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seblaineworld · 4 months ago

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Hey, Seblainers! Hellooooo, everyone else!

A big life update...

First of all, I'm truly sorry that this is the first time I've posted since Mum went into Hospital. In total since my last post, my Mum has actually spent the sum of 5 days when she was NOT in Hospital...

She sustained a wound when she fell out of bed, and because she is a Type 2 Diabetic it has been healing very slowly and has become infected several times, resulting in my normally sharp as a tack Mum, having temporary confusion and feeling disorientated, which has been so upsetting to witness.

She turned 84, 2 days after being discharged for the third time, and fell into a Diabetic Coma the very next night due to her blood sugar not being properly regulated, which was possibly the scariest night of my entire life, and was terrifying to witness, so the decision was made to take her off her previous oral Diabetic medication and put her on Insulin...That's been a huge learning curve for everyone concerned, and hard to adjust to on top of everything else...

You've all been truly wonderful with your heartfelt messages of support and Love, and I'm incredibly grateful for each and every one. Nobody has come back to me with a date for us to have 10 Days Of Seblaine 2024, and I genuinely thought that I was going to be in a position to host the event, and keep up with my commitments to Mum, but sadly, it's just no longer sustainable...

I've already had to have several of my staff take over many of my own classes so that I can spend as much time as possible with Mum, which has been hard for my students and even harder for me, but again, I'm truly grateful for all the support I'm being given. Until yesterday, I still thought I was going to be able to make time to host 10 Days Of Seblaine 2024 before the end of this year, but I now feel that is an impossible ask..

I'm conscious that I should ALSO be hosting Seblainiversary Weekend 2024 starting tomorrow, but I just can't do it, folks. I know I'm letting you all down so badly, and my heart is breaking having to make this post, but I really hope you can all understand my position. Ysterday, having literally taken the dishes through to wash them after giving her her lunch, I walked back into the living-room to find Mum having some kind of seizure, with a temperature of 41 Celsius, and obviously, I called an Ambulance and she has been readmitted.

Turns out the wound has now become Grade 4, and a secondary infection has set in. She's now on Antibiotics to clear it. I'm sad and upset and frustrated and have cried a great many tears, because of a few medical missteps that have taken place during the last few months, but I need to stay strong for my Mum.

Mum's feisty and a fighter, and all she wants is to feel well again, and as she puts it - to feel completely normal, but she's having such a difficult time, as am I.

Once again, I'm truly so, so sorry that I've completely let you all down. If someone has time to take over the Seblainer event hosting duties until I can take over the reins again, please message me. The last thing I wanted was for our tiny (but always fierce!) Seblainer Fandom to miss out on what's always a fun time, where our many talented Seblainers get their chance to shine. But I just don’t have anything left in me to host anything for the time-being, because I'm literally running on empty..

I love you all so much, and again, thank you for the many, many messages of Love, support, and encouragement that you've all sent me.

Ail 💜

#seblaine #seblaineworld #blaine anderson #sebastian smythe #seblainer events #please share and reblog!#10 days of seblaine 2024

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macgyvermedical · 2 years ago

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Hey Mac

So i have a question

I got diagnosed with Insulin resistance and the doctor decided to put me on Metformin-for fear of getting type II DM-It runs in ma family-anyway

My question is what does Metformin do to the sugar um ingesting-i mean um trying to cut back but i have this concern-and what if i took something sweet while on it? Um too conscious about this but i can't cope really well with such a drastic change

In order to understand metformin, you have to understand Type 2 Diabetes and the role the hormone insulin plays in regulating blood sugar.

Every cell in your body uses sugar for energy. Blood delivers that sugar to the cells, which keeps them alive. You have an organ called a pancreas that monitors the amount of sugar in the blood and uses hormones to regulate it. When the amount of blood sugar rises (like, after you eat something), the pancreas releases the hormone insulin, which basically tells the cells “okay, we have plenty of food, you can go ahead and use all that tasty sugar for energy.” As the cells use the sugar, they remove it from the blood, and blood sugar drops. If there is more sugar than needed to keep the cells alive and working, that extra sugar gets stored as fat or as a starch called glycogen in the liver and muscles.

When working correctly, this process maintains blood sugar between about 60 and 100 (though it can be higher if the person has recently eaten).

Insulin resistance is when cells stop responding to insulin normally, and it takes more insulin before the cells get the message to start using or storing sugar. Type 2 Diabetes occurs when this gets severe enough that the pancreas can no longer keep the amount of sugar in the blood in a normal range. When the amount of sugar in the blood is higher than normal, it does damage to blood vessels and organs. You may also feel tired and sick if your cells aren’t getting the energy they need. This is why people with Type 2 Diabetes are asked to eat less sugar/carbohydrates (which helps decrease the amount of sugar circulating in the blood), exercise (muscle cells can use some sugar without needing to be sensitive to insulin), and take medications that increase the amount of insulin the pancreas produces or increases cells’ sensitivity to insulin.

Metformin is a drug that works in a few different ways. First, it helps increase cells’ sensitivity to insulin. This helps the cells have a more normal response to insulin- letting them remove and use more of the sugar from the blood. Second, it prevents the uptake of some sugar from the digestive tract. That means you’re only absorbing some of the sugar you eat, and the rest gets pooped out, thus contributing less sugar to your blood. Third, it decreases the amount of sugar that your liver releases when your pancreas releases glucagon. Which is still less sugar that your body has to figure out what to do with.

When you eat sugar/carbohydrates as someone with diabetes or insulin resistance on metformin, you poop some of the sugar out. The remaining sugar enters your blood stream and triggers insulin release, which your cells can use more easily due to the metformin. When your pancreas then releases glucagon, you liver doesn’t release as much sugar as it otherwise would, and your blood sugar stays in a more normal range.

Unlike other drugs that treat T2D, metformin is unique in that it doesn’t cause life-threatening hypoglycemia when taken without the appropriate amount of food. The most common side effects are gastrointestinal, and usually go away in a few weeks. Some research has also shown that people taking metformin tend to have less cardiovascular disease later in life and many lose a small amount of weight. All of these reasons make it a very safe early intervention for people with diabetes and pre-diabetes.

#whump reference #writing reference #type 2 diabetes #diabetes #nursing

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yaksha-lover · 2 years ago

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This might get a bit long, but I'll try to simplify everything, so sorry for that. Also, English is not my first language!!

Talking about specifically type-1 diabete: it's essentially an autoimmune disease where the pancreas is completely destroyed by your own organism. The pancreas creates the insulin hormone, that regulates the presence of sugar in the blood- which means that diabete is a disability characterized by very high level of sugar in the blood.

The level of sugar in a diabetic's blood is very unstable, unlike a non-diabetic person, since it can't regulate by itself: there can be low sugar, which means that there is not enough sugar in your blood- it is a very unpleasant feeling, and a few of the tells that one might have low sugar are, for example (and they can all vary in severity) general weakness, mental fog, general confusion, difficulty in talking, difficulty in moving, shaking, palpitations, death and anxiety. For some reason. When someone loses blood their sugar starts to drop- this is isn't as much of a problem in a non-diabetic person as it would be in a diabetic person, obviously, especially since our sugar level naturally drops faster and more severly than a non-diabetic person. Do deal with low-sugar you gotta eat, especially sugary things.

There is also high sugar level, which means that that the sugar in our blood is above the average. This means that a diabetic's blood is also sweet, which. Lol. Generally speaking, the symptoms are similar to those of low-sugar, with an added thirst that just doesn't go away no metter how much you drink. To deal with it you need to use insulin- depending on how high it is, if it's not by much, a bit of physical exercise will help you and you won't need insulin. Because physical extersion make your sugar drop.

