from the hoping-for-a-speedy-recovery dept.
The observant among you may have noticed I'd been posting fewer stories recently.
On October 27th I went to the hospital. After a physical examination, CT scan, and MRI, it was determined that I had had a minor stroke. I had mild loss of use of the pinky and ring finger of my left hand as well as some loss of fine motor control in my left arm and leg. A couple days later saw me in the operating room with a stent being inserted in my right carotid artery. I was released on Halloween day for a few days' recuperation at a relative's home and am now cleared to go back to work. I'm starting easy with slightly shortened work days, as I lack the stamina I had before.
Still, as these things go, I can't help but think of how fortunate I am. Nothing internal seems to have been affected (heart, lungs, etc. all working fine.) I am right-handed, so no problems there. No problem with talking or swallowing, so that's a huge plus. Thanks to neural plasticity and prescribed exercises, I have already mostly recovered. The lack of stamina manifests as my just being too tired after a day at work to be able to do much in the way of posting stories out to the site. As for my mind, I can attest that I am still as tarp as a shack! =)
As much as I would like to think I'll just bounce back to normal in no time, I acknowledge that my activities here will be at a somewhat diminished capacity for a while; time will tell.
With my absence, the rest of the editorial team rose to the occasion and kept the main page fed with stories. This meant extra time and effort on their part. Please join me in thanking Fnord666, Janrinok, cmn32480, takyon, chromas, NotSanguine, and CoolHand for their efforts to help push out stories to the main page. There were probably others whom I failed to notice; please accept my apologies for their omission. Call them out in the comments, and join me in thanking them for their efforts.
On a related note, it is my pleasure to announce that Fnord666 has accepted my invitation to step up to fill the position of Alternate-Editor-in-Chief. When janrinok was Editor-in-Chief (EiC), I accepted becoming Alternate-EiC, and when he stepped down as EiC, it was a privilege to take on becoming the EiC. I foresee no imminent demise on my part, but recent events made it abundantly clear to me the value of having this position filled. Please join me in congratulating Fnord666 on his promotion!
(For completeness' sake, I wish to point out that all of the staff at SoylentNews are volunteers. Nobody here has ever been paid anything for their work on the site. Any monies received when you subscribe go towards paying hosting fees, domain name registration, tax preparation expenses, and other costs required to keep this site running. Speaking of which, we are at nearly 70% of our goal for this half of our fiscal year—many thanks to those who have already subscribed!)
Lastly, I now place a request to the community. With the holiday season coming, my free time will become even more limited by work demands. It would be such a help to us to see story submissions from members of the community. It's really not that hard to do. Take a look at what the general layout of each article looks like on the site. Nothing very fancy or elaborate is needed. Click the Submit Story link in the SlashBox on the left-hand side of the main page of this site. Provide a title for the story, select a topic, provide a link to what you are writing in about, and a few paragraphs from the linked story would prove extremely helpful to us! We aim for mostly tech-oriented stories, but that is not an absolute requirement. Please submit your story in English (either North American, British or other variant is fine). Do be aware that we aim for balanced reporting here; attempts to push an agenda with one-sided, biased, or slanted submissions will likely result in the story being declined. The story submission page provides a link to the Submission Guidelines that, if followed, greatly improves the chance that your story will be accepted. (NB: We tend to relax the standards a bit on the weekend so as to include slightly offbeat or humorous stories; we appreciate a good laugh, too!
Related Stories
Greetings!
To those of you who may be celebrating a holiday at this time of year, on behalf of the staff at SoylentNews, please accept my best wishes to you and those you hold dear.
For Fun:
With glee I am pleased to announce that The Mighty Buzzard has given a gift to all registered users on the site. These are good until 2019-12-26 00:10:00.
Thank You!
As the end of the year approaches, I extend my humble thanks to all of you who have subscribed to SoylentNews!
As of this writing, we have received $1799.47 towards a goal of $2000.00 for the second half of the year. All funds received go directly to supporting the site: web hosting, domain name renewal, tax preparation, etc. Nobody has ever received any money for their work on SoylentNews. We are staffed entirely by volunteers who give of their free time to keep the site running and the story queue filled. By my estimate, we have probably passed the minimum funds received that are needed to support the site for this half of the year... but actually reaching the goal would give us a bit of a cushion against the unexpected. To those who have let their subscription lapse and to those who may have never subscribed before: please subscribe and help us meet our goal.
Folding@Home:
Rarely mentioned, but SoylentNews does have a folding@home team which recently surpassed one billion points earned and now holds 218th place in the entire world! Here are views of their progress individually and as a team. Their efforts contribute to helping medical research into Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and many forms of cancer, among other diseases.
This Year So Far:
The SoylentNews web site has been available 24 hours day, 7 days a week... except for a couple relatively brief unplanned outages. Further our IRC (Internet Relay Chat) has been available throughout this time, as well. (There may have been a brief downtime due to scheduled Linode maintenance on our servers.) Also, behind the scenes, all the supporting back-end stuff has been chugging along: web servers, databases, caches, E-Mail processing, and lots more. Those of you who have been with us since the start remember the frequent site crashes of those early days. Often several times per day! The rarity of site crashes, now, is a testament to the hard work of many people who gave of their time and expertise to make SoylentNews so stable, today.
