant or haughty manner, coming across as conceited, boastful and pretentious
        Insist on having the best of everything — for instance, the best car or office

I'd definitely recommend installing automatic lights at home if you haven't already, or look into actual light therapy. You can't do much about the earth's tilt anyways so adjusting your own environment is the next best thing.

I bought the gen-1 version of Kardia's little sensor because I thought it was a nifty gadget. Get an affordable 2-lead ECG to play with? Neat!

When I got it I started taking readings, and your first few 'get a review by a real cardiologist' instances were free. I got mine back with something worrying: sinus bradycardia; an unnaturally slow heartbeat. They recommended I go see a real cardiologist, so I did. After a number of tests they were sure something was wrong, but weren't sure what. I was therefore lucky enough to be under a cardiologist's care when I had my first major afib attack shortly thereafter while upgrading a router at work. This got me better-informed care quicker.

After the attack I had to wear one of those 24-hour monitors for three weeks, and it was seriously limiting. It's like wearing a walkman you can never take off with wires hooked up to stickypads on your chest. After all the monitoring and other tests it turns out I had a "multiple heartbeat source" genetic defect shared with the males in my family line, and it's the most likely cause of what ended up killing my granddad, great granddad, and has my father on a pacemaker these days.

Not long after that first attack I had a surgery called an ablation ( https://www.mayoclinic.org/tes... ) to try and repair it. In the three years since I've had four more instances of afib attacks that required electro-cardioversion, each one lesser in strength than the one before. These days my electrocardiologist says I'm past the worst of it and life should be getting better and better, and shouldn't require a 2nd ablation. The worst part, though, was having a mild panic attack at every single flutter or uneasy feeling in the chest; I never knew if it was just gas or if it was the start of another attack that'd get me zapped/burned in a hospital along with a 24 hour stay and a few thousand dollars (even after insurance coverage) of medical bills.

Since then I've carried the Kardia tool in my pocket. It has helped me identify when each of those four additional attacks were going on, getting me to get it dealt with earlier, and thus have less risk of stroke or other complications (every hour you spend in afib your risk of stroke or other permanent damage keeps going up). The kardia unit can be a pain in the ass, though; you have to clip it to the back of your phone, sit _very_ still, and take a 60 second reading. Often times the flutter that would cause me to take a measurement would pass before I'd even get the unit set up and started.

With the release of Apple Watch 3 and their latest software the built-in heart monitoring has been able to ping me when it sees something 'out of normal' before I even feel it, which I then follow up with a Kardia measurement to make sure, and it has given me much better peace of mind. But it still doesn't do as much as the Kardia system would.

As of this week I've gotten one of the new Kardia Band monitors, since they were finally approved by the FDA after a stupidly long wait. I've only had it for a few days but it's already proven to be a much better tool than the keep-in-pocket/hold-to-back-of-phone version. Any time my heart skips a little or feels odd it takes mere seconds to get a sample recording and predictive analysis to prove if something is going on or not, which serves to calm me down much quicker. I can indeed catch the odd rhythms before they fade, recording them for the cardiologist to look at without having to wear one of those terribly limiting 24-hr monitor systems. It makes me feel more in control of my condition.

Currently the Kardia band software is a little blunt; it has to abuse the Apple Watch's 'exercise mode' to be at its most predictive and accurate. Hopefully this will change with time and Apple will open up some API changes to let tools like the Kardia band work more transparently. Even so, I find it a liberating piece of technology; it lets me get out with friends and live a more active life without being as in-fear of my condition as I would be otherwise.

The reports of alcoholic beverages being healthy are the result of bad science and the results regularly get reversed by other studies.

Take it up with the Mayo clinic https://www.mayoclinic.org/hea...

New Blog Post: Napping After Work Like My Father

You missed a possible explanation, creimer: that your body's inability to control its blood sugar, coupled with your obesity-induced snoring, is finally catching up to you.