Low-sugar and high-sugar also cause sudden (possibly severe) changes in one's emotion, and a person emotion can also have an effect of their sugarl level.

A diabetic person needs insulin, and it can be used trough either an insulin pump or a syringe (that we call insulin pen), but there also different types of insulin that a diabetic person needs to take. A T1 specifically, since they are insulin-dependent, also shouldn't go too many hours without insulin. We also need to check our sugar multiple times a day, for which we have devices.

Diabete also effects your health in general, also in the long run. It can bring to heart problems, kidneys (if I remember correctly) problems, vision problems and so on- usually we start to take different type of medicine to protect ourselves long before these problems start to manifest themselves.

So like, I'm going to assume that Lilia is going to get a diabetic MC the medical equipment that they need...unless like. They want to get rid of them??? Which would be an incredibly unkind and horrible/painful/slow way to take out a diabetic person, let me tell you that. But also??? Diabetic people do have to do certain blood exams yearly (to check, you know, if you are not dying even faster than what you are supposed to as a diabetic), which I guess can be taken without actually having to go to a doctor directly. But also, we do have to AT LEAST once in a while (teorically speaking, once every eight months, but let's be real, no one actually does that) meet with our specific diabetologist to discuss whether we should change insulin, the amount, whether we should start taking this type of medicine, stop taking this etc etc. Would Lilia allow the visit? Would he switch our primary diabetologist to a doctor that he trust?😭 Because the bureaucracy of it would be such a pain in the ass😭😭

But also, yeah, sorry for how long it was, but I was curious! Especially since. Y'know. Vampires like blood and all. How would they react?

First of all, thanks sm for taking the time to write all this it was very detailed and helpful!! I knew the basics but I wasn’t sure about the details so it was very informative :)

In terms of vamp au, Lilia would def get MC anything they needed for their health and allow doctor visits for sure, he’d probably just want to accompany you (which is partially out of concern!). Lilia does feel badly about keeping MC at the mansion against their will, so he would go to any length to make sure they stay safe and as healthy as possible.

The other vampires would definitely be much more careful around MC, refusing to ever do anything that would put them in danger like trying to take their blood (even if they would enjoy the taste, that would never take priority). Even if MC was dating one of them, they would still refuse. They def keep snacks for diabetic!MC around too, in case they have low-sugar at any moment. Lilia would ensure everyone treated MC well because he considers them his guest and under his protection.

#don’t apologize for the length you were helping me out!!#au asks #twst vampire au

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cleverhottubmiracle · 13 days ago

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You found a weight loss method that works for you: the pounds are coming off, your clothes are fitting better and you’re starting to feel more confident. But, if you’ve noticed an unexpected and unflattering side effect of your weight loss is also hair loss, you’re not alone. “I see this all the time in my practice,” says Ross Kopelman, MD, a hair transplant surgeon at Kopelman Hair Restoration. “When patients lose a significant amount of weight, especially quickly, it can trigger a type of hair shedding called telogen effluvium.” It’s a common concern, especially for women, and understanding the connection is key to addressing it effectively. Read on to learn about the connection between weight loss and hair loss and how you can easily reverse it. The 2 ways weight loss and hair loss are connected 1. You’ve lost weight quickly Rapid weight loss acts as a shock to the system, explains Dr. Kopelman. This sudden change forces more hair follicles into the resting (telogen) phase of the hair cycle and these resting hairs begin to shed a few months down the line, often dramatically. But, Dr. Kopelman assures, while short-term rapid weight loss can cause hair shedding, “I tell my patients not to panic because, in the long run, sustainable weight loss can actually help improve hair health—especially for people with conditions like polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome.” These conditions can contribute to hair thinning due to hormonal imbalances, particularly elevated insulin and androgens. He explains that when someone loses weight in a controlled, healthy way—especially with GLP-1 medications, which help regulate insulin—their overall hormonal profile improves. In some cases, hair loss related to these metabolic issues actually slows down or even reverses. “While the initial shedding can be frustrating, I remind my patients that achieving a healthy, balanced weight can ultimately lead to better scalp and hair health in the long run.” 2. You may have some nutrient deficiencies Nutrient deficiencies also play a significant role. “Hair is a non-essential tissue,” Dr. Kopelman emphasizes. Your body prioritizes essential functions, and when it’s deprived of vital nutrients like protein, iron and key vitamins, hair growth takes a backseat. “Hair health reflects overall health,” he adds, “so if your body is under strain from extreme weight loss, your hair is likely to suffer.” Are certain weight loss methods more likely to trigger hair loss? Yes, insists, Dr. Kopelman. He points to crash diets, bariatric surgery and very low-calorie diets (VLCDs) as the biggest culprits. “When you suddenly cut down on calories or undergo major metabolic changes, your body shifts into survival mode, and hair growth takes a back seat.” Important to note: While the recent popularity of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound has also raised concerns about hair loss, Dr. Kopelman clarifies, “it’s usually not the medication itself causing shedding—it’s the rapid weight loss that comes with it.” Boy_Anupong/Getty How to tell if your weight loss is causing your hair loss “Unlike genetic hair loss, which tends to affect specific areas like the temples or crown, weight-loss-related hair shedding is diffuse, meaning it affects the entire scalp,” says Dr. Kopelman. “That’s why most of my patients complaining of weight-loss-related hair loss say they notice increased shedding all over the scalp, rather than just specific bald patches.” They often say things like, “I’m seeing way more hair in the shower drain,” or “I can’t believe how much hair is coming out when I brush.” Some also notice their ponytail feeling thinner. If someone already has underlying genetic hair thinning (female pattern hair loss), the weight loss can make it more noticeable. “That’s why I always do a thorough evaluation to make sure we’re not missing another contributing factor.” Have you ever experienced hair loss from weight loss? Is hair loss from weight loss permanent? Good news! “Telogen effluvium is usually temporary,” attests Dr. Kopelman. In most cases, it will resolve once the body stabilizes at a new, healthy weight, with most patients seeing regrowth within three to six months; full recovery takes up to a year. However, underlying deficiencies, hormonal imbalances or genetic predispositions can affect the recovery process. “That’s why I take a personalized approach, making sure we’re addressing the root cause of the shedding,” he explains. How to prevent hair loss with weight loss While Dr. Kopelman explains that this shedding is typically temporary and resolves as the body adjusts to its new weight, there are ways to minimize hair loss during weight loss and encourage regrowth. Dr. Kopelman stresses the importance of slow, steady weight loss and a focus on nutrition: Prioritize protein “Hair is made of keratin, a protein, so if you’re not getting enough, your body won’t waste energy growing hair,” explains Dr. Kopelman. Enlist these nutrients “I always emphasize a balanced diet with enough protein, iron, zinc and biotin—that’s the foundation for healthy hair.” Consider supplements A high-quality hair-focused supplement like Nutrafol or Viviscal can help bridge any nutritional gaps. Give your hair some TLC Use gentle hair care practices and avoid excessive heat styling, tight ponytails and harsh chemical treatments while the hair is in a fragile state which can all exacerbate or lead to hair loss. 4 easy ways to regrow hair after weight loss shurkin_son/Getty “The sooner we address the issue, the better the outcome,” says Dr. Kopelman. Here are some simple at-home solutions. Apply a 5% minoxidil treatment The over-the-counter treatment (also found in Rogaine) is clinically proven to help restart the hair cycle and help women regrow their hair. Click through to learn more about how minoxidil works. Massage your scalp Studies have shown that scalp massage can help increase hair thickness and may even help alopecia sufferers regrow hair. And adding in growth-inducing ingredients like rosemary oil (learn how to make your own here) or caffeine-infused serums can boost benefits. One study found that rosemary oil is as effective as minoxidil in regrowing hair. To do: Use your fingertips to gently massage the scalp in small, circular motions starting at the hairline and moving toward the back of the head. Let strands “smell” some sandalwood British research reports that when applied to the scalp, the woodsy aroma of sandalwood boosts hair-growth hormones in follicles by 30 percent. Our hair follicles contain the same receptors responsible for our sense of smell—the oil’s aroma stimulates these receptors and promotes new growth. To do: Combine 4 drops of sandalwood essential oil and 2 Tbs. of olive oil. Rub onto the scalp and damp hair and let sit for 20 minutes, then rinse. Give your hair a little tug Taking two minutes a day to gently pull on your hair activates genes that encourage hair growth, increasing the diameter of each strand by 8 percent. This leads to a noticeable boost in thickness in four months, says one study. Source link