These are the folk who quietly mind the underpinnings of and automate everything so well you don't even know they are there and would likely feel embarrassed if attention were brouht to them. Please join me in thanking them, anyway!
Some Numbers:
The editorial staff at SoylentNews has posted 4,884 stories to SoylentNews since 2019-01-01. With a very conservative estimate of 5 minutes per story, that amounts to 407 hours' time. Put another way, that is 10 full-time person-weeks.
Please join me in thanking the editors who have so generously given of their free time to make this happen!
Thanks Again!
Lastly, I am taking advantage of this opportunity to again thank everyone who offered their support during my recent health issue. I'm still a little wobbly typing with my left hand's pinky, but as things could have gone, I'll take this any day of the week, instead! It is my sincere hope that by sharing my experience, it may help someone else make a change in their life and avoid my experience or much worse.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DavePolaschek on Saturday November 09 2019, @05:38PM (1 child)
Glad to hear you’re okay-ish. Thanks to everyone who stepped up along the way, too!
(Score: 3, Funny) by RandomFactor on Saturday November 09 2019, @05:45PM
+1 Monty Python
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 5, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Saturday November 09 2019, @05:40PM (3 children)
I hope your recovery is swift and complete.
Your contributions to SN, both as an editor and community member are appreciated (at least by me).
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @05:58PM
martyb, thanks for everything, we hope to see you around as you recuperate and hope you will convey any wisdom you learn along the way. I've known a number of people who have had minor to major strokes, and since we haven't yet figured out how to repair all the damage, insights on the road to recovery are always nice!
Hope you recover swiftly, but know the place is in good hands while you do :)
(Score: 2) by edIII on Saturday November 09 2019, @11:13PM
Thanks for everything you do around here martyb! Prayers for you and your family.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Rupert Pupnick on Sunday November 10 2019, @12:14AM
Thanks martyb, get well.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RandomFactor on Saturday November 09 2019, @05:48PM
...for as full and speedy a recovery as possible.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 4, Funny) by Coward, Anonymous on Saturday November 09 2019, @05:48PM
Another meta post had me worried that, heaven forbid, another journal post got lost. But it was just a stroke! Be well.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by aristarchus on Saturday November 09 2019, @05:56PM (5 children)
All Hale to martyb!
(Score: 1) by NPC-131072 on Saturday November 09 2019, @11:42PM (4 children)
Care to elaborate führer?
(Score: 3, Informative) by aristarchus on Sunday November 10 2019, @01:00AM (3 children)
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hale [dictionary.com]
You could have done this yourself, even though you are a NPC.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday November 10 2019, @10:14PM (2 children)
Oh? Are you sure he wasn't referring to this bloke? [wikipedia.org]
Good player.
(Score: 1) by NPC-131072 on Monday November 11 2019, @12:59AM
A few hail marys in his career I'm sure but not nearly as important a player as Hannah Mouncey. [wikipedia.org] Stunning and brave!
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday November 11 2019, @01:19AM
Or was it Nathan Hale, who only had one life, etc., etc., when he was hung by the Brits in retaliation for the execution of John André by the American rebels? Capitalization is a clue here, and is important, as in the sentence "I helped my uncle Jack off a horse." "Hale" in my post was not a proper name.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @06:10PM (31 children)
martyb, glad to hear you made it through all right. Heart disease is the #1 killer in the USA, so I feel for you. Sadly, if you don't change your lifestyle the next heart attack/stroke might be worse. I've been persuaded over to a plant based whole foods (vegan) diet due to the overwhelming body of evidence. I *really* like meat and dairy, but I prefer the quality of life. No heart stents for me, thank you.
nutritionfacts.org has some great videos, citing many research papers. "The Game Changers", a documentary produced by James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger is a good place to start too. Heart disease is reversible, but it takes a lifestyle change. Lifestyle change is hard, so hard, that most people choose the alternative of surgery and pill popping. Good luck with a speedy recovery. I wish you well.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Sunday November 10 2019, @12:02AM (19 children)
Good advice for all, but I think it's even more important to know your health, and get checked. martyb will likely be getting tests and maybe recommendations for change if needed.
Please know- stroke is usually caused by a blood clot, but blood clots are not necessarily caused by eating or lifestyle. It can often be caused by too many platelets, which can be caused by: inactivity, generally sitting too long, tumor/cancer, thrombocytosis, thrombocythemia, etc. Here are some others of the many causes: https://www.verywellhealth.com/things-that-elevate-your-platelet-count-401336 [verywellhealth.com]
Please don't anyone worry! Getting regular doctor checkups and bloodwork will help. Platelet count is usually one of the tests.
