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gothgirl420666 comments on Instrumental rationality/self help resources - Less Wrong Discussion

35 Post author: gothgirl420666 18 July 2013 02:58AM

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Comment author: gothgirl420666 18 July 2013 03:00:09AM 3 points [-]

Health

Comment author: James_Miller 18 July 2013 05:56:51PM 3 points [-]

Blood tests. Check to see if you have healthy levels of cholesterol, vitamin D, magnesium, and whatever else your insurance will pay to have tested.

Comment author: RomeoStevens 19 July 2013 06:38:25AM *  5 points [-]

If you don't have insurance, or if they won't cover something you would like tested there is pirvatemdlabs They are popular with the fitness crowd for their female hormone panel which is $60 and can be used by men.

Make sure you know what healthy levels actually are. Pro-tip: you are not the average of 400 million people.

Some examples where the range accepted by AMA guidelines are wrong:

  1. Guidelines push total cholesterol under 200. Cholesterol under 200 is predictive of greater CVD in older adults.

  2. Guidelines push low LDL. HDL:Triglyceride ratio is much more predictive of CVD than LDL levels.

  3. Blood pressure has very high variability, making a high BP diagnosis problematic. BP lowering drugs often do more harm than good.

  4. The accepted range for iron is from 15nm/dL all the way up to 300nm/dL IIRC, but there are indications the low end of the spectrum is significantly better.

  5. Guidelines on salt do not take into account potassium consumption, which seem to have an effect on whether salt interventions are harmful or helpful to CVD risk.

These are not intended to be me imparting wisdom, they are intended as examples to demonstrate why you need to look into the details of longevity yourself. Almost no one bothers to collate evidence from studies correctly, including often the people conducting the studies -_-.

Unfortunately I am unaware of any sources with reliable epistemic hygiene.

Comment author: James_Miller 19 July 2013 02:51:53PM 0 points [-]

Thanks for the placebo boost. I was unsure what to make of my Cholesterol (232 total, 69 Tri, 76 HDL, 142 LDL) and your interpretation is the most positive way of looking at it I've seen. I hope you are right.

Comment author: RomeoStevens 19 July 2013 09:10:37PM *  1 point [-]

Your HDL:Triglycerides kicks ass, and indicates that your LDL most likely has a favorable amount of type-A LDL (the kind not associated with health problems).

Comment author: [deleted] 20 July 2013 11:56:50PM 4 points [-]

In my country (but I think elsewhere too), if you donate blood they test it for lots of health issues for free.

Comment author: RomeoStevens 29 July 2013 09:39:20AM 1 point [-]

Great point, it's also the easiest way to reduce your iron levels.