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norajworld · 13 days ago

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ellajme0 · 13 days ago

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chilimili212 · 13 days ago

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oliviajoyice21 · 13 days ago

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somebeetledude · 8 months ago

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My family is still staying in half of the church that wasn’t affected by the bombing because there is nowhere else to stay other than tents. They are limited to one small meal a day and one shower a week. They are sleeping on the floors, but no one can sleep since there is bombing everywhere around them. Even when there is no bombing, they can still hear the loud buzzing sound of the military planes above them, which would keep anyone who hears it awake. Along with everything, My grandma has diabetes and osteoporosis, so she can’t walk. She has to take her insulin medication along with many others; however, she has run out of many of her medications.” Am on my knees requesting for donation. Target $450

https://www.tumblr.com/atomicsmart/753841276781215744/this-place-is-terrible-but-all-i-ask-is-your?source=share For everyone who views this blog, do whatever you can to help. I am so sorry this is happening to your family, diabetic ketoacidosis is a horrible thing to happen to someone, and I hope this reaches as many people as possible.

#free palestine #palestine #all eyes on rafah #all eyes on palestine #all eyes on gaza #justice for palestinians #ceasefire #ceasefire now

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sptsblogs · 1 year ago

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Why Is My Period Late? 8 Reasons Besides Pregnancy

If you're not pregnant, low body weight or a lot of stress could be the cause of your period's delay. Menstrual cycle fluctuations can also be caused by certain medical diseases, such as diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and others. You know you're not pregnant, but are you worried about a late period? There are numerous causes of missed or delayed periods besides pregnancy.

Hormonal imbalances and major medical disorders are examples of common causes. According to research, the likelihood of having irregular menstrual cycles varies from 5.6% to 35.6% based on factors like age, occupation, and place of residence.

Additionally, irregular periods are common at two points in your cycle's life: the onset of menopause and its onset. Your cycle may become erratic as your body undergoes the change.

We go over eight non-pregnancy-related explanations for why your period can be late in this post.

For what length of time does a period typically run late?

The majority of women who have not yet achieved menopause often get their period every 28 days. A normal menstrual cycle, however, can occur every 21–40 days.

One of the following causes may be the cause if your period doesn't fall within these parameters.

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Can a woman not be pregnant and have a late period?

Anxiety

Prolonged stress can mess with your hormones, alter your daily schedule, and even have an impact on the hypothalamus, the area of your brain that controls your menstrual cycle. Stress might affect your cycle over time by causing illness or abrupt weight gain or loss.

If you believe that stress is interfering with your menstrual cycle, consider implementing relaxation practices and modifying your lifestyle.

Managing chronic stress, either on your own or with medical assistance, is crucial to maintaining your general health and well-being, since it can exacerbate other underlying health concerns.

Minimal body mass

Individuals with eating disorders, such bulimia or anorexia nervosa, may notice changes in their menstrual cycle. Excessive weight loss might lead to irregular periods and possibly interrupt your cycle. This is because ovulation may be postponed by insufficient body fat.

Regaining ideal body fat and receiving therapy for your eating disorder can help your cycle return to its previous length.

Individuals who engage in strenuous physical activities, including marathons, could also see anomalies in their cycles.

Fatality

Living at a low body weight can lead to hormonal alterations, while living at a high body weight can lead to irregularities as well.

One important reproductive hormone, estrogen, can be produced in excess by the body as a result of obesity. A high estrogen level might disrupt your menstrual cycle and possibly cause it to end completely.

Your doctor may recommend weight loss by lifestyle modifications like eating more nutrient-dense foods and exercising if they have concluded that obesity is a contributing factor to your late or absent periods.

PCOS, or polycystic ovarian syndrome

Your body produces more of the male hormone androgen when you have PCOS. This hormone imbalance leads to the formation of cysts on the ovaries. This may cause irregular or nonexistent ovulation.

An imbalance in other hormones, such insulin, can also occur. Insulin resistance, which is frequently linked to PCOS, is the cause of this.

The goal of PCOS treatment is symptom relief. To assist with cycle regulation, your doctor might recommend birth control or another drug.

Contraception

Your cycle could alter when you use or stop using birth control. The hormones progestin and estrogen used in birth control pills stop your ovaries from producing eggs.

Your cycle may not return to normal for up to three months after you stop taking the pill.

Missed periods can also result from other injectable or implanted forms of contraception.

Long-term illnesses

Diabetes and celiac disease are two chronic illnesses that can also interfere with your menstrual cycle. Unmanaged diabetes may cause your menstruation to be irregular, though this is rare because blood sugar fluctuations are connected to hormonal changes.

The inflammation brought on by celiac disease may cause damage to your small intestine and hinder your body's ability to absorb essential nutrients. This may result in sporadic or absent periods for Trusted Source.

Other long-term illnesses that could cause irregular cycles include:

Syndrome Cushing

Adrenal hyperplasia at birth

The Asherman syndrome

Insufficiency of the ovaries (POI)

Menopause usually starts for vaginal owners between 45 and 55 years of age. Individuals who experience symptoms at the age of forty or before may be going through an early natural menopause or primary ovarian insufficiency (POI).

Before the age of 40, 1% of women have POI, according to a reliable source. In addition to the surgical removal of the ovaries, autoimmune diseases and genetic problems can also cause this illness.

If you are 40 years of age or younger and you are having missed periods, speak with your doctor about POI testing and treatment.

Thyroid problems

Late or absent menstruation may also be the result of an overactive or underactive thyroid gland.

Because the thyroid controls your body's metabolism, it can also have an impact on your hormone levels. Medication is typically used to treat thyroid problems. Your menstrual cycle will probably return to normal following treatment.

Is my menstruation simply tardy, or am I pregnant?

You can take a pregnancy test if you believe you might be pregnant and your period is running late. The majority of home tests are quite accurate, but you can get a blood or urine test from your doctor if you believe your result may be incorrect.

In the first six weeks following conception, a few specific pregnancy symptoms may potentially raise the possibility that you are pregnant. It's unlikely that your menstrual cycle's regular fluctuations are the reason if you haven't had your period in six weeks.

When to visit your physician

Speak with your doctor as soon as possible if your cycles are irregular or if you've missed a period but are certain you're not pregnant. A number of illnesses and causes could be the cause of the problem.

In addition to discussing your treatment choices, your doctor can accurately diagnose the cause of your late or skipped menstruation. If as all possible, document any changes in your health, including variations in your cycle. This will assist them in diagnosing.

