The Medical Thread

It depends on what you mean. Obviously "Diet" in the sense of what you eat, has a significant impact on health. And enrolling in a formal program that enforces calorie reduction and/or consistent exercise will reduce weight. But that's different from the type of commercially marketed "diets" that people in the real world try to follow for their claimed health benefits—there is almost no research on the long term effects of these diets (nearly all the meta-analyses that I have seen include only experimental studies in their reviews—ie, enforced programs of diet and excercise, not commercial diets). What little evidence is available does not support them Dieting-Does-Not-Work-UCLA-Researchers.

I am also aware of studies supporting the notion that complex fats and carbohydrates are healthier than simple ones, and therefore diets that focus on sources of complex fat and carbs should be healthier, but again, there are very few field studies.

There is also research indicating that there is a very high individual variability in response to different diets, and that what may be healthy for one person might not be for another.

It's a very complex topic.

Edited by DeMarquis on Dec 12th 2020 at 2:20:17 PM

Warning: Literally shittalking.

I always loved that feeling when I take thick, healthy poop. I feel that as I grow older, I will come to appreciate that even more. I remember watching The Pacific, an HBO miniseries set in the Pacific Theater of World War II, and one of the most memorable scenes was one of the main characters suffering from enuresis, caused by, well, the war's stress.

Of all the utterly horrific things portrayed in the series, that really stuck in my consciousness.

One of the signs that you're getting older is that you start taking your literal shit more seriously.

...Okay, not gonna lie, that made me chuckle.

Something I recently found out: The city of Washington, D.C., passed a bill — created in response to the country’s 2019 measles outbreak — that allows minors 11 and older to get certain government-recommended vaccinations if a doctor determines they are capable of informed consent. It's apparently not the only place to do so, either.

What are folks' opinions on this?

Obviously a response to parents not letting their kids get vaccinated.

I stand by my belief that people refusing to vaccinate their children without legitimate medical conditions should be treated as biochemical terrorists.

It seems like a law that can protect children from abusive parents. Yes, I do consider refusing to vaccinate your kids without a valid medical reason to be child abuse.

As a part of a writing project, I tried to search what are some poison that causes least painful deaths. The context is that the climax of the story is set in the end of WWII, and the main character's father is sentenced to death for war crimes and treason. Right before the execution date, the MC visits his father and as the last act of filial piety (he's an Asian-American who rose all the way up to an admiral), he gives his father some poison so that he would die a more peaceful death.

And all I got was a bunch of suicide hotline numbers. Very reasonable course of algorithm, but it kinda bums me out a bit.

You'd also have to take into account the time period too. Look up what kind of poisons were even available and relatively easy for someone to acquire in the 1940's.

It might be easier just to give the father a fatal peanut allergy or something and have the main character sneak him a PB&J.

And yes, PB&J was around back in the 1940's. It's been around since the beginning of the twentieth century.

Edited by M84 on Jan 22nd 2021 at 8:02:46 PM

Let me tell you all a sad, rambling tale of utter stupidity.

So I was moving out of my temporary apartment. At the last minute, I figured that I could ease my baggage load on the train by sending some of it to the mail. Unfortunately, while I had the tape the scissor was all the way at the bottom of my big bag. Even more unfortunately, I had my cardboard knife so I decided to cut the tapes with it, and it actually seemed like a good idea.

Predictably, I cut my finger in the process, and hoo boy, there was so much blood. Initially, I just wrapped some paper tower around the wound and continued. Then, I shit you not, my playlist started to play Astronomia, of the Coffin Dance fame. So I figured, okay, I should probably get a band-aid or something.

I went to the nearest convenience store and grabbed some band-aid. While I was waiting in line, the woman in front of me was...being a Karen. My finger was continuing to bleed and I grew impatient, so I tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Excuse me, ma'am, can you wrap it up already? I have an urgent matter on hand (hah!)." She looked at me, angry, asking me what could be so urgent that I had to interrupt her.

So I just showed her the (somewhat profusely) bleeding finger and said, "I'm literally bleeding out here. This should be urgent enough, right?" That actually freaked her out so much that she instantly left the place. Unfortunately, it also freaked the hell out of the clerk and she desperately urged me to go to a hospital or a pharmacy right away. I swear, that was the fastest checkout I've ever seen.