You see, when you're very fat, your throat has lots of fat around it too. When you begin to relax into sleep, your airways have a tendency to relax & collapse, causing an interruption in your breathing. This is known as sleep apnea, and it leads to severely reduced sleep efficiency, as your body is never able to relax fully into a deep sleep. This isn't ONLY caused by being fat, but being fat MASSIVELY increases your chances of sleep apnea.

Couple that with the insulin insensitivity that's the hallmark of your Type II Diabetes, and you've got a recipe for "crashing." You see, when you eat a bunch of food that causes a spike in your blood sugar (any refined sugars & starches, really - like what you find in PowerBars and other garbage like that), your blood sugar ('glucose levels') spike rapidly. This is the way the body is designed - rapidly digested sugars get passed into the bloodstream rapidly. However, a normal body will release insulin, which directs the body to begin taking Glucose out of the blood, converting it to fat, and storing it in adipose tissue. In obese people, however, the insulin is less effective, and so the blood sugar stays higher longer, prompting more insulin to be released into the bloodstream. This means that the body "over-shoots" the amount of insulin it should release, and ends up releasing too much insulin, which causes more blood sugar to be pulled from the blood stream than is necessary. This leads to low blood sugar, and its attendant side effects of sleepiness and lethargy. So when you eat a bunch of crap food, your insulin spikes, your blood sugar ends up dipping below the "optimal" level, and you feel sleepy and logy as a result.

Combine the two, and you've got a sure-fire recipe for post-prandial napping. It's only going to get worse - and it's not because you're "getting older," and it's not because your body needs tons of energy to "burn fat and build muscle."

I am not YOUR doctor, and you should always check with your medical professional before doing any of this, but this is medically sound advice:
1) Go see your doctor, and ask about a sleep study. It's almost guaranteed that you have severe sleep apnea, and you need a CPAP or other intervention to help you sleep well. You should be getting 6+ hours per night of solid sleep.

2) While you're there, get a HbA1C screening. It will likely be well above 7%. Under 6% is considered normal. 6 to 6.5% is considered "pre-diabetic." 6.5% and higher is considered diabetic, and the higher it is above 6.5, the worse control you have over your blood sugar.

3) Get your cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, and kidney function checked, while you're there, too. Given your age, your weight, and your claimed eating habits, it's virtually guaranteed that you are a poster child for metabolic syndrome.

4) Prescriptions you are LIKELY to need, but should get medical advice before taking:
- Metformin - assists in controlling blood sugar;
- Lipitor (or some other statin) - assists in lowering cholesterol, also has a systemic anti-inflammatory effect;
- Lisinopril (or some other ACE inhibitor) - lowers blood pressure;
- Amlodipine (or some other calcium channel blocker) - lowers blood pressure;
- Fenofibrate (or some other antilipemic) - lowers triglyceride levels;

5) Non-prescription supplements you should probably be taking:
- Children's aspirin (81mg), 1x per day - anti-inflammatory effect + heart protection;
- Fish oil, 1000mg / day - anti-inflammatory effects + heart protection;
- General multivitamin supplement - it's likely you're deficient in a host of other nutrients, a multi will

You missed the important part, no doubt on purpose: it doesn't matter if it is 50 or 100 million.

SRSLY? Just out of curiosity, are you a pediatrician or OB/GYN and if so - or even if not so, give me the cites to illustrate that which you are so certain of. The idea that a male producing half of the sperm of another especially 50 million per ejaculate is as fertile goes against everything I have been taught and experienced. Your expertise in this matter is requested.

Thank you in advance for providing this information. Here is something that I know, and am awaiting for your debunking of the Mayo Clinic http://www.mayoclinic.org/dise...

39 million sperm per ejaculate is considered as a low sperm count. the present day average of 50 million is getting close, and will perhaps reach that level in the future. Then again, I believe that you actually think that if a male produces even one sperm, the woman will beome pregnant. I'll respectfully ask for the debunking of the acrosome reaction in whic many sperm attach them selves to the zona pellucida and create enzymes that allow the one sperm that does the actual insemination to pierce the egg and finish the fertilization process.