Call 911 or make urgent contact with a doctor if you experience any of the following symptoms:

Exceptionally severe bleeding

Infever

intense agony

queasy and regurgitating

Bleeding for more than seven days

bleeding following menopause and a year or more without having a period

Conclusion

Every menstrual cycle is unique, just as every person is. Although cycles typically last 28 days, they can last anywhere from 28 and 40 days.

Periodic abnormalities can occur for a number of causes, including as long-term stress, weight increase or reduction, or quitting and restarting birth control.

You should definitely speak with your doctor as soon as possible if you've noticed an irregular cycle recently, missed a period, and are positive that you are not pregnant. The faster they diagnose you, the sooner you can start working on regaining cycle regulation.

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babyspacebatclone · 2 years ago

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@imoanurparentsnames , the brief version of “How Diabetes Contextualizes Neurodivergence”:

(Note: I specifically referencing Type 2 Diabetes in this “essay,” to simplify my own points. Therefore, any contradictions between my descriptions and Type 1 Diabetes are the result of my lack of knowledge of Type 1, as I have familiarized myself with Type 2 as it runs in my family. I will just use the term “Diabetes” for sanity unless corrected by others where it is inappropriate.)

While it’s not universal, “physical” conditions tend to be easier to diagnose because the structures impacted are more “macro” - diagnosing scoliosis is fairly straightforward on it’s own.

Not all “physical” conditions directly impact macro structures such as bones and muscles, of course. However, another subset of these conditions may have more visible symptoms as a result of the functioning of the smaller systems.

Diabetes is a very good example of this; indeed, the very term “diabetes” is a reference to a symptom that results from the disorder, excessive urine production.

Diabetes - that is, the actual problem - does not cause excessive urine production.

Diabetes is a combination of a reduced production of insulin and the cells reduced response to insulin. Insulin itself is a hormone that regulates how muscle and organ cells absorb glucose (a common form of sugar molecule) for metabolism, that is breaking down glucose or other molecules to produce energy for the cells.

Whichever is occurring with Diabetes, a result of not enough insulin being used properly means the digestive system can break down carbohydrates into glucose and pass glucose into the bloodstream normally, that glucose is not taken out of the blood where it’s supposed to.

If the kidneys are still functioning properly, they will filter out the excessive glucose - which is water soluble - as part of maintaining the body’s chemical balance.

In order to flush water soluble material filtered out by the kidneys, however, the body requires water.

This influences a Diabetic to consume more water in order to urinate more to flush their system.

(This is where I got most concerned about my own risk of Diabetes, because I tend to drink a ton of water or juice and then pee. Tests showed the peeing is a result of me being thirsty, not me bring thirsty all the time because my body’s trying to make pee to keep in balance.)

Indeed, in previous centuries one of the ways to “test” for diabetes was to - see how sweet urine was. This was discovered multiple times over history, including in South Asia in the first millennium of the common era where medical texts reference “honey urine.”

But - fixing “sweet urine” isn’t going to fix Diabetes. Sugar in the urine is a consequence of the core issue, insulin production and/or use. The symptom can be used to measure the progression of treatment, but it can also mean a deterioration of the disease, if the kidneys stop working as a complication from Diabetes.

The visible nature of the symptom, however, lead to increased interest in Diabetes, this wasting away which we now understand is due to the impacted metabolism. It gave researchers something to look at, to test, to measure theories against: removing the pancreas, where insulin is produced, would induce Diabetes and the observable sweet urine in test animals (and other things, the pancreas makes a lot of hormones…).

Which could be followed down through the size of structures, until the molecule insulin was identified and, later, learned to be produced.

And now, while the medical system is obviously not perfect about the treatment of Diabetes, the fact that we have moved past most of the symptoms to identify the cause has made more effective treatments available.

(unfortunately, we’re not 100% out of the woods yet on determining what are causes and what are effects of Diabetes, but that’s beyond this argument)

So, what does that mean for disorders that are not “macro” enough that current medical research understands what the chemical imbalance is, let alone what needs to be directly influenced or compensated for to bring functioning to healthy, livable levels?

Chemicals are important. Chemicals are how the body communicates within itself (look up the Endocrine System if you’re interested in that!), how it initiates processes, just on a very basic level how the body works.

Issues can arise from both the source of the chemical and the reaction to the chemical. Either the body not producing something correctly, or the cells not using what is available, both are going to cause the same result of the cell not capable of doing what is needed correctly.

Symptoms can be the result of a “telephone game” from the cause of the actual issue. The cause creates one problem, which directly impacts the individual (in Diabetes, inability of the cells to metabolize glucose). The body the. tries to do something to compensate for either the breakdown (not enough glucose in the cells? well we need to take in more glucose, obviously! make the person crave sugar!) or the results of the breakdown (too much glucose in the blood, need more water to flush it out in urine). Because of this, the symptoms may be both removed from the cause of the disorder (urinary system removed from pancreas and the relevant cells) but still a direct response to the issue at hand.

“Fixing” the symptoms may not actually make any change in the actual issue. You can reduce sweet urine and excessive urine passing by, for example, reducing carbohydrate intake, which will mean there’s not an excess of glucose in the blood that the kidneys have to filter our. This does nothing to help the cells metabolize energy, however, and can make the problem worse if the amount of glucose actually drops below what the cells are capable of using.

Research. Works. Continued research into the chemical causes of disorders is worthwhile. It can be long, lead to many dead ends, but there is a point. There is hope that everything we learn will contribute to useful information. That even if we don’t understand all of the “why’s” and “how’s” of a disorder - and for Type 2 Diabetes in particular, there are a ton of “why’s” still on the table - effective treatments are still effective and useful towards improving our understanding of issues.

Improvements only happen when effective treatments are available, however. Yes, Diabetes can (theoretically) be manages purely by diet, but for many individuals this is does not allow for a meaningful life. Chemical treatment - externally produced insulin - is available, understood enough to reasonably dose, and has unquestionably profound impacts on the individual’s quality of life. Not making this accessibility, many people myself included argue, is a direct violation of a person’s basic human right to live.

I’m sure anyone who lives with debilitating Neurodivergence symptoms can understand how some of these points impact management of those conditions.

Note: This is not the “essay” I would have made in a verbal setting. There, I would have spun out the connection of “Developed Conditions” leading to learning how parts of the body and specifically the brain have impacted our understanding of the functioning of the body and brain, including validating how specific “organs” (structures) of the brain are related to specific functions of the brain and by extension the body, as the pancreas has far-reaching implications throughout the body.

That “essay” would have been more general, relying more on how specific examples create a sort of “resonance” to make understanding the underlying point clearer through repetition.

This is the “essay” that happens when I’m locked into a permanent format that other people can review, and therefore I’m going to be doing quick side research to confirm the points I want to make are indeed the points I think they are (I initially thought the term Diabetes was in reference to “honey urine,” so I’m glad I checked that…).

With that access to research, however, I also could dive deeper into a specific train of thought - in this case, symptoms versus cause - with firmer reasoning.

I hope this version is sufficiently informative, even if read out loud it’s probably not a full 30 minutes; again, a Tumblr post is best suited to different restrictions than a verbal rambling…

Yeah, I’d lose money because I wander off topic after about 9 minutes.

Unless you let me pick the topic as “Infant Development” or “How Developed Conditions such as Prosopagnosia and Diabetes help to Contextualize Neurodivergence.”

I can pull enough diverse examples within those umbrellas to satisfy the wandering threads while still braiding them back into the primary thesis.

