Ron Put

Interesting, thanks. I believe this is one example they are pointing to: https://www.snpedia.com/index.php/rs107251

I've been puzzled why my albumin and RBC are low, with my latest albumin test at 4.1g/dL. But it's been pretty low since I started testing, generally between 4.1 and 4.4. My Beta Carotene intake was about 30000 micrograms per day during the last three months, according to Cronometer. It was about 1000 micrograms per day lower during the three months before my previous test, when it was measured at 4.3. So, I am not sure that it correlates so well for me. This is based on an average of 1850 calories per day.

Interesting sources, Amar. It works well, it seems. I do use non-fortified nutritional yeast daily and it's a great source of B-2 and B-3, but stuff like cannellini beans and sweet potatoes may help too. The purslane is a new discovery for me, I didn't know it was so nutritious. Why so much oil, if you don't mind me asking?

AI is here, and it's taking over 😉

The only "proposal" is from a Russian disinformation campaign, AFAIK. Build up Russian national pride while tearing down the credibility of Western science and government authorities, and all that. Calment was pretty well studied and her history is well known. If it was a conspiracy, it must be a very wide-ranging one, involving the whole town and local authorities, as well as the number of scientists who investigated her.

I am tempted, as CGMs are not available without prescription in the US. I was going to get a prescription, but for $288 January.AI is rather comparable to the monthly cost of the CGM alone, and it appears to provide a pretty good app from what I can tell. Did anyone here try it?

Interesting, thanks. I am a bit skeptical of the great emphasis on circadian rhythm, at least at the individual level. There is great variability in the lifespan of professionals with highly irregular schedules, once the apparent confounding stuff is taken into account. I am not arguing that it doesn't matter, but other factors appear to have a greater effect. Such as inflammation (and all the stuff it goes with, such as obesity, poor diet, and self-destructive habits).

Keep in mind that different devices and manufacturers measure differently and accuracy varies wildly. EliteHRV.com has an app that can be used with a chest strap and it'd be a good way to get an idea of where you are. And as Michael points out, overtraining will often drop HRV significantly (as will sitting on the couch 🙂

Really Alan?! Until 2022?! I guess you never question the partisan topic-squatters on Wikipedia, as long as they affirm your own beliefs... This is from 2016: Extended Human-to-Human Transmission during a Monkeypox Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo And this is from the CDC, stamped "Page last reviewed July 16, 2021." "Human-to-human transmission is thought to occur primarily through large respiratory droplets. Respiratory droplets generally cannot travel more than a few feet, so prolonged face-to-face contact is required. Other human-to-human methods of transmission include direct contact with body fluids or lesion material, and indirect contact with lesion material, such as through contaminated clothing or linens."

Not necessarily, mostly it appears to have found a particularly horny group that engages in particularly spread-helping behavior. Just like with Covid, you are susceptible to selective media coverage and each clickbait article amplifies your convictions and anxiety. This is a rather well-argued review of two long-Covid studies:

I have not been able to conclusively figure out how my blood pressure measurements compare to the population studies. If I measure my BP in the morning before I drink my coffee, it is usually around 100/65. If I measure in the early afternoon, it may be anywhere around 113/70, on occasion going up to 120. Does anyone have a good idea what time of the day these population benchmarks were generally taken?

Ah, another out-of-context example to prop up the faith of the true believers and shoo off the heretics 😄 Why not post more recent information, like this one, also from the ABS site, from 2022: In 2022, there were 29,685 deaths that occurred by 28 February and were registered by 30 April, which is 5,052 (20.5%) more than the historical average. In February there were 13,692 deaths, 1,999 (17.1%) above the historical average. COVID-19 was the fourth most common cause of death certified by a doctor in February following cancer, dementia and ischaemic heart diseases. There was statistically significant excess mortality recorded in the first two months of 2022 (see article). So, let's see what the longer terms effects are, eh? A couple of additional points: Australia has a small population and is surrounded by water, which makes it easy to isolate. Their lockdowns were draconian, but their economy is largely commodities-based and it can withstand shutting down major population centers better. Then there is a reasonable argument that if the rules were not changed to support the chosen public policies in the US, and if the number of COVID deaths was tallied up according to past practices, we would have a considerably lower COVID death toll. As Michael Levitt said in 2020, if we had the same policy of massive PCR testing for flu infections and counted flu deaths the way we counted COVID deaths, the two would not be so far apart. I am yet to hear a convincing argument why long-standing policies were thrown out of the window for COVID, and why we don't apply them to other infectious diseases now. And why not compare Sweden to the US, or better yet, to NY? Why not compare Florida, with its large elderly population and free movement during the pandemic, to NY and its lock-down and masking mandates? LOL.