There are platelet count reducing drugs, and sometimes phlebotomy is done, if the root cause can't be found and treated.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @01:14AM (18 children)
Check with your doctor is a standard disclaimer to cover everyone's ass when dispelling health advice, much like checking with your lawyer is strongly suggested before presenting any legal info. The reason is that there are a myriad of things that can be going on which are impossible to diagnose via the Internet. That said, many things on the list from verywellhealth can be addressed with a healthy diet, though it clearly can't fix everything, like say a missing spleen.
With the above disclaimer, I have a healthy mistrust of doctors. They are not equipped to deal with chronic lifestyle diseases. You can cure type 2 diabetes with diet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYaWLWBcSLk [youtube.com], but a doctor will only insist you stick to your insulin (for life), because they don't trust you to stick to the diet. You can similarly cure heart disease but they won't go that route either. There's an opioid epidemic in this country, a drug for which the gatekeepers are doctors. Doctors over prescribe anti-depressants and there are way too many kids on ritalin. Furthermore medical errors are the #3 cause of death in USA https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/05/03/476636183/death-certificates-undercount-toll-of-medical-errors [npr.org].
As the old saying goes: "Trust but verify". You are responsible for your own health. Admittedly with all the misinformation out there it can be very difficult to separate signal from noise, so do your research very carefully.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Sunday November 10 2019, @01:54AM (16 children)
In other words, heart disease is normal, same as getting a sun tan. Of course we can do things that might mitigate risk, but that's highly individual-dependent. People who have a natural tendency to high LDL cholesterol and low HDL cholesterol are going to have to take measures that people with HDL naturally higher than LDL can ignore (a beneficial mutation).
I'm sure that Marty doesn't need people piling on with the unwritten assumption that he's responsible for having a stroke "because lifestyle". Stress is a HUGE contributor to heart disease and stroke - it's hard to change how you react to life's stresses.
I'm going to wish Marty a speedy and full recovery - he's intelligent enough to be able to make his own choices.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @03:10AM (15 children)
That is just wrong. It occurs in a number of species, even in the wild. In fact, multiple physiological responses atherosclerosis were first diagnosed in non-humans. For all that history and more, as well as some slightly out-of-date prevalence figures in humans and clinical research, see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3456081/pdf/11357_1997_Article_2.pdf [nih.gov]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @04:55AM (2 children)
Also as for humans it only predominantly occurs in populations on a western diet, for example
https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20081020/western-diet-is-a-global-heart-risk#1 [webmd.com]
Some cultures have no heart disease at all as per this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnKaOL2IBPY [youtube.com]
I'll leave it to you to verify the citations in both the article and the talk.
Nobody is blaming anyone for anything, I think we're all trying to help with kind words and some of us wish to chime in with useful facts.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @06:18AM
I think that is what most people will need to verify the claim of that particular video. Secondly, the original interheart study https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(04)17018-9 [doi.org] shows that the real difference maker is fruits and vegetables in your diet and obesity. Additionally, those for highest risk for AMI is actually China and HK. The one you cited ("Dietary patterns and the risk of acute myocardial infarction in 52 countries." Circulation 118, no. 19 (2008): 1929-1937.), shows no increased or even decreased risk of OR for the "western diet" except for those in the fourth quartile of diet compliance. Even the authors state that there is not adjustment for portion size and other important dietary factors when they list the limitations and delimitations of the study, which is quite evident in the interval for S.E. Asia.
But anyway, I'm not assigning blame. Originally, I was just trying to point out that the claim that only humans, and of that a particular subset, are the only ones to get atherosclerosis is just plain wrong. When you make such a flat-out false statement like that, it just damages your credibility for whatever else comes out of your mouth in the same comment.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Sunday November 10 2019, @06:55PM
If you're prone to high LDL and you take statins to lower blood cholesterol, you won't lower your risk of heart attack. You also need higher HDL - which is what you get from the body converting low density cholesterol to high density cholesterol. That's why removing LDL doesn't reduce risk of death - you've removed the raw material for producing HDL.
Look at people with both abnormally low LDL and abnormally high HDL - they can eat shitty high fat diets, yet PET and CT scans show a clean cardiovascular system. Unfortunately, the mutations that cause this seem to be random, so you'll find them in people with a strong family history of early death from heart disease, and some siblings following the family pattern, and others who don't.
Statins are a waste of money because buildup of plaques still happens at the same rates with low LDL alone after using statins. We can't change that, so we SHOULD be looking for drugs that increase the conversation rate of LDL to HDL. We're not doing that for the same reason it took decades to get away from the fiction that peptic ulcers were caused by stress and not an infection. It usually requires the previous generation of scientists and researchers to die for new ideas to be accepted. Same as decades later people are still pushing the fiction of the Mediterranean diet.
We're not going to get research into raising HDL until enough people have died after useless statins that the message sinks in. Until then , people will continue to rely on them "because we're doing something", even when that something we're doing is proven to be useless.