Best comment on that vid: “John heard, ‘You only have 30 minutes…’”

#actually neurodivergent #diabetes #type 2 diabetes #long post #a brief history of diabetes #very brief #symptoms versus cause #it’s all chemicals

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thewildwaffle · 4 years ago

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Earth Report 0071 - Replacing Pancreas

The prompt idea for this story brought to you from Nugget7 on Ao3

Also, these "Earth Reports" are not in order (obviously) I just kind of write them and add numbers and reference others that I may or may not have even written yet

*** *** ***

To wrap up Reports 0066-0070 on “camping,” I’d like to use this report to transition from said topic to ones of more medical natures. Starting with a disease that can ofttimes plague human organs called the pancreas. This all began, again, when Human Whitney invited me to go camping with her and her friends and family. After arriving and setting up camp (see Report 66 on the strange dwellings used for camping and my thoughts on them), a fire was started and meals that had been previously prepared and wrapped in aluminum foil were taken out and placed next to the fire and in the hot coals. They had even made one for me, which was very kind. It was a simple meal, the only alterations needed for my safety was the exclusion of the root vegetable known as onions. Whitney had even made a mark on the outside of my meal to indicate it was specifically for me. I noticed that Human Mary also had a mark on the exterior of her meal wrappings, and upon my asking, I was told it was because her meal didn’t include the same soup-sauce that was in the other meals and had fewer of the root vegetables called potatoes. I gave it no further thought at the moment, after all, humans preferred tastes vary greatly from individual to individual. (See Report 0014)

However, after the meals were done cooking, I also noticed that Mary did not partake in any of the fizzy canned beverages. Again, I thought to pass this off as a personal preference until Human Ammon asked about it, inquiring if she wanted a different flavor they had available or if she wanted something non-caffeinated. (See Report about caffeine in Report 0028) The discussion around the campfire turned to a discussion of health and these sodas, especially after Mary stated that she usually doesn’t drink them, and when she does, they’re usually the “diet” varieties. After many other humans giving input to such beverage selections and health impacts, Mary explained that the reason behind her beverage selection was because she has “Type 1 diabetes.” That seemed to clear things up for many of the humans, who “ahh”-ed or nodded in understanding. Before the conversation could wander off, I questioned what this “diabetes” was and what having the first type of it meant. Human Mary took a small device out of her pocket that had a wire running up her shirt. She showed me that the wires actually went INSIDE her! Honestly, I’m surprised at how well I was able to soak up the information she told me about her disease while I was in such a state of shock. Please note here that my collection of Earth Reports is to focus largely on a more anthropological take on human and Earth life and cultures. There are plenty others who are compiling deeper research into human biology and medicine, and they are much more qualified to do so than I. That being said, I have taken upon myself to learn the basics of human biology, as it does play a large part in understanding many aspects of day to day life on Earth. What I was told, and what I have since learned is that the disease known as diabetes is when the pancreas organ slows or even ceases functioning. The pancreas creates a hormone called insulin, which helps the human body regulate glucose levels in their blood. Without the hormone being created, those levels can fluctuate and must be manually regulated by the human in question, or through the use of devices like the one attached to Mary’s body. Without the insulin pump, as it is called, her blood sugar would fluctuate dangerously and could kill her. With this new discovery as a catalyst, I now wish to focus the next section of my reports on human health and biology as it relates to my own field of study. I have come across humans in the past who were missing limbs and had replaced them with outside tools and gadgets. It is also known that humans are capable of donating various organs, bodily fluids and material post-mortem as well as while still being alive. And, well, apparently they can also replace body parts with machines that may or may not even have to be inside their bodies. Humans are weird, yes. Understanding them so as to better help the galaxy interact with them has been my goal with these reports. With this and upcoming reports, I would like to further add that humans are very tenacious. They will not allow themselves to be stopped in the progression of their lives, even if it is their own bodies that are trying to impede them. They find a way through or around their obstacles, adapting, tinkering, and doing their best to defy even death itself.

#humans are weird #humans are space orcs #aliens #earth report #diabetes #humans

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bi-rising · 4 years ago

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hey I just saw your post about PCOS being a hormonal issue not a gyno one while I was surfing the tag. I was diagnosed a couple months back and all my gyno did was a 2 min ultrasound and then prescribed me birth control. I would like to have actual help and more info on it but I'm not sure who I'm supposed to go to for that. Seeing as you were in a similar situation I'd appreciate your help.

seems like gynos really suck with pcos, don't they? 🥴 warning you now, this is going to be a very long post, because i'm essentially writing out absolutely everything i did and everything i've learned, so strap in for a ride aldksfjasldf

the first thing to do is research, research, research. i spent a whole week constantly on pcos websites (such as pcosaa and this article, tho fair warning, the article does use academic speech so it might not be the easiest thing to read) and watching videos and doing what i could to inform myself. the way you can know if you're looking at a credible resource is how the source defines pcos: does it pose it as a reproductive system disorder? or an endocrine (hormonal) disorder? if it talks about it as a reproductive system disorder, then it's probably wrong.

please note that i am not, obviously, a medical professional, but this is how i understand pcos works. i'll use me as an example just so i can use first person perspective, but it applies to pcos patients in general.

so, my cells are insulin resistant. that means that when i eat, my body releases, lets say, 100 (x measurement) of insulin. because my cells are insulin resistant, they say "hey, i'm only gonna use 50x of that insulin". but they still NEED that 100x to function. so my body releases ANOTHER 100x of insulin, so my cells go "ok i'll take 50x" and so while my cells now have the 100x they're supposed, to i now have 100x insulin floating around.

that extra insulin not only wreaks havoc on many systems of the body, it is the reason why most people with pcos that goes untreated end up with type 2 diabetes. the extra insulin is also converted (or spurs the creation of? i'm not entirely certain on the how here) into testosterone and other androgen (male) hormones. so your body has too much insulin, and now it has too much testosterone, too. that extra testosterone is what fucks with your reproductive system and prevents the follicles on your ovaries from maturing (which is what the 'cysts' are). it also often creates increased facial hair, acne (especially on the 'beard line'), and worse body odor. between the testosterone and the insulin, it's nigh impossible to lose weight.

also note that because your body has to release more insulin for your cells to get an adequate amount, you likely crave carbs and sugars (salty/crunchy things and sweets), and you're likely frequently fatigued, bc your body isn't, well, working correctly and it's taking more energy to perform basic functions.

secondly, take all this information that you know to your doctor. i legitimately wrote down some notes about this process in a little notebook and took it with me so that i wouldn't forget/get too anxious to bring any of it up. i also wrote down the things i had been doing to help up to that point (working out, what my diet was, etc etc) and what i was concerned about. lastly, i also wrote down what medications and supplements i had heard of in my research to see what my doctor thought of them.

my doctor's first 'attack' choice is ozempic--it's a weekly shot that helps to regulate insulin levels and also is pretty good at helping weight loss. be aware though that most commercial insurances don't pay for this, but if your doctor is good, they'll try to work around that so that you're not paying a frankly outrageous amount for it. also look out for sometime this fall, my doc said that the ozempic manufacturers are trying to get ozempic approved for weight loss (it's approved for other things) and that should help bring the price down?? anyway, that's my doc's preferred method, but because of my finances, we currently can't do that.

