191–200 of 204 posts
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This seems ripe for placebo. Installing purifier and indeed measuring lower PM, means naturally you feel less worried and more relaxed!
On the other hand, measuring lower PM is indeed a quantifiable metric.
1. Does my air purifier filter out PM2.5?
or
2. Dos lower PM2.5 make me sleep better?
For #1 there is no placebo effect (there is no human element!)
> The results show strong correlations, but research that would prove a causal link is difficult because ethical experiments cannot deliberately expose people to harm. This is kind of my hobby horse: you don't need to subject people to harm to test causuality. You can do the opposite: Remove harm and see what happens. Maybe give people free HVAC upgrades to filter more particles.
HVAC and indoor air quality (IAQ) is a fascinating topic and it takes good design to get it right. In most HVAC systems you can't just stick a higher MERV filter in and expect good results because they are designed for specific amounts of air flow. Thicker filters cause more air resistance which reduces air flow and fan efficiency which means less comfort and greater energy use.
Often a better strategy in a retrofit is to increase air sealing (a good energy recommendation anyway) and install an E/HRV to exchange indoor for outdoor air with a good filter in it. PM2.5 comes from outside so this should take care of it.
https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/unintended-consequences-...
https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/7-reasons-your-filter-is...
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Auto immune diseases as a whole have increased over just the past 30 years; I'd speculate asthma is a part of this. It will be interesting to see the driving environmental causalities behind these autoimmune disease increases if pollution is not a key variable.
The immune system is a use-it-or-lose-it thing. Lots of healthy bodies mean the immune system has to go after something...
Isn’t air pollution tightly correlated to living in large cities? How do these studies factor that in?
This is way beyond air, this is water we drink, the chemicals in processed food, the pesticides in the produce. The compounds in furniture, paints, stains, carpeting, general building materials including insulation, plastic plumbing,HVAC components, insistence on living in un-ventilated, year around closed windows spaces.
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Or, like, reduce air pollution since in addition to this possibility it's already known to cause asthma, lung cancer, and heart disease.
This is not true of asthma. Outdoor air quality in the United States has improved over time [1] and asthma rates has increased. [1] https://www.epa.gov/air-trends
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I don't know why, but there are a lot of people where fasting works for depression. Then there are ways of eating which seem to have an effect like low fodmaps. Etc.
Being the kind of person that is willing to experiment to solve their problems is better than being a person that is miserable and changes nothing. A random walk may not get you out a bad situation, but staying put is strictly worse less likely to get you out. What would a reinforcement learning agent do?
>some of the depression might just be nutrient deficiency.
>Can be tested by fasting for 4 days
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Well the reasoning was pointing towards high chance of placebo though. He said there was lots of grime and also something he could measure was different, which means psychologically a lot greater chance and effect for placebo.
I don't think that's how it works. In the hypothetical world where he reports no grime on filters and no difference in readings yet his sleep is better, would you predict lower chance of placebo?