It's in such environments that quacks prosper. And bogus diets. People want solutions that defy their basic genetic makeup.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Sunday November 10 2019, @02:11PM (11 children)
Humans have a much bigger predisposition to occlusion of large coronary arteries from plaques, so my point stands - it's a normal process in humans. Preventative changes in diet in someone who is otherwise healthy and gets a normal amount of exercise may or may not work - it's highly dependent on the individual. Or have we all forgotten about Jim Fixx, fitness guru who ran up to 80 miles a week and died of a heart attack at 52?
And statins, while lowering cholesterol, don't lower risk of death https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513492/ [nih.gov] , so we're left with the biggie - the genetic predisposition of humans to accumulate plaques in the coronary arteries, unlike other primates.
There was no evolutionary pressure to select against it since during most of human existence the average human died at 19. If you're going to die before 50, when heart disease becomes a factor, doesn't matter if you have a predisposition to collect plaques in your coronary arteries. You'll die of something else before.
We're a young species with a rapid rate of evolution, probably due to many events that represented pinch points where the entire human population dropped almost to extinction. Coronary heart disease was never going to be a factor - until we started living a lot longer. Living into our 60s , 70, 80, 100 - that was not considered normal until recently. Even after civilization expanded, dying in your 50s was considered normal. Not now, but that's only because we've reduced other causes of death that would have taken us out earlier. Lower infant mortality, and the ability to fix accidents that would have left us permanently crippled and unable to survive long-term in a competitive environment, play a large role. And without antibiotics we're going to see earlier death again.
If and when we run out of effective antibiotics due to drug resistance, people will again not have to worry about heart disease - they will die before it becomes a factor. Good thing our genes aren't as stable as other species - our high mutation rate might allow a few humans to beat new infections, same as some already have mutations that cause high HDL / low LDL and can eat as much dietary cholesterol as they want with no clogging of the arteries.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @05:08PM (2 children)
while your arguments are compelling, you clearly did not look at the above links which strongly support the idea that western diet is a huge factor in heart disease. The sources seem credible so it's up to you to disprove them, ideally with things other than thought experiments.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by barbara hudson on Sunday November 10 2019, @06:25PM (1 child)
We as a species simply tend to get plaques in the coronary arteries, even when we take statins and keep blood lipids within the desired range.
Unless you're one of the lucky ones with the mutation that results in BOTH very low LDL and very high HDL, if heart disease runs in the family you're going to get plaque buildup in your coronary arteries. Low LDL by itself isn't sufficient.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 1) by NPC-131072 on Monday November 11 2019, @01:04AM
Where is my -1 Biological Determinism mod?
(Score: 2) by pdfernhout on Sunday November 10 2019, @07:20PM (3 children)
http://healthland.time.com/2013/04/01/unhealthy-teens-could-lead-to-rise-in-heart-disease-rates/ [time.com]
https://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20081010/child-heart-disease-risks-rise [webmd.com]
"The rate of premature heart disease among obese teens is set to triple, and the increasing prevalence of high blood pressure in children is a major culprit, experts warned at a news conference sponsored by the American Society of Hypertension. "The presence of child obesity results in higher rates of high blood pressure," which is a major risk factor for stroke and heart attack, said Bonita Falkner, MD, a professor of medicine and pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. "This is a problem that is not going to magically go away, and it puts children at risk for premature cardiac events at an earlier period in their adult lives.""
If what you said about evolutionary pressures was entirely correct, why are many children now getting heart disease when they did not used to?
See also Dr. Joel Fuhrman's writings for more evidence on how humans are adapted to eat a certain diet (mostly plants, especially leafy greens, but also fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, and so on, with lots of omega 3s and no refined sugar) -- and why the further we stray from diet that the more health issues we see of all sorts.
Of from another direction (including more lifestyle aspects like inadequate sleep):
https://tlc.ku.edu/ [ku.edu]
"We were never designed for the sedentary, indoor, sleep-deprived, socially-isolated, fast-food-laden, frenetic pace of modern life. (Stephen Ilardi, PhD)"
The biggest challenge of the 21st century: the irony of technologies of abundance used by scarcity-minded people.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Sunday November 10 2019, @07:53PM (2 children)
Humans need a certain activity level to stay healthy, same as they should not smoke or take narcotics. All these will increase plaques deposits in the coronary arteries.
But a normal level of activity, a healthy diet, etc, aren't sufficient to prevent deposits of plaques, they just hold it off from developing prematurely.
Otherwise, statins should be sufficient, but while they lower serum cholesterol, they have zero influence on cardiovascular disease. You are your genetic destiny, and for many humans, until we find ways of increasing creation of HDL, we have a problem that is going in to continue inflicting damage among the 40-60 crowd.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @11:27PM (1 child)
You are making the same mistake most people do, as a result of heavy media marketing, that all calories are created equal. Just sitting around all day consumes way more calories than you would use in a single 30min exercise session. A seditary lifestyle is bad for many reasons, but one should not be anywhere near obese on a healthy diet.
