Last Commented Health Blogs (953)

30 years ago, I had high cholesterol levels and told by my family doctor to take niacin supplements that will elevate my metabolism and help reduce cholesterol naturally. I did and soon after started feeling joint pain, so I stopped taking supplements and the pains went away.

4 years ago, I started up with a cardiologist and she said my cholesterol was 'in range' but a little high, so I started taking 500mg of niacin daily and noticed joint pain again.

Researching the research always finds difference in how much niacin (aka vitamin B3) is necessary. Since many foods are rich in niacin and it's added to cereals and flour, the need for supplements may not be necessary. I found one statement from the Mayo Clinic, 16mg is the recommended daily amount. (so why does it come in 500mg strength?)

I'm finding a contradiction as some sites claim niacin reduces inflammation, yet another site claims 'in a new report' it may raise the risk of heart disease by triggering inflammation and damaging blood vessels. However, according to one story:

The researchers currently don’t know where to draw the line between healthy and unhealthy amounts of niacin, although that may be determined with future research.

"The average person should avoid niacin supplements now that we have reason to believe that taking too much niacin can potentially lead to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease”

I read that niacin taken to reduce heart disease has been found to cause it.



Link:

MYTH: The COVID vaccines were not rigorously tested, which is why they have only emergency authorization approval and not full Food and Drug Administration approval. (Update: Pfizer’s vaccine received full FDA approval on August 19)

FACT: “Vaccine developers didn’t skip any testing steps, but conducted some of the steps on an overlapping schedule to gather data faster.”—Johns Hopkins Medicine
Assoumou: This is the most common question I get asked. I think there is a perception that things moved very fast, but we want to underscore that the technology being used now was being studied for a decade. The main difference between emergency use versus full FDA approval is that you need two months of monitoring rather than six months. When you look at the history of vaccines, if patients were to develop side effects, these occurred within two months. We are now over six months into our experience with these vaccines. We have not seen anything that would make us believe that the risks outweigh the benefits. And vaccines have saved so many lives.

Hamer: The development was more rapid than many other vaccines. But it used the same process of phase one and phase two trials following appropriate safety measures. Stage three trials were large-scale trials done rigorously with very clear outcome definitions. The safety measures and approaches taken are standard for clinical trials. They just did it more rapidly than usual. The full process review is ongoing and we are already hearing that Pfizer will have full FDA authorization by September and Moderna soon after.

MYTH: The technology used to create the COVID vaccines is too new to be safe.

FACT: The technology used, called messenger RNA, or mRNA, is not new. Research on it actually began in the early 1990s, and two diseases that are very close to COVID—SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003, and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome)—helped bring the mRNA vaccine development to present day use.—Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Understanding mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines
Assoumou: The reason this is called SARS-COV-2 is that there was a SARS-1, the original one, and scientists were working on this vaccine. So when this pandemic arrived they had already developed a lot of the science. A decade of work was actually going on. That’s one issue I like to emphasize when people think it was rushed.

The other point I like to remind people is that these vaccines went through all the regulatory steps like any other vaccines. None of this was rushed. The FDA reviewed all the data. When you say “Emergency use,” people think it was rushed, but the way to think about it is that the benefits outweigh the risks.

MYTH: Breakthrough cases prove that even if I get the vaccine, I might still get COVID. So why bother?

FACT: As of August 9, the CDC said there had been 8,054 vaccinated people who were hospitalized or died who had also tested positive for coronavirus—out of more than 166 million fully vaccinated Americans. That’s roughly .005 percent. Additionally, CDC director Rochelle Walensky has said that 99.5 percent of all deaths from COVID-19 are in the unvaccinated.—Politifact, Fact Checking Joe Biden’s Figure on Unvaccinated COVID-19 Deaths
Hamer: COVID vaccines have been shown to be very powerful in preventing more severe disease and the need for hospitalization. Breakthroughs occur at a much, much lower rate than in people who are unvaccinated. The breakthroughs have been occurring more frequently with the Delta variant because of the high level of infectiousness (or transmissibility) of the Delta variant and lower protection of current vaccines against this variant. But people having breakthroughs have much more mild infection, more like an upper respiratory infection. The vaccines prevent severe disease and complications and allow people to return to a more normal state.

I was at the dentist yesterday to repair a chipped tooth. The consultation, x-rays, waiting for the Novocaine to soak in, actually doing the repair and paying the bill was nearly 90 minutes. I used this dentist several times and like her work. She doesn't rush the process and the price becomes secondary.

