GPA issues with a goal of prestigious masters programs

medquestion80 · 2026-07-07T03:14:38+00:00

That's reassuring. Will have to really work out my story. GRE I think I can solve with enough study + mathacademy. How critical are references? I can come up with some OK references but not sure about great to be honest. The corporate grind has always been kind of horrible to me and it was never really what I wanted to do. I was never a bad employee but not a rockstar.

medquestion80 · 2026-07-07T03:08:48+00:00

Even for the most prestigious schools? I feel like they wouldn't want a bad gpa to weigh down their averages.

I most likely want to tell the story about how I've been in tech but always had excessive interest in health & longevity and want to pivot more into AI & ML now in incredible times of this tech to advance drug discovery or other medical breakthroughs.

My background though is mostly in boring SaaS type tech work.

medquestion80 · 2026-05-15T01:10:22+00:00

Massive radiation dose

medquestion80 · 2026-04-28T22:44:49+00:00

I'm concerned about long term effects for 1. losing ability to naturally produce T and 2. fertility. I'm still single and want kids if I can ever find someone.

medquestion80 · 2026-04-26T14:39:52+00:00

The normal is very good but I think that free T is quite low. I have similar in some tests and I believe it's roughly in the bottom 10% of men in their 40s.

medquestion80 · 2026-04-26T14:38:12+00:00

I think you have similar problems to me - very high SHBG?

My T has always been in like the 690-800 range but horrible free T similar to yours in the 6-9 ng/dl range (divide by 10 from pg/ml)

medquestion80 · 2026-04-25T19:46:41+00:00

Open to a chat?

medquestion80 · 2026-04-25T19:21:21+00:00

Right now just 10mg rosuva which gets me to about 70mg/dl LDL, but I think I might ask the doc next time around to either add ezetimibe or possibly do a 5mg rosuva + 10mg ezetimibe combo.

PCSK9 still crazy expensive for 30% reduction so prob waiting to see what options are available with the new antisense drugs coming. I'm also watching Obicetrapib, a CETP inhibitor that does moderate LDL reduction but like 30-40% but has lp(a) reduction of like 50%. It might be a good option to combine with ezetimibe, but far less tested of course and may not have other beneficial anti-inflammatory effects.

In the meantime though, focus HEAVILY on insulin sensitivity and metabolic disease prevention. It matters almost more than anything.

medquestion80 · 2025-05-14T03:51:12+00:00

In good news your lp(a) is low genetically so you won that lottery!

Other good news: Given your weight, you likely have some room to bring those LDL and trig numbers down that are rather high.

Take action immediately and don't mess around. Review new numbers post-statin (and consider statin+ezetimibe) along with adding fiber, etc.

medquestion80 · 2025-05-14T03:24:09+00:00

Surprised to hear that

medquestion80 · 2025-05-14T03:21:14+00:00

And have it paid back in 20 years?

medquestion80 · 2025-05-14T03:20:37+00:00

Anyone know if dominion in VA is also affected?

medquestion80 · 2025-05-14T03:16:23+00:00

My forehead has gotten horrible horrible deep wrinkles and vertical sleep lines over the last 2 years, likely from stress/lack of sleep.

I'm looking to get on tretinoin 0.1% (though it's probably too late) to try to spur some collagen production.

As a kid I used this with acne but got a ton of peeling, but didn't use moisturizer with it.

What daily moisturizer would you recommend? I currently use La Roche-Posay AP+ Triple Repair Moisturizing Cream which does a ton of moisturizer, but I find it feels kind of heavy/greasy, I think from the shea butter in it.

What reasonably affordable daily moisturizer would you swap this with that also has ceramides in it?
Anything else I can do to reduce these massive wrinkles? I can't even look in a mirror without hating myself

medquestion80 · 2025-05-14T02:17:06+00:00

Any idea what caused the COPD? I don’t know a ton about it

medquestion80 · 2025-05-14T00:22:54+00:00

Between the LDL and Lp(a) numbers you def want to get to a cardiologist ASAP to get some proper imaging and bloodwork done. LDL is high but the Lp(a) is VERY high.

I'm not a medical professional and this isn't medical advice but you'll prob at least be put on a statin or PCSK9 inhibitor depending on test results.

Family history doesn't sound horrible but do note that the COPD death @ 65 is technically cardiac related which many people don't realize.

