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Tem42 comments on Open thread, Jan. 18 - Jan. 24, 2016 - Less Wrong Discussion

4 Post author: MrMind 18 January 2016 09:42AM

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Comment author: Lumifer 19 January 2016 05:59:39AM 3 points [-]

Averages are pretty useless -- go to a doctor, ask for a full set of blood tests. And when I say "full", I mean ridiculously all-encompassing, if your doctor is OK with this. The printout of your results should take a couple of dozen pages.

Ask for copies of the lab results. Study them carefully and they will tell you personally what would be a good idea for your health.

Comment author: Tem42 23 January 2016 04:26:29PM 1 point [-]

Is that working under the assumption that normalizing is better for your health? I don't think that I would trust myself or my doctor to optimize supplements based simply on what I am low in.

For example, normal vit. D3 levels are often set by the healthy level for Caucasians, with the result that Asians with healthy, normal levels for their genotype are flagged as dangerously low. This is not something that you can assume that your doctor is aware of.

However, the tests would give you some starting points for research. Also, I suspect that most doctors are not likely to offer much more than a chem-20, which I think is pretty useful across populations (IANAD) -- but also is probably not what you are recommending.

Comment author: Lumifer 25 January 2016 04:54:53PM 0 points [-]

Is that working under the assumption that normalizing is better for your health?

No. That's working under the assumption that more information is better than less information.

This is not something that you can assume that your doctor is aware of.

I didn't say "listen to your doctor". I said "study them carefully".

most doctors are not likely to offer much more than a chem-20

Ask for specific, comprehensive panels. Do not go in saying "You think I should maybe get some tests?" :-/