his second attack, which i'm now on, is metformin. it's a medication mostly used for diabetics that helps with blood sugar levels which, again, is that insulin issue. my mom has been on it for 14 years bc diabetes runs in our family anyway, so it's perfectly safe for long time use and definitely helps with keeping either away from or within the pre-diabetes phase. again, i've only been on it now two days so i can't say anything for me but we'll see how it goes lmao

he also approved of me using omega 3 (fish pills) supplements because they help balance things out in general, not just pcos, and he was good with me using spearmint, too. i'm starting out on one cup of spearmint tea a day and see how that effects me, but i've heard of people having up to two spearmint supplement pills and a cup of spearmint tea a day, too. spearmint is a 'defense', as far as i can explain it: it has (tho limited) research that it lowers the testosterone levels in women with pcos. so while it doesn't help with the insulin so it doesn't attack the source, it can help with the testosterone aspect, aka facial hair, acne, etc. i've also heard of cinnamon supplements and inositol supplements helping, but i didn't get a chance to ask about either of those from my doctor, so make sure if you want to give those a try, you talk about them and make sure they won't interfere with any of your other medications and get your doctor's approval on them, first.

thirdly, ask about what else you can do to help yourself. my doctor stressed the importance of a proper night's sleep, as well as advised to try to cut back on carbs and sugars (IMPORTANT NOTE: some people claim that you HAVE to be on a keto diet to get results with pcos. WRONG. please don't do this. keto diets are entirely unsustainable. and cutting back on carbs and sugars does not mean cutting them OUT, it just means if you want a snack, try reaching for a protein or a vegetable instead of a carb. but don't limit yourself!! please, be conscious about what you eat, and remember that sometimes yeah, a slice of cake or a serving of chips isn't going to kill you or set your pcos back. don't risk getting an e.d. just for the sake of your pcos). he also told me that the best exercise that i personally should do is either HIIT exercises or cardio, and to do at least an hour a day, even if it's 30 mins in the morning, 30 in the evening--and to work up to that so even doing ten minutes a day, then increasing it from there, is healthier and better than jumping straight into a whole ass hour. he also told me to aim for a certain heartrate. i don't remember the formula he used, but for me at 22 (based on age) he wanted me to try to aim for 150-160 bpm. again, especially with exercise, that was what he recommended for me. you're likely different from me, so ask your doctor and see what he says.

fourthly, and perhaps most importantly, DON'T BOTHER WITH A GYNO. all of this that i've gotten done for me was from my family doctor, so just the guy i go to for yearly check ups. see if you can do some routine blood work to give him (or her) as wide of a picture as possible, and then go in and talk with a regular doctor about this. a friend of mine also has a friend who actually goes to an endocrinologist to get her pcos sorted out, so that's also an option. gynos seem to just treat the symptoms; birth control gives you a regular period by helping with your estrogen, but that doesn't decrease your testosterone OR do anything with the insulin. my doc is keeping me on birth control pills just so that i have a regular cycle so we can watch and see if anything else happens to it, so it's okay to stay on the birth control, but ultimately, birth control pills don't do anything for pcos.

i know it's difficult and probably kinda scary/anxiety inducing if you're younger or just have anxiety, but you've gotta advocate for yourself in this case. you have to show the doctor that you know what you're talking about and that you're able to call him out on his bullshit if he doesn't take you seriously. also, if your doctor is helpful, don't be afraid to be frank with him about what your gyno did. like i've said with my experience, i got the validation of knowing that my gyno was wrong by explaining to my doctor how he treated me. you deserve better than what your gyno did, and you deserve to actually be treated as a person and your disorder be taken seriously.

i'm wishing you the best of luck, and i hope that you'll be able to get the help that you need 💕💕💕

#jupe's inbox #medical tw #just in case i guess lmao #long post

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comeonthinkers · 4 years ago

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The Constant Struggle of Cuteness

I feel like, this morning, I need to talk about body image. Body image, and the constant barrage of conflicting messages around body image that I, as a midsize woman, receive and dissect every day.

First of all: midsize. Was this even a term five years ago? As “plus size” has become more ubiquitous and more accepted in the past decade, “fat” has been reclaimed, and “curvy” is suddenly more of a feeling than a descriptor, the terms I used to identify with as a teenager now, somehow, no longer apply to me anymore. I’m not sure what happened in the past decade; in high school I distinctly remember almost always being the largest woman in the room. Since then, whether it’s due to perception, self-confidence, age, awareness, or just... overall changes in the population, I now find myself distinctly in the middle.

Note: I’ve been a size 12-16 my entire post-adolescent life. For one brief stint after college I could fit into a size 10. But before and since, 14 has been the mainstay numeral in my wardrobe. My steady friend and most accurate guesstimate across brands as to what my body may fit.

14, despite being the most (so I’m told) “common” size amongst women, was for many years infamous for being the most left-out, in-between size in clothing stores. In juniors’ stores (marketed toward teens: your Charlotte Russe’s and Forever 21′s), 14 would translate to the non-existent XXL: with “XL” usually falling in the “12″ range. In Plus Size or Women’s stores, 14 is a 0X; 1X is most commonly measured around a “16″ size.

About 5 years ago I found a fashion youtuber who made a video decrying the variation of a size 12 across different brands. And I’ll agree: sizes vary a lot from brand to brand, despite there being a base similarity in most big brand stores. She, like me, found herself living in this dreaded size 12-14 fashion purgatory, this no-womans-land of sizes. And even here! The numbers can’t be trusted!

She called herself “midsize”. She looked a lot like me. And at last, I had a label I could consistently search and see body types that I could identify with. From what I can tell, midsize is the chosen moniker for fashion influencers sizes 8-16, with of course, varying body shapes and compositions. For example, many of the folks I follow on instagram that claim “midsize” wear a VERY different bra size from me- so to find “fashion inspiration” I can actually act upon from midsize influencers, I also have to bring in a few accounts that allow for more top-heavy-friendly designs.

Despite all of the overwhelming positivity and diversity now available to me as a midsize woman (for example, almost all plus-size brands now start at a size 10-12 (00X-0X), and most “regular” retail brands now extend to a XXL), I can’t help but go back to my first observation: I’m no longer the largest woman in the room. While I don’t consider myself particularly unhealthy, I also know I’m not passing any presidential fitness tests any time soon. I find it difficult to run for extended periods of time. My joint strength isn’t nearly what it should be to support my weight. While muscular, I have a lot of extraneous body fat that adds strain to my daily life, and all my body’s systems: skeletal, endocrine, muscular, cardiovascular. This isn’t good. I’ve worked for years to try to find ways to get stronger, lose weight, and improve my overall health- in fact, the difficulty I faced when trying to lose weight was what led me to discover that I have PCOS and a few hormonal hurdles to maintaining a healthy body weight.

But when I try to research how best to approach health and weight loss with PCOS, the studies are few and far between- and when available are fairly inconclusive and far from thorough. I’m left to follow MORE accounts of personal success stories, all of which are biased toward one product or another, one lifestyle brand or book tour, all of which are antithetical to every other product, book, or brand I’ve seen before.

On the one hand, I’m grateful to see more body types represented in the media. It IS helpful to my self-esteem to normalize the bodies of women both my size and larger than me (even if there’s still a prevalence of too-smooth skin and too-round belly buttons). But I also worry about how we tend to conflate feeling good about ourselves to being healthy. They aren’t the same. And we’re letting commercial forces tell us that it’s okay to be unhealthy even when attempting to BE healthy: mentally or physically.

Time to come clean here: for the past year, I’ve been experimenting on and off with a carnivore lifestyle, which, OBVIOUSLY, many people assume is super unhealthy, much like the stigma around Atkins in the early 2000′s. Honestly, it feels a lot like Atkins did back in the day: lots of bacon, burgers, steak, and eggs. Quite literally “zero-carb”, as opposed to just “low-carb”. While low-carb isn’t really new anymore, and many people can see carnivore as a logical step past the surprisingly universally accepted ketogenic diet, I was amazed to discover just how much the “science” of the trendier diets of the past decade (paleo, keto, whole-30) don’t match up to the scientific, accepted nutritional advice of the actual medical community.