Your sarcasm is amusing...but the take away on the sperm front would probably be that you can should keep it as healthy as you can.

We know that activities like smoking damages the quantity and quality of sperm. We also know that eating healthily and being physically active have wide ranging benefits including having a positive effect on sperm.

My take away is that men should take care of themselves so their sperm is still very good quality at 35 and at the same time they have the financial, emotional and intellectual basis to become not only caring and loving but also effective fathers.

Also, the likelihood of autism, schizophrenia and down syndrome in babies of older healthy parents is greatly over played. If memory serves a couple aged forty are three times as likely to have a child with down syndrome! - sounds like a huge risk...until you see figures like 1 in 350 is your base chance and that goes to 1 in 100 at 40. (Source: http://www.mayoclinic.org/dise... )

So if you are a young man or woman and you drink or you smoke, or you don't sleep, or you eat junk all the time, you dont exercise or even dabble in drugs - think about it.

It never ceases to amaze me how a young guy can spend hours fixing and polishing his car or a young woman puts in so much effort into her looks and dress but their body?! it suffers abuses to no end. Your body is your only vehicle, treat it well and it will carry you.

I log everything I eat... because I'm a data geek. Then one day I noticed I was getting something like only 20% of the potassium I needed. Potassium has a huge number of roles in the body, so being low on it is not good.

So I decided that I'd try to get 100% of the 4700 mg a day you supposedly need, and it's hard. Even supplements typically only contain something like 3% of your RDA. Bananas contain only about 9% of your RDA; even so they're one of the highest potassium common foods. You'd have to eat 11 a day to get the 4700 mg, but that beats taking 33 potassium gluconate pills.

In fact, getting enough potassium is sufficiently tough (and impractical to get through supplementation), you could almost use potassium intake as an overall proxy for dietary quality. I eat a lot of bananas -- typically three or four a day, but I have to eat a huge variety of high potassium foods to hit my target; you can't do it on a single food unless you want to eat ten cups of beans or thirteen cups of yogurt a day. Avocados, when you can get one ripe, are packed with potassium -- almost a thousand gram of it apiece.

Where are you getting 4700 mg as a RDA? The Mayo clinic says "Because lack of potassium is rare, there is no RDA or RNI for this mineral. However, it is thought that 1600 to 2000 mg (40 to 50 milliequivalents [mEq]) per day for adults is adequate."

It really doesnt matter what you eat. All diet fads are bullshit.

The important thing is burning off what you consume. Farmer John could eat lots of fat and meat then work the fields for 12 hours, and be thin and healthy. But if Desk Jockey Julie does that she'll weigh 400 pounds and be sick.Common sense.

Swimmer Michael Phelps ate 12,000 calories a day, consisting of fried-egg sandwiches, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions, mayonnaise, coffee, omelets, grits, french toast, powdered sugar, pancakes, pasta, ham, 2,000 calories worth of energy drinks, and pizza.

I'm no doctor, but he seems pretty healthy.

Maybe Michael Phelps' isn't the best example here.

As to the extreme nature of his diet, he's a known pot head and has been diagnosed with ADHD so who knows what part of the calorie consumption is cause and effect (some drugs that are used to treat ADHD are basically stimulants)... As to "health", he also is a recovering alcoholic and likely suffers from Marfan Syndrome...

Of course he does burn a lot of calories, but most people aren't training for the olympics (nor does Mr. Phelps eat that much anymore since '08 and now that he is older, and he never at that much unless he was actively training). Given all that, I don't think he's anywhere near the center of any bell curve that is relevant to other people's metabolism...

Besides, the relationship between weight and calories is complex. What specific foods you eat and the schedule that you consume food can greatly effect this relationship (as with the standard obvious stuff like metabolic rate)...

