Ending respiratory infections • Hacker News Board

Re: Ending respiratory infections

#111

Post by wizzwizz4 » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 3:01 PM UTC

imhoguy wrote: post #60

wizzwizz4 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Self-replicating vaccines? We already have those. They're called diseases.

I still amazed how so many people don't get this entire planet is one feedback loop system of competing life processes and they think hiding in their dusty houses with artificial cures will keep them away from competition and immune against death.

That's not a very good characterisation. There is competition, but there's also cooperation: the behaviour of an ecosystem is only really dominated by competition in the wake of a catastrophe, as a new status quo is established. Competition is, after all, energetically wasteful: nobody wants to do it if they can honestly signal instead. (Even competing organisms tend to perform a degree of cooperation, if their ancestors co-evolved.)

Re: Ending respiratory infections

#112

Post by NDlurker » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 3:18 PM UTC

O5vYtytb wrote: post #110

NDlurker wrote: post #3

My girlfriend died from human metapneumovirus at 30 years young. She had a weakened immune system from lymphangiomatosis, so something like metapneumovirus, which is a mild illness for most people, was a death sentence for her. I hope this fund is successful so nobody else ever has to go through what she did.

My wife has LAM. Was your girlfriend on medication hence the weakened immune system?

She frequently took cycles of rapamycin, steroids, and some other drugs I don't recall the names of. At one time she was taking thalidomide. I don't recall what medications she was on at the time she got sick. Most of the cysts were in her lungs so her lung capacity on a good day was halved. She had a stroke as a teen during what I think was a lung biopsy, before they had figured out that she had lymphangiomatosis, so she had medical issues from that as well.

Re: Ending respiratory infections

#113

Post by s1artibartfast » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 3:22 PM UTC

anhyz wrote: post #50

s1artibartfast wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything should be voluntary philantrhopy! It seems like the ideal state if people are willing to do the pro-social thing by their own volition. Is it better if your child does their homework because they freely choose to, or is it better that they do it because you will beat them with a belt?

I'm sure if we just cut taxes a little more, our modern-day robber barons will choose to use their money to fix things on their own instead of building doomsday bunkers and buying superyachts.

Do you understand what ideal means? Would you rather have the government do something then people do it?

Re: Ending respiratory infections

#114

Post by s1artibartfast » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 3:37 PM UTC

riffraff wrote: post #48

s1artibartfast wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everything should be voluntary philantrhopy! It seems like the ideal state if people are willing to do the pro-social thing by their own volition. Is it better if your child does their homework because they freely choose to, or is it better that they do it because you will beat them with a belt?

But people are not voluntarily philanthropists. There's a reason we had to introduce work regulations so you don't have children working 13 hours shifts in coal mines. It's way better if my children study by themselves, but if left to their own devises they'll just watch cartoons all day. (Not advocating for belting kids, just saying there's a gap between utopia and reality)

But philanthropy does exist. The question is if that is better than tax funding.

It is interesting how reactionary people are to the topic.

Re: Ending respiratory infections

#115

Post by joquarky » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 3:57 PM UTC

mpreda wrote: post #100

fny wrote: post #24

It's sad we're resorting to philanthropy to solve problems like this. $500M is chump change. NASA spent something like $300B in today's money on the Apollo program, and Artemis has exceeded $90B already. I'm much more keen on never getting sick than prepping for Mars.

> I'm much more keen on never getting sick than prepping for Mars. Never getting sick is an enabler to reaching the goal. And the goal is..?

Enabling the pursuit of happiness for the less advantaged would be a start.

Re: Ending respiratory infections

#116

Post by joquarky » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC

s1artibartfast wrote: post #113

anhyz wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure if we just cut taxes a little more, our modern-day robber barons will choose to use their money to fix things on their own instead of building doomsday bunkers and buying superyachts.

Do you understand what ideal means? Would you rather have the government do something then people do it?

The idea used to be that they were the same.

In practice, the government only represents the most sociopathic people.

Re: Ending respiratory infections

#117

Post by throwawaytea » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 4:47 PM UTC

9dev wrote: post #77

throwawaytea wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Other people getting assistance too don't take away anything from your friend at all. If you want to be angry, be angry about your government spending trillions for the military and billionaires, not about the weakest parts of society.

It doesn't "take away", but if your employer paid you $x and you were struggling, and then they gave the same $x or more to people hanging out in the parking lot, you would probably see that as a personal insult.

Re: Ending respiratory infections

#118

Post by throwawaytea » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 5:02 PM UTC

throwawaytea wrote: post #41

happyopossum wrote: post #6

> Healthy people spend roughly 15-25 days each year—about 5% of their lives—sick with respiratory infections like the common cold and influenza This seems completely unbelievable to me. Totally outside of my personal, professional, and family experience.

Healthy lifestyle and food have a huge part. I date teachers a lot, and I've taken several people from constantly sick to almost never sick for 1+ year by just changing food and not going out to bars. I know this sounds like a random flippant comment, but I've done it enough times and consistently enough that I have no doubt personally.

Am I down voted because people think I am just lying for fun, or because the idea that eating right and avoiding tight places packed with people keeping you from getting sick is upsetting?

Re: Ending respiratory infections

#119

Post by mixmastamyk » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 5:21 PM UTC

eloox wrote: post #40

mixmastamyk wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This happened to us too, until I heard the podcast about Vitamin D. Nipped that in the bud almost immediately.

What's that? Any particular dosage?

Security now, but there’s more recent info today. Today I take 5k D3, K2 Mk7, and a multivitamin several times a week, not every day. More in winter.

Result: not been sick more than a day or two for fifteen years. And rarely, once or twice a winter.

One exception, during covid I had it and it lasted five full days at medium intensity, then went away permanently.

This is not a “placebo effect” at all, was like turning on a light switch, immediate results. During the winter I heard about it, I’d been sick for almost three weeks straight, couldn’t shake it. Naysayers look silly in my opinion, or are perhaps an exception I mentioned above.

Re: Ending respiratory infections

#120

Post by mixmastamyk » Thu, Jun 25, 2026, 5:31 PM UTC

internet_points wrote: post #109

mixmastamyk wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This happened to us too, until I heard the podcast about Vitamin D. Nipped that in the bud almost immediately.

Yeah I took vitamin D all through my kids' nursery years, every morning, had strong belief in it. I still was sick all the time. That combination of not enough sleep (kids crying in the night etc.), work stress and insane amount of viruses from nursery is killer.

Not enough info, maybe bad brand or dosage. Maybe you have other immune issues.

Not well known but there are people who simply can not absorb D thru the gut. A high school friend is one. Shouldn’t discourage the 90%+ who can benefit because of exceptions.