Last year I started going to a weight-loss clinic at the behest of my OB-GYN in an attempt to get my PCOS and weight “under control”. I’m gonna spoil most of the rest of this rant by saying this was a pretty dumb idea for someone like me. This clinic was created around those with extreme weight issues, for whom psychological care and bariatric surgery are the most “effective” forms of treatment (again, according to the health care system that seems determined to sell it, but I’ll talk more about THAT another time). The nutritionist I met with gave me the same spiel I’d read time and time again from every weight-loss specialist book I’d bought, despite me relaying to her my decades-long struggle with traditional diets and fat-loss strategies. A ketogenic diet was never recommended to me, nor any kind of actual dietary changes to help with hormone balance/control: I was prescribed metformin (a drug for insulin resistance most commonly prescribed to type 2 diabetics) and told to eat a low-fat, high-fiber diet.

I didn’t lose any weight. My periods didn’t regulate. I just stopped gaining weight as fast... although I did eventually gain back the 12 pounds I’d lost from my first 2 months on carnivore.

The truth is, that treatment plan, that clinic... it doesn’t exist for someone who is trying to change their body chemistry. It might work for folks that are so obese that literally ANY form of mindful eating will help them lose 200 pounds. But let’s be real: if I lost 200 pounds, I’d weigh 6 pounds. I’m a tall, muscular woman with some fat that has tried all the recommended diets for fat loss. Through them all, I fight cravings and energy loss, mood swings, and all the symptoms that come with PCOS. The ONLY thing I’ve found in the past 10 years that actually helps with my PCOS?

Regular exercise, stress management, and a carnivore diet.

I’ll also point out that when I DID lose a considerable amount of weight after college (due to what I think was a combination of 1. getting enough sleep for once, 2. intermittent fasting, and 3. regular hiking), it was also easier for me to maintain my weight and many of my PCOS symptoms went away. It wasn’t until I switched to a HORMONAL BIRTH CONTROL method that I then gained back all of the weight I lost (and then some) and once again began fighting uncontrolled PCOS symptoms. They compounded on each other, and made it harder and harder to get back to any kind of “normal”.

So, I’m back on carnivore. In addition to more stable energy, noticeable reduction of PCOS symptoms, and slight weight loss, I also just... hurt a lot less on carnivore. Along this journey I’ve finally realized that I do in fact have a chronic pain problem. Whether it’s due to chronic inflammation, past injuries, or food sensitivities, I’m not really sure: but I know when I eat carnivore, my chronic pain all but goes away. Recently, I’ve been recovering from a back injury, so there was of course some pain associated with that (as well as a break from regular exercise, which I plan to get back to once I’m cleared by my chiropractor), but the daily body aches, numbness, and discomfort?

Gone.

I’ve got regular periods when I eat this way- like, ACTUALLY one a month like I’m supposed to have. My facial hair growth slows down, even thins out. My focus improves. I sleep better, and actually follow a normal circadian rhythm. What’s total bananas is that I’m not the only one who experiences this: MANY folks who’ve tried this way of eating report daily quality of life improvements.

I’m not going to say everyone should eat this way; I’m not even going to suggest that everyone with PCOS should eat this way. But I WOULD love to see some actual RESEARCH done on this way of eating- or even better research on a ketogenic diet! I’m so frustrated by the lack of medical research on nutrition, and in particular the lack of action to curb the universally-accepted-to-be-unhealthy nutrition standards in America. While I won’t say it’s hard to eat carnivore (cause like, all diets are hard), I have noticed over the years that NO ONE IN OUR COUNTRY IS HEALTHY anymore- except for those whose JOB it is to be healthy. And this isn’t a coincidence!! Almost all cultures that have adopted American corporatized food structures are chronically unhealthy, and much, much more fat than they used to be.

I agree that being fat isn’t always a personal failing, and I’m so, SO glad that more and more figures in our media diets are representing the diverse catalogue of body shapes and sizes reflected in our world. I’m happy that my future daughter won’t be fat-shamed the same way I was as a little girl, and that she likely won’t be told (like I was) that she’s too fat to be what she wants to be when she grows up, despite not actually being all that fat.

BUT. Fat representation is not the hill I want to literally die on. I’m not willing to throw my health, my comfort, my ability to be active, away for my “right” to eat ice cream every day. I’m sick of being marketed to constantly as a garbage disposal. I’m not just here to eat and diet and wear clothes.

I’m here to LIVE. I’m here to plant gardens and make art and take walks and enjoy the seasons. And I can’t do a lot of those things if I’m constantly sick and in pain. And it’s way harder to enjoy not being sick and not being in pain when all we know to do as a society when spending time together is... eat food.

What frustrates me is, I think so much of this really comes down to marketing, corporate profit-mongering, and the way our political system is set up to make laws for companies instead of people. I think capitalism is making us fat and unhealthy, to sell us sugar and diets and medicine and surgeries in an endless cycle of crap. I don’t really have much more to say on that, I don’t have sources, except like... well, look around you. Look at the system we have. Look at what we’re told to do to escape it. And look at how many forces are there to take us right back to the beginning of the roller coaster when we have a little success.

Side note/conspiracy theory time: I actually think liposuction might be a more safe and effective (literally EFFECTIVE not just safe) form of “weight loss surgery” in helping folks with actual, permanent weight loss. Hear me out: while I will fully admit I can’t remember where I read any of this (as I’ve read so many scores of information regarding health and weight loss over my lifetime), I seem to remember body fat working something like this: it’s really easy for your body to make new fat cells, but very difficult for your body to destroy them. So, when you gain fat, it first occurs by your body filling your fat cells with fat, until they can’t hold anymore, and then your body makes new fat cells, which makes it easier for your body to hold onto said fat. The best way to “reset” your body’s fat threshold is to literally destroy or remove the fat cells. And, I assume, if you adopt more healthy habits AFTER having liposuction, your body would be less likely to create more fat cells than it was when you lived an unhealthy lifestyle.

Bariatric surgery is incredibly invasive and dangerous, and almost always ends up reversed by bad habits and your body’s natural ability to STORE FAT AND STRETCH YOUR STOMACH. It’s a temporary solution, and often proves to be ineffective in the long term, and leads to many unfortunate complications over time, not to mention the recovery from that surgery is LONG and TOUGH.

But liposuction (the most COMMON FORM OF PLASTIC SURGERY, I’ll add), is the only “weight loss” procedure (despite not being labeled as such- it’s “cosmetic surgery” even though it most definitely WOULD result in weight loss, right?) that actually removes fat from your body. Literally takes the fat cells away so your body can’t fill them up again, without once again needing to create more.

But bariatric surgery is covered by insurance, and liposuction isn’t... despite the fact that removing weight and fat from the body would be a more instant and potentially effective cure for obesity and its underlying symptoms, and being a simpler procedure overall, as well as extremely common.

So like... why is being fat something poor people are forced to endure dangerous surgery and super long recoveries and lifetime habit changes to overcome, but rich people just get to have their fat vacuumed away? Sounds sus to me.

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qqueenofhades · 5 years ago

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Question for you. When you have time. And if you want. I know things are busy for you. What do you mean by end stage capitalism? Thanks.

Aha. I am sorry that this has been sitting in my inbox for a while, since I’ve been busy and doing stressful things and not sure how to answer this in a way that wouldn’t immediately turn into a pages-long rant. Nothing to do with you, of course, but just because I have 800 things to say on this topic, none of them complimentary, which I’ll try to condense down briefly. Ish.