Irrelevant self-aggrandizement. You must be a narcissist. This explains so much.

According to Mayo Clinic: "Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of ultraconfidence lies a fragile self-esteem that's vulnerable to the slightest criticism."

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/basics/definition/CON-20025568

Uh, no. You're confusing me with Trump.

He talked them into moving them up.

Trump did not such thing. He took credit for plans already underway. CEO jumped on the bandwagon to praise him since it cost them nothing to do so.

Not sure what your point is or was it just so you could call the president an egomaniac?

My bad. I meant narcissistic.

Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of ultraconfidence lies a fragile self-esteem that's vulnerable to the slightest criticism.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/basics/definition/CON-20025568

Most that have a soy allergy won't have a life threatening condition if they consume soy, but the results are pretty damn inconvenient and uncomfortable.(Reference: Mayo Clinic)

I'm allergic to soy and if I consume soy I end up with stomach cramps and diarrhea. Usually takes around 2 days for the diarrhea to subside. So if I know something has soy in it I'll avoid it, but I don't let it stop me from eating fast food etc, I just try to avoid items I know will cause unpleasant results.

There are also some fat soluble vitamins that are toxic if you take too much (like D).

Yes, in general fat soluble vitamins have a higher potential of toxic accumulation. But how toxic is it?

You can use about 50 000 IU per day for a long time with out symptoms.

Taking 50,000 international units (IU) a day of vitamin D for several months has been shown to cause toxicity. This level is many times higher than the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for most adults of 600 IU of vitamin D a day. http://www.mayoclinic.org/heal...

And even this information is old and the 600 IU RDA seams to be lacking. http://articles.mercola.com/si...

New recommendations are at about 7 000 to 10 000 IU per Day with no access to sunlight at a UV-Index above 2.

True and those sources also contain fiber, which slows the digestion/metabolism of the sugar.

Not much. White bread has a glycemic index of 75. Whole wheat bread has a glycemic index of 74. Both higher than table sugar at 65. You can also test this yourself. Each a few slices of bread, wait an hour, and measure blood glucose. It will be up sharply, meaning that the glucose is already entering the bloodstream while the fibers are still in your gut.

Most white bread has zero (or almost zero) fiber and most whole-wheat bread isn't much better. And hunter-gathers don't really hunt/gather bread. Most fruits, nuts and vegetables have lower glycemic loads. But to support the initial statement, from Dietary fiber: Essential for a healthy diet (and other places):

Benefits of a high-fiber diet

Helps control blood sugar levels. In people with diabetes, fiber — particularly soluble fiber — can slow the absorption of sugar and help improve blood sugar levels. A healthy diet that includes insoluble fiber may also reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Also, we're talking about adequate fiber in the diet, not just 3-6g. From the second page of the above link:

Fiber: Daily recommendations for adults:
Age 50 or younger, Age 51 or older
Men: 38 grams, 30 grams
Women: 25 grams, 21 grams

You should watch the video I originally referenced, it's from the a lecture series at UCSF and is pretty interesting - though it's also 90 minutes.

Ditto, our son stopped breathing for a short period after birth, it made us neurotic We have an Owlet and quite honestly, after the first 2 weeks or so of use I realized the Owlet is not so much for the baby, its so that WE can sleep better at night not worrying as much, by getting up every 10 minutes to check if he is in trouble.

S.I.D.S.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Cause mostly unknown.
All babies are at risk during months 2-4 whether they are healthy or not.

The Owlet works and has been worth every cent of the $250 we spent.
I would recommend the Owlet (I do not work for nor sell Owlets)

I wouldnt say it is complicated, only that it is the result of unpleasant truths.

There major form of psychoactives used in the US is that of anti-depressant medications, used for various kinds of depression and anxiety disorders.