Your point about Jim Fixx, fitness guru who ran up to 80 miles a week and died of a heart attack at 52, is the point, excersise is not the deciding factor. Genetics plays some role, but diet is the key.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Sunday November 10 2019, @11:52PM
As for all calories not being the same, so what? LDL serum levels don't affect the buildup of fatty plaques on the arteries , or drugs that reduce serum cholesterol would reduce the rate of death from coronary artery disease. The only thing that reduces plaques is increasing production of HDL. Too bad we don't have drugs for that. But if you have the right mutations, you can eat fried eggs and hash browns every day, junk food, processed food, etc and have clean arteries. All that will happen is increased "bad" lipid intake will result in much higher HDL, while barely budging LDL levels.
Unfortunately, most people with a mutation that affects LDL levels don't get the HDL mutation as well, so while their levels may be lower, they don't get the benefits - plaques still build up.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @07:37AM (3 children)
Way to shift the goal posts. You said that atherosclerosis only occurred in humans. That is wrong, and your only counter is that "most heart disease" has different causes. Which, if anything, is an admission that atherosclerosis occurs in other animals because "most" isn't all. But I'll just leave this tidbit from your own article:
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Tuesday November 12 2019, @01:36AM (2 children)
Other primates do NOT have a predisposition to developing CVD, plain and simple.
Basing an argument on an exception to the general case is stupid. I could make the same argument to claim that humans don't get CVD because I am one of those people with the mutation that gives me very low LRL, very high HDL, and nuclear medicine shows my arteries are clean as a whistle.
I'm lucky because everyone in my family develops CVD, my father died of a heart attack at 47, my mother at 59 despite a pacemaker, my sister after a stent implanted at 42 and a quintuple bypass at 54 ... but both me and one of my sisters are in our 60s and we're clean as a whistle, with the same mutation.
You can not with any scientific basis argue that humans have a predisposition to CVD - it's obvious just looking at the stats. I'll stick with my high fat high processed food diet, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to those who don't have the mutation.
Maybe eventually the mutation will work it's way through the population, but I doubt it since CVD doesn't prevent reproduction, so no evolutionary pressure to favour it.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 12 2019, @03:24AM
"Some" is greater than the "none" that was your original claim.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @06:10PM
Barbara (tom) Hudson CHEMICALLY CASTRATED itself with estrogen since you failed as a man lol! You also FAIL as a "woman" you NEUTERED delusional freakazoid! What is is like knowing you are a living mockery? A parody of both a 'woman' or a man! You know that. Everyone knows it about you "TraNsTeSticLe" hohohohoho. Barbara Hudson is a twistoid mental case deluding itself it is a REAL woman. Clue: You will never EVER be able to pass a DNA test due to the fact you do not, nor did you ever, possess female mitochondrial material you crackpot weirdo. It isn't logical to attempt to "fix" bodyparts that work with no issues. You had a working (extremely small) penis and balls you sawed off with estrogen hahahaha! Barbara Hudson breaks laws by possessing a SAWED OFF SHOTGUN, rotflmao!
(Score: 2) by ChrisMaple on Sunday November 10 2019, @05:04AM
"You can similarly cure heart disease" depends on the nature and degree of the disease. A large clump of dead heart muscle or a congenitally deformed valve is beyond the repair capability of diet, nutrients, and exercise alone.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday November 10 2019, @01:03PM (10 children)
For what? Nutritional science is yet another wasteland due to the combination of massive conflict of interest and p-hacking. One's "overwhelming body of evidence" is another's "Somebody wrote a book/website and claimed a bunch of stuff".
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Sunday November 10 2019, @02:15PM (9 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @07:49AM (8 children)
What are these "current practices" that are cruel and unsustainable? Most of the time I hear people say this, they have no idea what actually goes on in a farm beyond those out-of-context PETA videos.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by barbara hudson on Monday November 11 2019, @10:17AM (7 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @07:33PM (5 children)
No, you sound like a city slicker that sees those "expose" videos, and simultaneously don't understand what is happening in them, and therefore must be cruel, and assume they happen everywhere, instead of being the exception (its almost like the reason there are so few is because the actual abusive practices are rare). I actually live in the middle of farm country and see more livestock in a day than you probably will your entire life. More animals die thanks to my combine in a year than on my neighbor's dairy farm. I've raised animals from birth until I killed them with my own two hands. So please, tell me about how I know nothing about our livestock and agricultural practices.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by barbara hudson on Tuesday November 12 2019, @01:02AM (1 child)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @06:15PM
Barbara (tom) Hudson CHEMICALLY CASTRATED himself with estrogen since you failed as a man lol! You also FAIL as a "woman" you NEUTERED delusional freakazoid! What is is like knowing you are a living mockery? A parody of both a 'woman' or a man! You know that. Everyone knows it about you "TraNsTeSticLe" hohohohoho. Barbara Hudson is a twistoid mental case deluding itself it is a REAL woman. Clue: You will never EVER be able to pass a DNA test due to the fact you do not, nor did you ever, possess female mitochondrial material you crackpot weirdo. It isn't logical to attempt to "fix" bodyparts that work with no issues. You had a working (extremely small) penis and balls you sawed off with estrogen hahahaha! Barbara Hudson breaks laws by possessing a SAWED OFF SHOTGUN, rotflmao!!!