Then I went to the nearest pharmacy. Like many establishments here, there was hand sanitizer at the entrance. Almost instinctively, I sanitized my hand...before shortly realizing that I had a bleeding finger and started to regret everything. To make it worse, the pharmacist actually saw the scene, said my country's equivalent of "Holy shit!" While he did gave me some alcohol swaps and gauze dressing, he strongly recommended me to go to a hospital.

I've gotten better now, but it was quite a stupid journey I had that evening.

Yeah, if you were bleeding that badly, a band-aid wasn't going to cut it. Unlike the knife.

...Goddamn it, M84.

I guess getting a bad joke at your expense in response to a personal anecdote concerning injuries brought about by carelessness must have stung a little. Like pouring sanitizer...I mean salt into the wound.

Edited by M84 on Feb 19th 2021 at 3:52:26 AM

First vaccine to fully immunize against malaria builds on pandemic-driven RNA tech.

Random question for a story, though this is less medical but more historical in nature.

Which US department/government agency was in charge of making and distributing vaccines in the 1900s?

The National Institutes of Health is the primary driver of vaccine research and development, while the Food and Drug Administration is responsible for its distribution.

Oh yeah, totally forgot about NIH. Thanks!

Hehe, an amusing note about that same story mentioned above.

So, the main character is an Asian-American teenager living in San Francisco who becomes a leader of a Chinese gang with over 150 members. The very first order he gives to his men are...to go get vaccinated, especially for the bubonic plague, which hit San Francisco hard and Chinatown even harder.

When one of the members refuses to get vaccinated and even bully others from doing so, the main character personally beats the shit out of the member and kicks him out of his gang. Then he figures that he needs to ensure everyone in Chinatown should get vaccinated, prompting him to send a letter to the National Institute of Health, asking for more vaccinations to Chinese and other Asians.

The amusing part is that when he beats up his member for basically being a proto-type anti-vaxxer, he basically screams at him, "seeing how you already have a death wish, let me fucking accelerate the process for you."

The thing is, throughout the story he doesn't even get mad all that often and that was one of the time where he actually uses his force as a mafia boss.

to:dr - I really hate anti-vaxxers and it actually slipped into my writing as well.

Report: 65% of all anti-vaccine content originates from 12 people and organizations.

Ah man, I've finally hit that phase of my life.

Recently I've been having hard time with urination, in that I both urinate too often and can never urinate cleanly. A trip to an urologist revealed that I have a case of urinal retention.

Long story short, he asked me if I want to have a prostate massage performed on me. My face must've gone completely pale, because he said he will just prescribe some three days worth of medicine for now. If things do not improve though, Imma have to get touched.

Not gonna lie, the idea of a prostate massage utterly terrifies me. Not necessarily because it's that part, but be it nose or mouth I don't like having objects being shoved in my body. Must've been some traumatic otolayngoist(I can't even spell that correctly) visit in my childhood and a fairly recent traumatic endoscope experience....

Damn it, I'm still in my 20s, I'm too young for this shit. Well, piss.XP

Edit:Jesus this has to be the worst spelled post I ever made what's with so many typos.

Edited by dRoy on Mar 31st 2021 at 3:00:34 AM

I had a prostrate massage as part of a checkup at a clinic when I suffered from UTI. It feels weird at first, but it's really not a big deal.

It's just another medical checkup thing.

Trust me, it's nowhere near as weird as having a tube with a camera on it shoved down your throat to check your stomach (endoscopy). Especially since part of that requires having anesthetic applied to your mouth.

Edited by M84 on Mar 31st 2021 at 1:57:41 AM

Well, here's hoping you are right.

God, "That camera is a lot thicker than I thought" was one of the single most terrifying thoughts I ever had in my life.

And I once (mistakenly thought I) lost my rifle in the army.

Maybe it was the anesthetic, but I honestly didn't find the camera all that scary upon seeing it. Sure, having it in my throat was very uncomfortable even with the anesthetic, but that was it.

So...my urinal retention problem has just...went away.

My urologist gave me a three days worth of medication, but due to my...erratic daily routines, I never got around to eat them in the right times and even kinda forgot taking it altogether. Yet, about a week ago, the symptoms are just not there anymore. My daily routines haven't changed much, but I no longer have any trouble urinating whatsoever.

...I feel like a programmer who has struggled with a buggy program, only to find the bug just disappearing - it looks okay, but something feels really off. I'm gonna pay another visit to the same urologist next week.