Take that, along with some scary findings ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/... ) that the US's "PRODUCE MORE NOW! WITH LESS THAN YOU DID LAST QUARTER, OBEY OR BE FIRED! DO NOT DARE ASK FOR MORE THAN THE 1-WEEK OF VACATION ALLOTED TO YOU! CORPORATE HAS SPOKEN!" culture produces unbearable levels of stress, which increases risk for depression. ( http://www.mayoclinic.org/heal... )

The obvious low hanging fruit to investigate is workplace related stress causing anxiety disorders and other mental disorders, such as dementia. (https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=1744 )

But somehow, this is "Damn complicated", because damnit, without slavedriving people, how will americans be cost effective compared to foreign labor and developing economies!? How will C-level assfucks get to feel good about themselve without driving the company lexus or taking rides in the corporate jet!?

The problem is that the world values money and wealth more than health and happiness, just not in the way that the GGP suggested with the quip about balance reports-- but it was pretty close to the mark, even if he did not know it.

Yes, "damn complicated", because "Damnit, I want my gold-encrusted jet to rival Donald Trumps!" and not "complicated" because "There isnt a glaringly obvious common factor massively contributing to poor american mental health."

Coffee used to be one of my 3 major food groups. About 2 months ago I got food poisoning and spent 10 days with diarrhea. After several rounds of tests and delays, I tested positive for blastocystis. The first antibiotic was a joke. I eventually ended up on Metronidazole; another antibiotic but a real kick-ass. Since I got off that (2 wks ago) the smell and taste of coffee is different and frankly, bad. I think whatever made me sick, or maybe the antibiotic, messed up my gut microbiome and altered my sense of taste and smell. Coffee is the most obvious change, but I've also developed a powerful craving for ginger ale. Effing weird.

What's makes you think the FDA is a net benefit by regulating medical claims? How many people have to die for lack of FDA approval before you're willing to allow them to make their own decisions about their health? Why don't you want to allow customized medicine for things like cancer by making them prohibitively expensive via the FDA?

You don't have to be a libertarian to be willing to consider the results of empirical studies about what FDA delays cost. Can you at least be a utilitarian and go with the libertarian solution when it's the most effective based on the available evidence?

The FDA delay in approving beta blockers, by the FDA's own numbers, cost about 100,000 lives. Three years of delay on interleukin-2 after it was available in Europe? 3,000 lives. Every year of the approval process, every millions of dollars spent on approval fees to the FDA, equals lives lost and people who could have benefited who don't. Even Thalidomide, the one big claim people always have for the FDA, wasn't blocked by the FDA because of it's impact on embryos. They weren't even investigating that, it took news reports. Total Thalidomide affected children in the U.S.? 17. The rest of the world, 5-10K. Does that help the 10x as many people who died from lack of beta blocker approvals? Does anyone notice that currently Thalidomide is approved by the FDA to treat leprosy and cancer?

Yes, health choices can be risky, but rather than add information and give advice on them, you seem to want to tell adults what they can and can't decide to do, despite them knowing their own situation better than you do and despite their ability to consult with a knowledgeable specialist in the area of their medical issue before making an informed decision. There's no empirical evidence the FDA saves lives, the evidence points to them costing lives overall. But that doesn't seem to be the point of their existence. The point seems to be control and having the power to tell people what they must do. Which is where this conversation started.

You want pre-FDA history? Insulin was invented as a treatment and came to the market to treat diabetes in a couple of years when the FDA wasn't around. If the FDA was around, it would have taken at least 3-5 more years and might even have never made it to the market (or much, much later) because of the expense involved!

Most of these contain fiber, which is useless as a food.

Not so fast...
http://www.mayoclinic.org/fibe...

Go. Look. It. Up. And. Find. Out.

I'll give you a hint, one isn't digested; the other is.

Don't even use the word "genius," you are not even a functional reader. To prove you can read, don't write; go and read. Then, when you don't reply I'll know you actually read something about the subject.