This is an interesting interview discussing, among other things, modulating cancer drug treatments to harness evolutionary pressures against treatment-resistant cancer cells.

I am not sure what the point of this is. Like all living things, viruses and bacteria evolve, coronaviruses generally less rapidly than most. It’s always “too soon” to know if such mutations can cause more severe diseases, but we don’t usually shut down society or curtail civil liberties based on it. And it’s absurd to even ask if I am “absolutely certain” or “what level of risk would most parents find acceptable for their children” — these are nonsensical questions. Absolute certainty is the domain of religion, not of science, and it is fairly well-established that SARS-2 poses less risk to children than the flu, despite the possibility of that some idiot might be unable to make basic risk assessments and will lock their offspring away. The data is fuzzy, but generally, Omicron appears to be often asymptomatic in healthy people (India claims 72% are asymptomatic and the reports from South Africa were sort of in line). For comparison, influenza infections are symptomatic in 50% or more of cases. Bright minds do what they always do: They research, make arguments based on such research and engage in debates with other bright minds. The not-so-bright are the real danger: They are convinced that theirs is the only truth and see those who disagree as evil, to be personally attacked and destroyed, to snuff out their heretical ideas. It is remarkable how religious in nature the above two “arguments” appear to be. Religious folks rarely address the direct challenges to their faith, they generally simply ignore them. I haven’t seen even an attempt to address the points made by posters here, or by experts like Ioannidis, Kulldorff, Atlas or Bhattacharya. Not even an indication of awareness of their arguments and the data they present. Most religious folks are not all that well versed in the subject and ignore all disagreeable facts, instead generally defending their faith in one of two ways: — They attack the source or the person who challenges their faith. Since they are absolutely convinced of the truth of what they believe in, it follows that only evil people reject such self-evident truth, and evil must be destroyed. Thus we have mobs petitioning Stanford to fire Ioannidis or Levitt, writing to demand that grants are withdrawn or denied, and applying pressure on journals that may consider publishing such heresies. AP is very consistent in this manner. — They flood the medium with passages from their religious sources and from apologists, often irrelevant to the discussion, but affirming their faith and expressing it for the benefit of others nevertheless, as everyone should witness their truth, the only truth, and repetition is common to all religions. -- They ignore the arguments and facts presented by those who challenge their faith, but ask questions, often inane ones, over and over, demanding answers and then disregarding them, asking new questions and demanding new answers instead. More broadly, there are clear religious veins running through the woke/neo-Marxist wave that flooded the West over the last decade and weaponized and rode the fears of SARS-2 to gain political victories. Putin managed to pause the self-loathing and self0destructive impulses convulsing the Western democracies, but unfortunately, such pause may be all too brief: Free speech, the foundation of democracy, is under a renewed attack, with the Biden Administration’s announcement (two days after Musk’s Twitter acquisition agreement) that it is markedly broadening the scope and increasing the powers of its Ministry of Truth. The newly established Disinformation Governance Board at the Department of Homeland Security appears focused on domestic “disinformation” and “malformation” (the latter apparently factual information that does not conform to the prevailing policies). It will “guide” private industry to ensure that only what is officially sanctioned will see the light of the privately-held public squares, effectively circumventing the constitutional free speech protections by using private businesses as proxies. Its newly appointed lead, Nina Jankowicz, just fired the first salvo, calling the parents who challenged critical race theory in Virginia “disinformers.” Twitter will certainly fall within this revamped Ministry of Truth's domain. And just in case, a bunch of left-wing non-profits are already sending warnings to Twitter's advertisers, threatening them if they advertise under Musk’s ownership. This is right out of 1984 and it is much, much scarier than SARS-2.

Did anyone else here get the beta invite email: "Early access to Tally Health's biological age test beta is here! Hi again from David Sinclair. My team at Tally Health and I have been developing an at-home test that will measure your biological age as our first step in our work to increase access to tools that add extra years of health and vitality to life. To participate in our beta program and get early access to our test for free, fill out our quick survey... ..."