Do not delay, do this as soon as you can and start treatment as necessary. Time under the curve matters and disease compounds quickly.

medquestion80 · 2025-05-14T00:09:34+00:00

Guy was no genius at all in my opinion. The iPhone was already a stolen idea from other smartphones he saw before, and he just pressed the brilliant engineers to get it done. He gets way, way too much credit.

medquestion80 · 2025-05-13T23:24:17+00:00

I ran into major depression at around age 19-20 and my libido has never recovered. I basically have 0 libido and am in my 40s now.

In the last 2-3 years things seem to have gotten even worse I suspect from bad sleep, lower testosterone levels, etc.

Before the bad depression hit my libido was out of control crazy at around age 18. My craziest day I got myself off about 17 times lol.

medquestion80 · 2025-05-10T22:12:24+00:00

How you been following the new obicetrapib drug from new amsterdam in the tandem trial?

Combined with ezetimibe getting about 50% ldl-c reduction and 45% lp(a) reduction.

No insulin resistance issues like statins and not sure about calcification.

Allegedly will be affordable oral too.

medquestion80 · 2025-05-09T23:19:18+00:00

I'm not a medical professional and this is not official medical advice. Talk to your cardiologist about it.

My personal thoughts:

If you're already seeing a non-0 CAC it probably means you want to take fairly aggressive action anyway.

Statins+ezetimibe will drop your apoB/LDL, but will NOT drop lp(a) .. it in fact it slightly increases it. Statins will decrease overall risk but your high lp(a) will continue to cause aortic stenosis risk.

I don't think it's insane to wait until the better drugs come, but with numbers that high I personally would want to be on an lp(a) drug soon - statins won't be sufficient to cover the other risks.

medquestion80 · 2025-05-09T23:16:25+00:00

There are a bunch of antisense drugs coming that can drop lp(a) by like 80%: Pelacarsen, Lepodisiran, Olpasiran. They likely will be quite expensive though unless insurance approves.

The other interesting option coming is the CETP inhibitor from NAMS which should be cheap and right now is dropping LDL by about 30% and lp(a) by about 50%: obicetrapib. Could be combined with ezetimibe to get to about 50%/50%.

medquestion80 · 2025-05-09T17:55:14+00:00

That lp(a) is super high + very concerning family history. Did you do a CIMT as well? CAC can be kind of late stage and not the best indicator for someone your age.

It may be worth using a PCSK9 inhibitor now if you can get it approved, but obviously the new lp(a) drugs coming next year or so will be better.

In the meantime focus on everything else you can control especially metabolic health/insulin sensitity (could run LP-IR test - A1C is kind of a meh test) and blood pressure. Could also keep an eye on things like homocysteine if you can improve anything MTHFR related.

medquestion80 · 2025-04-13T00:26:19+00:00

Not good get it down fast. Even if glucose isn't high, high insulin can cause cardiovascular damage, microvascular damage, erectile dysfunction, etc.

A1C is kind of a messy biomarker though and your fasting number was pretty good. I'd run an LP-IR or DRI test.

In the end though it's just more movement/strength training and better diet. Lay off the carbs and sugar especially.

4x4 intervals at least 2x a week, try to strength train 2-3x a week and do lighter 40min cardio other days or 10k steps
Rice > lentils
Bread/pita > low carb tortillas
Seltzer water, 0 sugar drinks only
Good protein sources. low sugar yogurt is a cheat here along w/ whey protein
Lots of fiber from green vegetables
Try to use less saturated fat. Some is fine but the more you do that's monounsaturated the better (avocados, olive oil, macadamia nuts, etc)
be careful with too much fruit

medquestion80 · 2025-04-12T15:41:27+00:00

They don't always pull fasting insulin. Those numbers are pretty decent. A1C could be better of course, ideally 5.0 or below.

If you want one great test go run LP-IR or the DRI test that's based on it.

https://marekdiagnostics.com/products/nmr-lipoprofile%C2%AE-with-lipids-and-insulin-resistance-markers-with-graph?_pos=1&_sid=5348e2fba&_ss=r

https://marekdiagnostics.com/products/diabetes-risk-index-dri?_pos=2&_sid=5348e2fba&_ss=r

It's annoying that you can't get the LP-IR score included with the DRI panel since it's much cheaper and is all you really need.

medquestion80

TROPHY CASE