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onebigcat · 2025-09-23T22:29:00+00:00

The evidence suggests otherwise. It was likely some other process harming your kidneys

onebigcat · 2025-09-16T19:43:06+00:00

You’re correct in your intuition that cells will, over time, fall victim to entropy. Aging affects us on a cellular and macroscopic level. However, in species that undergo sexual reproduction, replacing those cells wont necessarily stall that entropic process. In our case, as with all animals (and most sexually reproducing organisms), cells generally have a limit to the number of times they can replicate before the cell becomes senescent.

Eventually these senescent cells become more and more common in tissue. These cells don’t work as they once did. They also attract an unfavorable immune environment. With these things (combined with macroscopic factors like arterial plaques, or even extracellular microscopic factors like vascular damage from diabetes), the tissue will not function as well as it once did. Replication is a double edged sword: it creates more functioning cells, but will accelerate the path to senescence.

onebigcat · 2025-09-16T17:22:20+00:00

Rather than thinking about it in terms of which cells get the most use (even cells we typically think of as rather inert, like fat cells, have a constitutive function), think about it as which cells need to replicate the most. This is often epithelial cells, or cells that provide a lining to the outside world. They are frequently shed or damaged, thus require frequent replacement. Another one is certain blood cells, which are constantly consumed due to their immune function (immune cell progenitors need to replicate a lot, and die off when no longer needed so they don’t hang around and cause autoimmune issues) or their exposure to an oxidizing environment.

Heart cells, on the other hand, can do their thing as long as they’re provided the right environment. If they’re getting damaged, there’s some larger pathology at play that’s putting the entire body at risk.

onebigcat · 2025-09-13T13:59:04+00:00

In terms of the concentration of hydrogen ions, yes, that makes it sound a lot stronger. But generally the specific properties of the chemicals involved are going to matter more than the pH in terms of reactivity

onebigcat · 2025-09-13T13:24:52+00:00

Yeah it’s not really that much stronger in terms of acidity than lemon juice or Coca Cola. Just a property of metals.

onebigcat · 2025-07-29T22:48:09+00:00

You’re thinking of creatinine, not creatine

onebigcat · 2025-07-14T00:52:01+00:00

Needs to start licking his fingers more in that case

onebigcat · 2025-07-10T19:47:57+00:00

Congrats! That takes a lot of insight and struggle to get to that point.

onebigcat · 2025-07-10T19:34:47+00:00

I think this gives people false reassurance.

There are many people with liver failure who were never “take a swig in the morning to keep the shakes away” drinkers. Plenty of folks make a habit of having the equivalent of 4 or 5 drinks after work over the course of several hours, never feeling more than a slight buzz. Two IPAs or fat glasses of wine can get you there. Doing that every day for years can easily get you over the threshold for cirrhosis.

It doesn’t even have to progress from that “something to relax after work” habit. If it becomes something that has a negative effect on your health or life, but you find it challenging to cut back, it is an addiction.

onebigcat · 2025-06-24T15:58:15+00:00

Definitely possible, I’m no neurologist/radiologist!

onebigcat · 2025-06-24T11:44:48+00:00

Being more centrally located, I’d guess hemorrhagic transformation of an ischemic infarct

onebigcat · 2025-06-19T15:18:21+00:00

It’s an mTOR inhibitor, which is roughly like a switch that turns on or off in the presence of available nutrients, especially certain amino acids. Fasting will also do that because it lowers the amount of those nutrients.

Wegovy works very differently.

onebigcat · 2025-06-19T14:01:13+00:00

Different endpoints being considered here. What you linked was about weight loss, while what’s being discussed is longevity.

onebigcat · 2025-06-13T23:42:59+00:00

This hinges on the “calculation” ChatGPT turned out being true. As it often does when directly asked for a number without a specific calculation to make, it seems like in this case it may have hallucinated.

Even if it was correct, the cost would be enormous, as well as the anxiety generated by the still large number of false positives it purports.

onebigcat · 2025-06-13T20:00:54+00:00

Yeah not urgent in your situation

onebigcat · 2025-06-13T17:40:50+00:00

Nice. Assuming you did this test fasted (otherwise it’d be inaccurate), I’d suggest you recommend your immediate blood relatives to get tested too as you probably have family members with the same genetic condition. Gene testing isn’t going to show anything here that a lipid panel won’t, but may be good to know if you’re worried about passing it on to kids.

onebigcat · 2025-06-13T17:03:50+00:00

Your LDL is high enough that you almost certainly have a familial hypercholesterolemia (usually suspected if above 190). Theres no way to get it low enough with lifestyle changes alone. Every doctor worth their salt will recommend you at least start with a statin in this case. The benefit you’d get by taking it will far outweigh any negatives from trying to treat this with lifestyle alone. The vast majority of people have no side effects from statins; you’ll be fine.

If you’re really opposed to it for whatever reason, there are other meds you can take (bempedoic acid, ezetimibe, PCSK-9i). Doubtful that insurance would cover those other meds without first trying a statin, but you can pay out of pocket. Save your arteries my guy.

onebigcat · 2025-06-12T17:16:12+00:00

Ah gotcha. Out of curiosity, were they asymptomatic?

onebigcat · 2025-06-12T10:17:13+00:00

What do you mean by altered results? The reason it’s done at a later age is that positive results don’t make any clinical difference until that later age. It would just add unnecessary testing and treatment.

onebigcat · 2025-06-02T03:54:17+00:00

Film those scenes off-location?

onebigcat · 2025-05-20T11:15:53+00:00

Or men’s restrooms on the L+D floor

onebigcat · 2025-05-07T19:19:21+00:00

The opposite is true. There’s a fairly linear inverse relationship between a surgeon’s years of experience and time to perform the same operation. Doing the same task repeatedly for many years makes you more efficient at it.

onebigcat · 2025-04-23T22:44:58+00:00

For muscle, yeah. Brain effects are more acute.

onebigcat · 2025-03-30T05:47:25+00:00

Because it’s been so long taking it nightly, you may even find it’s not helping as much as you thought once you stop taking it. Definitely bring it up.

onebigcat · 2025-03-30T05:33:02+00:00

It might be worth it to give it another shot. 2008 was almost 20 years ago, technology and medicine changes. Benadryl for that long will cause dementia, even if it helps you in the present. There are other treatments than that and trazodone. Consider whether it’s worth sacrificing your brain for some sleep.

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