Thanks for this, I hadn't seen it. I have become more skeptical about the oxalate "problem" as I've read about it. It doesn't make sense and there are likely other factors. Otherwise, there would have been a more noticeable connection between, say spinach consumption, and mortality. Instead, the opposite appears to be true: See this and this, for example. For what it's worth, US calcium recommendations appear to be rather inflated, due at least partially to hard lobbying by the dairy industry, based on what I've read.

Those who got alternative vaccines might find this interesting:

A good lecture and Q&A. Touches on the shoddy Covid studies and models flood,. Also speaks of 2020 compared to past pandemics, such as 1968, 1957, and 1918, and the death counts. He is obviously censoring himself, as the left tried to get him fired from Standford, but it's still very informative:

Right back at me what, exactly? By definition, true believers are so certain of their truth, that all non-believers are deemed heretic enemies, evil by nature, and must either see the light or be destroyed. Your (wrong) beliefs make you unable to let others choose, you want to force everyone else to do what you believe is right for everyone. Am I trying to make you not wear a mask, or wear one if you have a cold? Am I trying to force you to take multiple shots and ban you from public venues and from being able to work if you don’t comply, and carry a card proving that you did? Am I trying to ban you from the virtual public square if you disagree with me, and censure your arguments and attack you personally, so that I don’t have to answer them? Maybe you should carefully reread both what I wrote and the WHO statements. You don’t appear to grasp the issue, instead, your bolded quote above supports my argument. To restate, again: 1. The WHO claimed that SARS-2 is NOT CONTAGIOUS like the flu, and it is not easily spread (more like Ebola); therefore 2. isolating those infected would limit infections among the general population and contain the disease; therefore 3 the West should immediately follow China’s lockdown and mass tracing example to stop SARS-2. Why is anyone talking about "cases?" These variants are asymptomatic or milder than the current flu for most, why is The WHO not sounding a flu warning and calling for flu vaccine mandates? Why did we abandon all pandemic preparedness plans and change the way we count, the way we test, and the way we discuss scientific matters? Largely, it was led by The WHO as a proxy for Chinese policies. Tedros was rammed through by China, partially because the US did not consider the UN as important as it should have, and allowed China to consolidate power in key positions. Currently, China is fighting a battle to prove that its zero-Covid policy is superior to the West's bumbling and thankfully less draconian response. Tedros is again carrying water for China, just like he did in March of 2020 (see the posts above).

Actually, it was a question specifically about variations in your methionine intake and how it correlates with your data. Cronometer tracks methionine, as well as total protein intake. But I'd be curious about your take on animal vs. plant protein too. I've seen studies claiming that plant protein is considerably less detrimental, and my guess is that its lower methionine content has something to do with it. P.S. A couple of other unrelated questions I've been meaning to ask you: - What Garmin do you use for HRV tracking? - How did you get oxalate values from Cronometer? I don't see a specific field, only the oxalate/calcium ratio -- did you extrapolate, or am I missing something (I haven't really searched in Cronometer)?

Speaking of Covid deaths, here is an interesting freedom of information dump from the UK. Essentially, it resurrects the argument made by Stanford's Michael Levitt in 2020 that if we tested for, defined and counted flu deaths the way we are counting Covid deaths, we might get similar numbers and permanently move to live under our beds, masked and all. A determined minority within our society was able to use Covid to dramatically change all established methodology, from the definitions of a "pandemic" and "infection," to mandating absurdly high cycle-count mass PCR testing, to how we calculate the death rate. And it ain't over yet. Anyway, food for thought:

The Russians are not desperate, yet. At least not those in the main urban centers, where the impact of the war and the sanctions is still not felt much. Not yet, anyway. And the returning body bags go to villages in Siberia and the ethnic regions, not to Moscow or Saint Petersburg. So the Russians are still in the throws of nationalistic fervor, and Putin is still a "great leader" for the majority, and especially for the older folks, the religious, and the dimmer younger bulbs proud to show the middle finger to the West, while wanting what the West has. Some rather astute observations can be heard here:

Plant foods generally have lower methionine content, so vegans should have a significantly lower intake. I may have missed it, but did you check your methionine intake variations, rather than protein specifically?