Since you didn't know how to google:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pu...
http://www.mayoclinic.org/heal...

You also seem confused about the word "nutrient" (in nutritional) so I'll also show you:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Even fiber that isn't fermented and absorbed is still a nutrient, it still has nutritional value.

Just wtf IS "narcissicm" anyhow?!?
From http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/basics/definition/CON-20025568:

"Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of ultraconfidence lies a fragile self-esteem that's vulnerable to the slightest criticism.

A narcissistic personality disorder causes problems in many areas of life, such as relationships, work, school or financial affairs. You may be generally unhappy and disappointed when you're not given the special favors or admiration you believe you deserve. Others may not enjoy being around you, and you may find your relationships unfulfilling.

Narcissistic personality disorder treatment is centered around talk therapy (psychotherapy)."

Sounds more like "jocks", politicians, stereotypical "authority figures", and corporate upper-management types than like your average geek to me.

$APROPOS="AC CAPTCHA is 'clarify' "

People go to the doctor demanding antibiotics to cure their colds, no? And is not amongst the best advice of doctors that you should get plenty of fluids?

I propose doctors prescribe homeopathic cold remedies instead of antibiotics. "Here you go, get some rest, and drink lots of this homeopathic cold remedy and you'll be better in a few days."

Very few of the rear end collisions that this type of system protects against have fatalities.

Whiplash injuries are really horrible, the damage is permanent and painful forever. They happen even in low speed collisions. You've completely neglected the fact that whiplash injuries will be greatly reduced.

According to the info below, a small percentage do have extended health issues after experiencing Whiplash. However, most people do recover from it.

http://www.healthline.com/heal...
http://www.bottonline.co.uk/gu...
http://www.mayoclinic.org/dise...

That being said, I do agree that if this reduces injuries by preventing accidents then its a good idea. The problem is that it also needs to show that it doesn't end up causing other types of accidents.

For example, the car in front is breaking, you are breaking and steering off the road to miss the guy in front and to prevent the guy behind from hitting you, and then the automatic breaks kick in, causing the guy behind you to hit your car and launch it into the car in front. In this case, you could have avoided the accident by driving on to the shoulder of the road but the automatic system wouldn't let you.

Citations needed.

Very well, citations you shall have.

http://www.skincancer.org/heal...

http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin... ("A tan does not indicate good health. A tan is a response to injury, because skin cells signal that they have been hurt by UV rays by producing more pigment.")

http://www.mayoclinic.org/dise... ("Tanning...also puts you at risk. A tan is your skin's injury response to excessive UV radiation.")

My reply to this would be that your eating habits changed without you realize it. This is very, very common, especially if you're spending several more hours a day asleep.

Except that there is evidence that sleep loss affects your metabolic rate. And while this Mayo Clinic article suggests that sleep deprivation can cause cravings, I can tell you right now that I was on the exact same diet before and after the treatment. But if you bother to Google you can find article after article that quote different studies that suggest that sleep deprivation leads to a slower metabolic rate. So you can go ahead and put your head in the sand and think whatever you want, but doctors and scientists pretty much all disagree with you.

Good question. I was wondering, and it looks like coffee has quite a bit more caffeine than coke.

Acromegalic rice?
With twisted proteins that will only be accidentally discovered. With less energy devoted to health and nutrition.
Based on the company's private safety evaluation that the FDA's revolving door personnel rubber-stamped.
With technology that is suspected of greatly increasing allergies in the last quarter of a century?

What could go wrong?

.

I don't disagree, and as I've stated elsewhere in this, I don't have a lot of of respect for that field. My response was focused upon the claim that Gitmo could be replaced in the U.S. with things like this, and I'll continue to disagree since those forms of interrogation would not be allowed (for several reasons) within U.S. borders.

As for ECT, I don't know much (I saw some articles with anecdotal evidence), but just because it looks like torture, doesn't make it so. The Mayo clinic seems to think it's a valid treatment for some issues...
http://www.mayoclinic.org/test...