A few weeks ago, there was a story in The New York Times about a woman in Minnesota who is suing her dentist. The same story was covered on a few news services. She's seeking more than $50,000 in damages, claiming to have received 4 root canals, 8 crowns and 20 fillings ALL IN A SINGLE VISIT.

C'mon, something is wrong what that scenario.

The average adult has 32 teeth (28 if the wisdom teeth are removed)
If 4 of those crowns are for the 4 root canals, that means every tooth had either a crown or a filling. All of them!

From my experience, a root canal requires two to three visits, the first being as much as 2 hours. A crown requires 2 visits, 90 minutes + 30 minutes after the tooth comes back from the laboratory and that can be 7 to 10 days.

I got through algebra and trigonometry, but to my best guess, that's more than $30,000 in dental fees and some 40 hours in the dentist's chair!

Maybe someone can figure the logic in her story and the dentist's reply. They are both on other planets right now!

If a third of what she claims to have been done, $50,000 in damages ain't nearly enough.

Link:

FAA’s diversity push includes focus on hiring people with ‘severe intellectual’ and ‘psychiatric’ disabilities

By Emma Colton, Fox News
Published Jan. 14, 2024
Updated Jan. 15, 2024, 9:45 a.m. ET

The Federal Aviation Administration is actively recruiting workers who suffer “severe intellectual” disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website.

“Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the Federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring,” the FAA’s website states. “They include hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism.”

“Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety?,” tech billionaire Elon Musk wrote on X last week. “That is actually happening.”

I say, flying could become a lot more fun in the future.
Is it a bird?
Is it a plane?
Is it superman?

Who cares?

Life is short, enjoy while you can.

Tomorrow is the first Sunday in Advent, usually I play a very active part in this celebration at church...carry the Cross, or a candle, or helping to give out the Holy Communion etc. This year, I decided not to partake in anything, just attend church as usual. Last week, I got an e-mail from one of the priests, asking if I wanted to be a part of the Christmas play at church, as more people were needed I agreed to do so, as I'm off from work all next week.

Now I know why I decided not to be a part of the usual sunday Christmas celebrations at church. Since the end of october, I've been battling with a cold, it became better, but never left, the past week, it got worse, so much so, that last night I hardly slept because I was coughing so much. I had an appointment at the hospital this afternoon (if I had cancelled it, I would have had to wait another 3 or more months for a new appointment), before entering the waiting room at the hospital, I decided to put on a face mask. I'm glad I did, because the technician who was assigned to me is pregnant. After leaving the hospital, I kept on the mask, went to a pharmacy to get my usual medicines, as well as something for a cold, and decided to buy a Covid-19 test also.

Turns out I have Covid, now I know why I didn't want to partake in the Christmas celebrations at church. It's always good to trust your intuition. I'm not sad about having Covid, and don't expect any sympathy, just thought I'd write about it.

I like to look back at my own comments on other members' stories.
This site has changed somewhat since covid lock down when we were all told to stay home and stay inside.
to me it was no different. Except for wearing a mask my life changed not one bit with regards to me leaving the house. My biggest regret is not witnessing the TP grab. I saw it on TV but seeing it in person would have been to die for. So sad I missed it. Just before Xmas I got sick. At first I thought it the flu and wasn't even slightly worried even though I'd never had a flu jab. But I was getting on. Still am if truth be told. None of us are getting physically younger. Some mentally but everyone of us physically; something my Cardiologist seemed intent on making me hear. Thing is he wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know, if he was going for the shock tell me your worries about dying. He is a Doctor. It is what I'd do, if I were a doctor. But I'm not. I just know my own body having lived it second by second, minute by minute year after, so far, for more than 63 years. Besides, the way I figure it, one second you are alive and the next you are dead. Dying hurts and I would only wish a slow death on my enemies, preferably over several hundred life times but I've been known to have a nasty inventive side. I once cursed someone who did me a great injustice; I wished he would live forever and never physically die. Unless you think about it, it doesn't even look anything like what we are taught mean is. Most curse people dead knowing that is the worst thing that can happen to a person. I don't believe in the one life religious line. Yes, this specific particular body I inhabit is unique in that unless it is perfectly cloned, this body only lives once. Never once have I argued that. Never once also, have I ever imagined what happens based upon what religion or TV and movies tell me to believe and in doing so accept.
How would they know?
They wouldn't and they don't.
Not that I could tell you not that you'd believe me. Just like I would not believe you unless it matched identically with what I've seen with my own two eyes. I learned at a very, very early age that everyone I had met or encountered up until that point, was lying to me. It effected me so much I decided it would be something I would learn how to do. 38 years later I started to write. I discovered I could easily lie in print or tell the absolute truth and no one would ever know the difference.
I like writing. I am so glad I found this hobby.
Anyway, that's it for now. Not this body for now, not that I really care; just this blurb. I am pretty sure of one thing, when I'm dead i will think no more on this temporary transport vehicle and either look forward to the next one or decide to just take a deep sleep before finding a new one. I also don't believe the afterlife has gates to keep you out. You know what gates are also good for? Keeping you in. I told that to my Sunday School teachers when they started lying to me. Sorry, i mean when I worked out that they were lying to me, Not one of them had physically 'eye to eye' seen God. Or Jesus. My problem back then, I Believed that what they were telling me was true. I then realized my parents had lied to me too. Then and there I decided the only way I was going to fit in this insane asylum, I would need to learn to lie or simply look away from the truth.
I found out I was shit at both... so in my terms, I've lived a pretty good life. I added somethings to my Nature and chose not to add others. All in all, my Cardiologist, if you all no longer exist in my mind a second after my light switches off, how will I know? JS, no point in worrying about it. I won't know, and unless someone who knows me tells you, you also won't know.
Maybe i should have titled this 'Sometimes I like to look forward' ? Never did say why I like to read my prior comments. Oh well, 94 letters left. Too late now. Maybe later, maybe never. I won't care if you don't. W.