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by barbara hudson on Tuesday November 12 2019, @01:10AM (2 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 12 2019, @01:37AM
So more handwaving and exceptional behavior? The fact people get fired, and quickly, for abuse is just more evidence that it is not tolerated and hardly a general practice. But your still dealing in unspecified generalities and impressions. Maybe when you have something substantial or verifiable facts, then we can talk.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @06:13PM
Barbara (tom) Hudson CHEMICALLY CASTRATED itself with estrogen since you failed as a man lol! You also FAIL as a "woman" you NEUTERED delusional freakazoid! What is is like knowing you are a living mockery? A parody of both a 'woman' or a man! You know that. Everyone knows it about you "TraNsTeSticLe" hohohohoho. Barbara Hudson is a twistoid mental case deluding itself it is a REAL woman. Clue: You will never EVER be able to pass a DNA test due to the fact you do not, nor did you ever, possess female mitochondrial material you crackpot weirdo. It isn't logical to attempt to "fix" bodyparts that work with no issues. You had a working (extremely small) penis and balls you sawed off with estrogen hahahaha! Barbara Hudson breaks laws by possessing a SAWED OFF SHOTGUN, rotflmao
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @06:21PM
Barbara (tom) Hudson CHEMICALLY CASTRATED himself with estrogen since you failed as a man lol! You also FAIL as a "woman" you NEUTERED delusional freakazoid! What is is like knowing you are a living mockery? A parody of both a 'woman' or a man! You know that. Everyone knows it about you "TraNsTeSticLe" hohohohoho. Barbara Hudson is a twistoid mental case deluding itself it is a REAL woman. Clue: You will never EVER be able to pass a DNA test due to the fact you do not, nor did you ever, possess female mitochondrial material you crackpot weirdo. It isn't logical to attempt to "fix" bodyparts that work with no issues. You had a working (extremely small) penis and balls you sawed off with estrogen hahahaha! Barbara Hudson breaks laws by possessing a SAWED OFF SHOTGUN LOL!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Arik on Saturday November 09 2019, @06:54PM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @07:08PM
we're rooting for your continued wellbeing!
(Score: 4, Informative) by ilPapa on Saturday November 09 2019, @08:02PM
I wish you the best. I do a lot of work with stroke patients (usually minor strokes) and I've seen them almost always gain back function in the affected areas. It takes time and patience. Good luck.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 3, Informative) by JoeMerchant on Saturday November 09 2019, @08:03PM
Good luck with your recovery, and may the stent do its job well for you.
You know better than anyone the true impact of this on you. Stroke is a scary-scary word, I had a case of jellyfish toxin overload that sort of presented like a stroke for a few minutes, I happened to know a neurologist and managed to talk it through with him on the phone the next day and settled on the jellyfish as the cause, rather than an aneurysm.
If you have any bad habits, now might be a good time to think about those. A friend of mine used to smoke two packs a day until his heart attack+stroke around age 52... he gave them up that day, but probably would have been a whole lot happier if he had given them up a year or two earlier.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by AnonTechie on Saturday November 09 2019, @09:17PM
We enjoy your contribution to this website and look forward to your continued participation at the earliest. Get well soon ... Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Albert Einstein - "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
(Score: 2) by Tork on Saturday November 09 2019, @09:19PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 4, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Saturday November 09 2019, @10:27PM
All the usual platitudes -- except meaningfully said.
(Score: 3, Informative) by RedGreen on Saturday November 09 2019, @10:32PM (7 children)
On the 19th of this month two years ago those lovely stents and the wonderful people who made sure I got them saved my life. Hopefully it continues to work you as well for you as it has for me with them wonderful little things. The best part with my heart procedure is you get to see it in real time, them saving your life. The have massive monitor to guide them to where they are needed, you get to watch, you barely know the planet you are on, it will relax you, yeah right, high as a kite is it.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 5, Funny) by Gaaark on Saturday November 09 2019, @11:48PM (2 children)
Same with my colonoscopy:
Big screen TV!
.........................I'll never be the same.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Interesting) by RS3 on Sunday November 10 2019, @12:09AM (1 child)
Ugh! What has been seen cannot be unseen?
I'm not against picking up something that I might notice at the end of someone's driveway on trash night. One night a few years ago I saw a beautiful briefcase that would make a great tool case. Well, it turned out to be a perfect condition 1980s Olympus colonoscope. Ugh. It seemed properly cleaned and sterilized. I thought it might be good for peering into walls, inside of a machine, under the car, etc. Haven't been able to bring myself to use it though. It will be sold or donated to medical charity.