Oh... you mean like thinking HTTPS stops anyone from seeing the URL you just visited so they can view it for themselves?..... yeah, some people just don't get that.

Well, https won't protect you from others identifying which site you visited, but the entirety of your GET request is encrypted and that's important. It means if which actual pages you view is protected from snooping unless, say, you're on a work computer and your employer is using some nefarious https proxy that issues certificates to your browser.

So your employer might know you were looking at a local news site, but cannot see that you were reading the situations vacant pages. Or they can tell you were at the Mayo Clinic site, but not that you were reading pages about STDs.

You can typically spot such proxies pretty easily though - visit Google and see if their certificate was signed by Google.com or by some other entity. If it wasn't signed by Google, you have reason to be concerned. If you're really suspicious you can check fingerprints too, but for some sites these may change and you may be better picking a small server that likely has a single certificate to check the fingerprint against.
 

Most of the time a sore throat isn't something you need to see a doctor about:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/dise...

In Canada we have a free healthcare phone number that you can call and talk to a Registered Nurse. They'll ask questions and clarify whether or not you should even both going in to see a doctor.

I am puzzled that you are using the Internet and have to get other people to do this for you.

Google is a search engine (there are others, but the thinking process is similar), and here's how I do it.

I'm thinking:

- mayo clinic (they know medical stuff)
- exercise (that's the scope we want)
- makes people hungry (what we are talking about)

Click on the first link:

Exercise, hunger and weight loss - Mayo Clinic

I think you're just trolling, but that's how it's done and stuff.

Not necessarily ...

While it has long been thought that exercise diminishes appetite, this is not a universal truth. Some individuals find that hard exercise can increase their appetite. Scientists have confirmed that some people have an increased level of appetite hormones that drives eating after exercise.

I am not sure that walking on the treadmill for an hour slowly is considered hard exercise except for the most obese/out of shape people.

Why didn't you at least look?

The key to weight loss is to consume fewer calories than you burn. For most people, it's possible to lower their calorie intake to a greater degree than it is to burn more calories through increased exercise. That's why cutting calories through dieting is generally more effective for weight loss. But doing both — cutting calories and exercising — can help give you the weight-loss edge. Exercise can help burn even more calories than just dieting.

Not necessarily ...

While it has long been thought that exercise diminishes appetite, this is not a universal truth. Some individuals find that hard exercise can increase their appetite. Scientists have confirmed that some people have an increased level of appetite hormones that drives eating after exercise.

Stop insulting people.

- no. Stupid people need to be insulted, there is no other way around it, they have to be told how fucking stupid they are. Health care was extremely affordable and cheap in the USA before the socialism/fascism fucked up the country. In fact people came to the USA for best and cheapest care before the government got its dirty murderous hands on it.

Free markets are the only real economic driver and health care is just as much about economy as any other good or service, you can't have health care if there is no wealth generated and wealth is only generated by individual entrepreneurship and collectivism is the antithesis to the individual freedoms required for individuals to be entrepreneurial. USA today has NOTHING TO DO with free markets, it's a corrupt socialist/fascist state without any free market, a collectivised nightmare.

Are you sure you want to go down this route? France, Germany, Russia, everybody was taking note of the Mayo Clinic from late 18 hundreds while in Soviet Russia we were busy declaring that genetics and cybernetics are 'prostitutes of the bourgeoisie' and promoting Lysenkoism instead of real science.

Or maybe you think that only free market creates con artists? Or maybe you think that socialist/fascist control over individuals actually provides people with more individual choices in the market and lower prices? Hmmm, I have a bridge I want to sell, interested?

People conflate "side effect" with allergy. Urticaria (hives) is an allergy to penicillin. Nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting is a side effect

According to this article by the Mayo Clinic, those "side effects" can be a symptom of Anaphylaxis, a rare, life-threatening, allergic reaction to Penicillin.