There's a narrow 2-lane road leading to the county park where I'm often seen with friends on weekends. Typically, I arrive between 9 or 10am and find it amazing to see the same guy walking along the way to the park. From the main road into the park and back is no less than four miles... doable for someone at a slow pace. The guy wears a floppy-style safari hat, t-shirt and shorts... typical to many of the people who go to the park. The thing most distinguishable about him is his hunchback-like posture. You can spot him from 100 yards as his head and neck are forward and he's usually looking downward. Only once in all the times I've seen him did he look up and acknowledge me as I drove by.

I admire someone so ritual in his exercise plan that I've nicknamed him 'Walker' as he's probably in his 70's and doesn't appear to have any body fat. Bravo!

As kids, do you remember an elder correcting you if you leaned over in a slouched position that could cause bad posture that would affect you as an adult? I do. Yeah, there are times where people have congenital problems that cannot be avoided. Other issues come from machine operators where one side of the body gets stress causing the body to be twisted. I knew a guitarist who played classical guitar for hours upon hours and his posture from so many years holding the instrument had his body twisted that required chiropractic treatments to help straighten his shoulders.

When I see someone with a hunchback, I'm always reminded to SIT STRAIGHT!

Towards the end of the year, all the healthcare providers attempt to get my business as it's the season for Open Enrollment. TV advertisements, mailers, emails, Billboards and radio ads are everywhere and they claim they are the best.

I used to be with a large company 'Florida Blue' that had a huge network. Four years ago, when I moved 40 miles north into a retirement community, I was approached by a woman who was an agent for a smaller company that offered lots of benefits... most of them I didn't use. The 'out of pocket' expenses were less, so as long as I'm healthy... they had better pricing. Do you see the humor in that? Cheaper than the others as long as you don't to go to the hospital.

My insurance plan is an HMO and years ago, I did a comparison to a PPO that some claim is better, but at that point in time, I stayed with the HMO. I need to do the research again.

More important than the plan, is the provider and the size of their network. What I don't like about my current provider is the limited network. Primary care is 6 miles away. That's okay, but one cardiologist in 200 miles. One pulmonologist in 50 miles. X-ray, MRI and blood work lab 2 miles away and they service all the major providers. Recently, I found a neurologist for back pain that's 10 miles away.

I'm in a large city, so It's all doable. I would hate to think of a rural environment where the closest sign of life is an hour drive!

In the mean time, it's HMO or PPO... but, I don't know which way to go!

Since originally being diagnosed with diabetes, my lifestyle changed including my eating habits. 52 lbs lost, actual real definition in my face and body for the first time in my life, a thigh gap for the first time in my life, much lighter on my feet, feeling way better overall.

Who would have ever thought that diabetes would turn out to be so awesome

I think I am at a crossroads in my life. Been there before and had to navigate my way through, seems like I will have to do the same again.

I got a reality check last week. Kidney specialist told me in no uncertain terms that I need to quit cigarettes and stop taking anti inflamatories for my hip and leg pain. I think the reality of it is hitting home, my kidneys are not good and it could cause problems for me later on. I don't need to make big changes aside from quitting smoking, but I do need to make those changes.

Like the man said. You can have fame, fortune, women, everything in the world but if you don't have your health, you got nothing. Its time to start treating my body better and get rid of the cigarettes and the anti inflamatories. Kidney dialysis is not something I think I would adapt to very well