(Score: 5, Funny) by barbara hudson on Sunday November 10 2019, @02:19PM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by pdfernhout on Sunday November 10 2019, @07:03PM (3 children)
... they don't fix the underlying reason for the clogging. So other arteries will continue to clog (as well as the stented ones).
See for example: https://www.drfuhrman.com/elearning/eat-to-live-blog/86/for-stable-heart-disease-does-stent-placement-do-more-harm-than-good [drfuhrman.com]
"Was President Bush informed about Dr. Ornish’s Lifestyle Heart Trial, which scientifically documented that lifestyle changes alone can reverse coronary artery disease? We have no way of knowing, but it seems unlikely, given the media reports. It sounds like President Bush was misinformed about PCI by his doctors and given the false impression this procedure was life-extending and lifesaving. Certainly the media reports gave the American people the impression that this procedure was necessary for him. Every day, patients are counseled to undergo these unnecessary and potentially dangerous procedures by their cardiologists. Instead, an arterial blockage should be seen as a wake-up call, a motivating factor to pursue optimal health via superior nutrition and exercise. Optimal medical therapy is not enough; heart disease is preventable and reversible with superior nutritional therapy, which produces dramatically more effective results than PCI or OMT and provides dramatic protection against future cardiac events. In my clinical experience with hundreds of patients with advanced heart disease, I have seen dramatic and consistent reversal of heart disease, relief of angina symptoms, and future freedom from heart disease in those who have chosen to follow my Nutritarian eating style."
Dr. Furhman wrote a book on the subject:
"The End of Heart Disease: The Eat to Live Plan to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease"
https://www.amazon.com/End-Heart-Disease-Prevent-Reverse/dp/0062249355 [amazon.com]
Good luck with whatever approaches to improved health that you use.
The biggest challenge of the 21st century: the irony of technologies of abundance used by scarcity-minded people.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Monday November 11 2019, @10:29AM (2 children)
Stents provide an immediate fix, unlike any changes to lifestyle or eating. Same with bypass surgery. Do you want a stent or multiple bypass now or are you willing (and physically able) to exercise more without?
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by RedGreen on Monday November 11 2019, @04:11PM
"Next you'll be quoting that other quack, Dr Oz.
Stents provide an immediate fix, unlike any changes to lifestyle or eating. Same with bypass surgery. Do you want a stent or multiple bypass now or are you willing (and physically able) to exercise more without?"
Exactly without the stents it was useless for me as I told my doctor when we had made that quick walk down the hall the next day before being discharged so they could do another scan on the blood flow from my heart. I said amazing he said what, then I explained how much of a difference it was in that long walk we just made. The day before without the procedure I would have been unable to complete that without stopping two or three times possibly more to get my breath and continue. The difference is night and day between having the blockages and the stents allowing you to move again. And of course you are a god damn fool if you do not make changes in your life to live longer after being gifted a new life to live. At least that is what I have done with it thanks to the wonderful people who gave me the second chance.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @06:19PM
Barbara (tom) Hudson CHEMICALLY CASTRATED himself with estrogen since you failed as a man lol! You also FAIL as a "woman" you NEUTERED delusional freakazoid! What is is like knowing you are a living mockery? A parody of both a 'woman' or a man! You know that. Everyone knows it about you "TraNsTeSticLe" hohohohoho. Barbara Hudson is a twistoid mental case deluding itself it is a REAL woman. Clue: You will never EVER be able to pass a DNA test due to the fact you do not, nor did you ever, possess female mitochondrial material you crackpot weirdo. It isn't logical to attempt to "fix" bodyparts that work with no issues. You had a working (extremely small) penis and balls you sawed off with estrogen hahahaha! Barbara Hudson breaks laws by possessing a SAWED OFF SHOTGUN, rotflmao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Score: 4, Funny) by Gaaark on Saturday November 09 2019, @11:44PM (1 child)
I'm watching Green Eggs and Ham with my son, martyb...you've recovered from hospital food, I see.
That's the best Suess I can Suess...a Suesser I'm not. Will your pinky still pick from your nose the snot?
I'm going to stop now; stop and drink from my cup: the question we ask is "Can you still get it up?"
:)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 4, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Sunday November 10 2019, @02:27AM
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Funny) by NPC-131072 on Saturday November 09 2019, @11:46PM
gracias
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 09 2019, @11:58PM
Wow, that's a really scary event you just experienced! I am glad you came through it relatively unscathed and are still around to enjoy your life. Good luck in your recovery!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RS3 on Sunday November 10 2019, @12:13AM
martyb, words can not describe the depth and breadth of what you've done for SN, and how your work, comments, stories, editing, and all contributions here have enriched all of our lives. Thank you so very much, and I wish you the very best of health and full recovery!!
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Sunday November 10 2019, @12:32AM
I'm glad they caught the problem after you'd "only" had a minor stroke you could relatively easily recover from, rather than waiting for a big one! Hope you can regain your stamina without too much difficulty.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Sunday November 10 2019, @01:05AM
As is often the case, I can only echo what others have already written here. Our community is very fortunate to have you, martyb. I hope you're feeling back to normal soon. Try not to push yourself too hard. You deserve a break and to maintain your good health.