In sum, end-stage capitalism is at the root of everything that’s wrong with the world today, more or less. It’s the state of being that exists when the economic system of capitalism, i.e. the exchange of money for goods and services, has become so runaway, so unregulated, so elevated to the level of unchallengeable dogma in the Western world (especially after the Cold War and decades of hysteria about the “scourge of communism”) and so embedded on every level of the social and political fabric that it is no longer sustainable but also can’t be destroyed without taking everything else down. Nobody wants to be the actual generation that lives through the fall of capitalism, because it’s going to be cataclysmic on every level, but also… we can’t go on like this. So that’s a fun paradox. The current world order is so drastically, unimaginably, ridiculously and wildly unequal, privileging the tiny elite of the ultra-rich over the rest of the planet, because of hypercapitalism. This really got going in the early 1980s when Ronald Reagan, still generally worshiped as a political hero on both the left and right sides of the American political establishment (even liberals tiptoe around criticizing Saint Ronnie), set into motion a program of slashing business and environment regulations, reducing or eliminating taxes on the super wealthy, and introducing the concept of “trickle-down” or “supply-side” economics. In short, the principle holds that if you make it as easy as possible for rich people to become EVEN MORE RICH, and remove all irksome regulations or restrictions on the Church of the Free Market, they will benevolently redistribute this largess to the little people. To say the very least, this….does not happen. Ever.

Since the 1980s, in short, we have had thirty years of unrestricted, runaway capitalism that eventually propelled us into the financial crisis of 2008, after multiple smaller crises, where the full extent of this philosophy became apparent…. and nobody really did anything about it. You can google statistics about how the price of everything has skyrocketed since about the 1970s, when you could put yourself through college on one part-time job, graduate with no student debt, and be assured of a job for the next 30 years, and how baby boomers (who are responsible for wrecking the economy) insist that millennials are “just lazy” or “killing [insert x industry]”. This is because we have NO GODDAMN MONEY, graduate thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt (if we can even afford college in the first place), are lucky if we find a job that pays us more than $10 an hour, and often have to string together several part-time and frangible jobs that offer absolutely nothing in the way of security, benefits, or long-term saving potential. This is why millennials at large don’t have kids, buy houses, or have any savings (or any of the traditional “adult” milestones). We just don’t have the money for it.

Even more, capitalism has taken over our mindsets to the point where it is, as I said, at the root of everything that’s wrong with the world. Climate change? Won’t be fixed because the ruling classes are making money from the current system, and if you really want to give yourself an aneurysm, google the profiteers who can’t wait for the environment/society to collapse because they’ll make MORE money off it. This is known as “disaster capitalism” and is what the US has done to other countries for decades. (I also recommend The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein.) This obviously directly contributes to the War on Terror, the current global instability, the reason Dick Cheney, Halliburton, Blackwater, and other private-security contractors made a mint from blowing up Iraq and paying themselves to rebuild it, and then the resultant rise of al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other extremist reactionary groups. The bombing produces (often brown and Muslim) refugees and immigrants, Western countries won’t take them in, right-wing politicians make hay out of Threats To Our Way of Life ™, and the circle goes on. Gun control? Can’t happen because a) American white supremacy is too deeply tied to its paranoid right to have as many guns as it wants and to destroy the Other at any time, and b) the NRA pays senators by the gigabucks to make sure it doesn’t. (And we all know what an absolute goddamn CLUSTERFUCK the topic of big money and American politics is in the first place. It’s just… a nightmare in every direction.)

Meanwhile, end-stage capitalism has also systematically assigned value to society and to individuals depending entirely on their prospects for monetization. Someone who can’t work, or who doesn’t work the “right” job, is thus assigned less value as a human (see all the right-wing screaming about people who “don’t deserve” to have any kind of social and financial assistance or subsidized food and medicine if they won’t “help themselves”). This is how we get to situations where we have the ads that I kept seeing in London the other month: apps where you could share your leftover food, or rent out your own car, or collectively rent an apartment, or whatever else. Because apparently if you live in London in 2019, there is no expectation that you will be able to have your own food, car, or apartment. You have to crowdsource it. (See also: people having to beg strangers on the internet for money for food or medical bills, and strangers on the internet doing more to help that person than the whole system and/or the person’s employment or living situation.) There is nothing inherently wrong with capitalism as an economic theory. Exchanging money for goods and services is understandable and it works. But when it has run out of control to this degree, when the people who suffer the most under it fiercely defend it (see the working-class white people absolutely convinced that the reason for their problems is Those Damn Job Stealing Immigrants), when it only works for the interests of a few uber-privileged few and is actively killing everyone else… yeah.

Let’s put it this way. You will likely have heard of the two fatal crashes of Boeing 737 Max airplanes in recent months: the Lion Air crash in October 2018 and the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March 2019. Together, they killed 346 people. After these crashes, it turned out that the same malfunctioning system was responsible for both, and that Boeing had known of the problem before the Max went on the market. But because they needed to make (even more) money and compete with their rivals, Airbus, they had sent the planes ahead anyway, with unclear and confusing instruction to pilots about how to deal with it, and generally not acknowledging the problem and insisting (as they still do) that the plane was safe, even though it’s been grounded worldwide since March. There are also concerns that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is too deep in Boeing’s pocket to provide an impartial ruling (and America was the last country to ground the plane), and other countries’ aviation safety bodies have announced that they aren’t just going to take the FAA’s word for it whenever they decide that the Max is safe. This almost never happens, since usually international regulatory bodies, especially in aviation, will accept each other’s standards. But because of Boeing’s need for Even More Money, they put a plane on the market and into commercial passenger service that they knew had problems, and the FAA essentially let them do that and isn’t entirely trusted to ensure that they won’t do it again. Because…. value for the shareholders. Or something. This is the extreme example of what I mean when I say that end-stage capitalism is actively killing people.

It is also doing so on longer-term and more pernicious everyday levels. See above where people can’t afford their basic expenses even on several jobs, see the insulin price-gouging in the US (and the big pharma efforts in general to make drugs and healthcare as expensive as possible), see the way any kind of welfare or social assistance is framed as “lazy” or “bad” or “socialist,” see the way that people are basically only allowed to survive if they can pay for it, and the way that circle is becoming smaller and smaller. The American public is also fed enduring folk “wisdom” about “money doesn’t buy happiness,” the belief that poverty serves to build character or as an example of virtue, or so on, to make them feel proud of being poor/deprived/that they’re doing a good thing by actively supporting this system that is responsible for their own suffering. And yet for example, the Nordic countries (while obviously having other problems of their own) maintain the Scandinavian welfare model, which pays for college and healthcare, provides for individual stipends/basic income, allows generous leave for parenthood, emphasises a unionised workplace, and otherwise prescribes a mix of capitalism, social democracy, and social mobility. All the Nordic countries rank highly for human development, overall happiness, and other measurements of social success. But especially in America, any suggestion of “socialism” is treated like heresy, and unions are a dirty word. That is changing, but…slowly.

In short: the economic overlords have never done anything to give power, money, or anything at all to the working class without being repeatedly and explicitly forced, they have no good will or desire to treat the poor like humans (see: Amazon) or anything at all that doesn’t increase their already incomprehensible profit margins. The pursuit of more money that cannot possibly be spent in one human lifetime, that is accumulated, used to make laws for itself, and never paid in taxes to fund improvements or services for everyone else, lies at the root of pretty much every problem you can name in the world right now, is deeply, deeply evil, and I do not use that word lightly.

#politics for ts #rant #long post #that...wasn't super brief #but i could have gone on for a while longer #/drinks heavily and passes out #anonymous #ask

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