notmedicaladvice

[notmedicaladvice]

I have not seen this illustration before but it's perfect. Breast cancer does not care about race, sex, or gender. EVERYONE needs to know this.

Finally having an operation.

Ladies, gentlemen, you, Please, do me a favor — check yourself for odd spots, tumors or birthmarks, and if you see anything that worries you, don’t delay a visit to the doctor and DON’T NEGLECT IT. Better to turn out paranoid, but aware.

[notmedicaladvice]

please reference the dead-salmon-in-the-MRI study. This is the point, this is why that was a big deal. All of the 'brain isn't mature until 25' comes from the exact same sort of fMRI imaging as the dead salmon study.

they teach 'brain mature at 25' in med school. I got it during psych nursing. it's supposedly the average age of schizophrenia diagnoses (it's not, that is better described as a range from late-teens-to-early-thirties, and with medicine the way it is the age of diagnosis means exactly nothing) and used as a benchmark in psychiatry. It's used as a legal precendent (ex: Scotland). it's USED. Which means people 'referencing it in jokes or posts as if it's a fact' isn't what's causing the problem.

The National Institutes of Health has it right there on their damn website. I get what you're saying but just telling people to stop calling it a fact and then not giving any context or receipts to counteract organizations with frankly more clout than a random tumblr user, well... it doesn't help your cause much.

IFLS did a write up on this, as did Slate, if you want an explanation on why OP is calling it pseudoscience.

genuinely especially with everything happening in britain rn with regards to trans healthcare we need to start shutting down the "your brain doesn't fully develop until 25!" pseudoscience bullshit asap

[notmedicaladvice]

UC or ER?

[notmedicaladvice]

If you're in a relationship that involves intimate physical touch, teach your partner to do your breast exam! For many people, this is a great way to be reminded to do your self-check.

[notmedicaladvice]

CONFIRM!

It is checked with an ultrasound which is cheap (even in American medicine) and should ALWAYS be followed up on. This ranks up there with "found a lump" in terms of medical severity.

fresh, clean no-terf version for reblogs!

Your mom and aunts aren’t on tumblr.  Please warn them about this as well. 

[notmedicaladvice]

Gender is not Biological

XX is not always female. XY is not always male.

XX and XY are not the only options.

Upwards of 1.7% of people do not fit your biological definition. That is more common than Type 1 Diabetes in the US.

Gender assignment surgery is routinely done on intersex infants.

I apologize for pathologizing these states, but if you fall under one of the headings mentioned above, then you already know all this and you're not my target audience.

Any arguments about gender having a biological basis are made in bad faith. You're just wrong. Flat wrong. Full stop.

Health care decisions for transgender and intersex individuals need to be made between the individual and their doctor. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.

[notmedicaladvice]

Resource: Medical Bills

[notmedicaladvice]

Let's Talk About Fat

First things first.

Obesity (not being overweight, but obesity) is correlated with something they call "all-cause mortality." Meaning, the heavier you are, the more likely you are to have something kill you.

That's it. That's the whole thing. Everything else you've ever read about the dangers of being fat are linked to that. Here's the most up-to-date thing on the CDC website about it (as of February 2024).

What does that mean?

Fuck all.

Because as we all know, correlation does not equal causation.

If you read thru that link (it's like 500 pages, good luck) you'll find a lot of studies that talk about blood sugar improvements with weight loss, and cholesterol improvements with weight loss. That makes it sound like the weight was the problem, right? Except they're using correlations, here.

How did people lose the weight? Did they cut carbs? That will reduce your blood sugar. Did they reduce the fat in their diet? That will reduce cholesterol.

The point: whatever it is that is causing us to have a higher BMI is also what is causing us to die. And while, yes, some of those things we arguably have control over, a lot of them we don't.

The critical questions are:

Is my BMI actually indicative of my health? Answer: Probably Not.

2. Should we be using BMI at all, ever? Answer: No. Here's a good introduction to its problems.

3. Is there something else contributing to BOTH obesity and poor health outcomes? Answer: Yes, and everybody in power knows it.

4. Why are we so focused on what people weigh, if the relationship between body fat and health isn't 1-to-1? Answer: Follow the money.

The entire point to medicine should be to help individuals live the best life they can. There is not one weight that is good for everyone. There is not one diet that is good for everyone. Keto was developed to help with intractable epilepsy. Some people can't eat protein. For every diet one person needs to be on, there's someone else who cannot eat that way and survive. There is no sweeping one-size-fits-all advice, and anybody who tells you otherwise is selling something (or has fallen victim to fatphobia and/or propoganda).

The bottom line is, if your doctor answers a concern with you need to lose weight and come back thinner if the problem is still there, you need a new doctor (because even if that IS the problem, there's ALWAYS a cause that needs addressed and they need to help you address it). If you feel the need to tell someone their weight isn't healthy, and you're not a doctor currently looking at their CMP and medical history, you need to learn to mind your own business.

If there's something here you want more information on, drop an ask in my box. Also give me suggestions for tags!

[notmedicaladvice]

Blog Rules

Ask me questions about (American) medicine in specific or the human body in general. Wanna know how something works? Want to know what a test does? Don't understand something you read? ASK ME. What I won't answer: Anything personal. At all. Ever. Anything self-identifying. Any requests for "what should I do." You should see a doctor.

I can not. Will not. Give medical advice. I legally can't and y'all aren't worth going to jail for.

It is worth noting, "how can I get the system to help me" is NOT medical advice. I will happily give you pointers on navigating our broken system, such as what your rights are and aren't. Again, nothing specific, please - don't ask me who to talk to at a specific hospital.

I reserve the right to delete rude, shitty, or otherwise inappropriate asks. All posts go in the queue.