Welcome to Edgeways. Words should apply in advance as spaces are highly limite—
(Score: 2) by optotronic on Sunday November 10 2019, @02:53AM
I wish you a fast and optimal recovery, martyb! Thanks to you for all your work on the site, and to the others who stepped in during your absence.
(Score: 2) by Snow on Sunday November 10 2019, @03:08AM
Glad to hear that you are mostly okay. Strokes can be scary.
Take care of yourself.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @03:37AM
I grok that you are in your "mature" age, but in what range?
You are a big part of SN's "success" (for what it's worth to us), and I can't imagine SN without you.
Take it easy, and get it together - don't rush no nothing.
Let's post more of quality aristachu subs than "story" like this.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday November 10 2019, @04:03AM
Life is great, until the doctors tell you something serious. Hell of a wake up call.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 1) by lolococo on Sunday November 10 2019, @06:43AM
Heal well and ... don't forget your pills and exercises :) Courage is your middle name.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday November 10 2019, @07:33AM (1 child)
Whaaat??? :)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Touché) by SemperOSS on Sunday November 10 2019, @08:38AM
Sorry, no.
I would rather martyb feels better than altright! We do not need more propaganda, thank you. ;-)
I don't need a signature to draw attention to myself.
Maybe I should add a sarcasm warning now and again?
(Score: 2) by SemperOSS on Sunday November 10 2019, @08:34AM
Oh no, a stroke is such a terrifying experience and I seriously feel for you.
Oh yes, you are on your way to (a hopefully full) recovery and seem to manage well, which is good!
You are, with all too few others, one of the cornerstones of SoylentNews and we would all be saddened if you could not continue to be part of our diverse community in some way or other.
I sincerely hope you will achieve full recovery and regain your stamina.
Be well! Soon!
I don't need a signature to draw attention to myself.
Maybe I should add a sarcasm warning now and again?
(Score: 1) by JediTrainer on Sunday November 10 2019, @01:29PM
Best Wishes in your recovery! I'm very glad that it was minor and hope that the coming weeks will give you all the rest that you need.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Sunday November 10 2019, @02:53PM
Thank god you're alright, martyb.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by rondon on Sunday November 10 2019, @04:43PM
Glad to hear you are OK, and I wish you a fast and complete recovery! It is inspiring to see all of the well-wishers who your efforts have affected.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 10 2019, @04:57PM
Keep on truckin' martyb.
Best wishes so you can be around a LONG time to come!
But... if you never read this comment because you are set to ignore AC posts, FUCK OFF!
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 11 2019, @01:09AM (3 children)
Adding a stent puts martyb at risk of all sorts of stent-related trouble. It could migrate. It can be a site for infection to develop. It is itself a location to collect gunk. For the rest of his life, martyb will need to take blood thinners, putting him at risk of bleeding to death from minor injuries. Due to increased bruising, he's now fragile, keeping him out of most of the sports that might have helped him with his health.
All those downsides are being endured for "mild loss of use of the pinky and ring finger of my left hand as well as some loss of fine motor control in my left arm and leg".
Screw the pinky finger.
Proper justification for a stent would have to involve something more valuable. Get a stent if a stroke affects your diaphragm, eyeball, right thumb, tongue, or penis.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by barbara hudson on Monday November 11 2019, @10:44AM (1 child)
Today it's a pinky - but without intervention it probably won't stay at just a pinky. But it's an individual choice: you don't want a stent, that's okay, it's (probably eventually) your funeral.
If Marty had opted not to get a stent, again, his choice. Everyone has a different risk/benefit analysis. Same as every other choice in life.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @06:17PM
Barbara (tom) Hudson CHEMICALLY CASTRATED himself with estrogen since you failed as a man lol! You also FAIL as a "woman" you NEUTERED delusional freakazoid! What is is like knowing you are a living mockery? A parody of both a 'woman' or a man! You know that. Everyone knows it about you "TraNsTeSticLe" hohohohoho. Barbara Hudson is a twistoid mental case deluding itself it is a REAL woman. Clue: You will never EVER be able to pass a DNA test due to the fact you do not, nor did you ever, possess female mitochondrial material you crackpot weirdo. It isn't logical to attempt to "fix" bodyparts that work with no issues. You had a working (extremely small) penis and balls you sawed off with estrogen hahahaha! Barbara Hudson breaks laws by possessing a SAWED OFF SHOTGUN, rotflmao!
(Score: 3, Touché) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday November 11 2019, @05:02PM
Better idea.... why don't you just wait until it kills you?
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by Hartree on Monday November 11 2019, @04:18AM
Gee, Marty. Can't take our eyes off you for a minute without having to call in Roto-Rooter, can we? ;)
More seriously: I'm very glad it was minor and it was caught quickly. Keep on healing up!
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday November 11 2019, @05:02PM
Get well soon!
This sig for rent.