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Your Immune System Is Not a Muscle

rachel.fast.ai

181–190 of 202 posts

Re: Your Immune System Is Not a Muscle

#181
post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not clear that that is in the same vein as what the parent post meant? That said, this is an interesting suggestion to follow my post. It literally only works if you have access to clean, probably distilled, water supply. If you don't, you are also introducing a path for some serious problems into your sinuses in the form of parasites.

"access to clean, probably distilled, water supply" A good antibacterial filter + boiling that filtered water just to be sure goes a long way. That equipment is nontrivial, but for someone in a developed economy, usually affordable. Probably cheaper than being sick often, because even European welfare states often won't give you anything for first days of sickness.

The good filter is again largely to my point. :D

You are correct that boiling it can probably help a lot. You then have to store it in a clean spot for it to cool to a temperature you can use, of course. Something that probably relies more on modern technology than makes sense.

Re: Your Immune System Is Not a Muscle

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you grow your own food from identity preserved seeds sourced from a vendor that has no association with GMOs? If you buy commercial products, the non-GMO seeds are unquestionably being sourced from the very same GMO vendors, and thus can't be trusted either.

I grow some of my own food (salads, zucchini, Hokkaido, potatoes, etc) in my garden but it's nowhere near self-sufficiency. All of my seeds as well as my garden are completely GMO free. I've been growing the last few seasons by solely relying on my own seeds though.

> as well as my garden are completely GMO free.

Goes without saying. It’s rare to find GMO vegetables even commercially (only zucchini and potatoes even could be), let alone in a garden.

But that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about ensuring the GMO vendors haven’t ever touched the seed. How are you ensuring provenance as to avoid the trust issues?

Re: Your Immune System Is Not a Muscle

#183
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, antibiotics can fuck up your gut in other ways.

Most people can take 14 days of an oral antibiotic without significant long-term adverse consequences. As of 15 years ago, according to my doctor, while on the antibiotic, sacchromyces boulardi is the best probiotic to take to try to minimize the risk of adverse consequences.

I have never been given a probiotic while getting an antibiotic.

Seems like a good idea. Is that a common thing? Does the evidence support this?

Re: Your Immune System Is Not a Muscle

#184
post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people can take 14 days of an oral antibiotic without significant long-term adverse consequences. As of 15 years ago, according to my doctor, while on the antibiotic, sacchromyces boulardi is the best probiotic to take to try to minimize the risk of adverse consequences.

I have never been given a probiotic while getting an antibiotic. Seems like a good idea. Is that a common thing? Does the evidence support this?

Studies say dunno: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190124-is-it-worth-taki...

Personally I try to take some biotic food - yoghurt and the like

Re: Your Immune System Is Not a Muscle

#186

I'm (genuinely--I don't know enough to pretend this is a knock-down argument) curious how this characterization of "crowd" illnesses fits with reports that Covid was extensively circulating in deer (not known for congregating in indoor spaces with poor ventilation). https://www.unmc.edu/healthsecurity/transmission/2023/08/29/...

Not a deer expert but they can probably spread it by licking stuff, drinking from the same puddle and the like.

Re: Your Immune System Is Not a Muscle

#187
>Our immune systems evolved for a different world (that didn’t involve 100,000 global flights per day).

Googling how it was then:

>Around 12,000 years ago and earlier, life expectancy was about 33 years. Infections, such as diarrheal diseases that led to starvation and dehydration, were the leading cause of death, accounting for about 75% of deaths.

so the modern stuff is not so bad really.

Re: Your Immune System Is Not a Muscle

#188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did this for covid. The second my vaccine kicked in I dropped all precautions and started staying indoors with as many people as possible for as long as possible, basically trying to never go a day without a small exposure. I’ve tested for infection a number of times and a university study tested my antibodies periodically for a year and I’ve never had a detectable case. Continuous exposure to small amounts of the…

How do you know you're being continuously exposed with "small amount"? You don't. You probably haven't been exposed at all, or you're one of the lucky asymptomatic people. For example, I live in a major city, and am constantly around people post-vaccine. Yet I've had Covid 3x since them. You can't draw the conclusion you're making from your behavior in public, as there's so many other likely possibilities.

I also live in a large city, in TX, so I most definitely had regular exposures.

Whether asymptomatic or not infected at all seems like a distinction without a difference. Either way I didn’t miss work, vacations, or get noticeably harmed. The whole point of my strategy was to expose my immune system to germs it was well equipped to fight off quickly and expose it continuously so I didn’t encounter it after it had mutated too much to be recognized.

I’m well aware of the pitfalls of anecdata, I just thought my approach was different enough from what most people did to be worth sharing. There will be no studies to test my strategy, so all we can have is my anecdotes.

Re: Your Immune System Is Not a Muscle

#189
post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never seen it happen either - and I live in Poland, though I haven't seen it in my various visits to China, Germany and the UK either. Who actually does go into the restaurant bathroom specifically to wash their hands before the meal?

I'm Polish and I do - so do some of my friends. Typically right after ordering, before even the beverages have a chance to arrive. My father would wash hands after petting a dog even, so I guess it's his germophobia that set the standard in my household.

my wife is Polish and makes sure everyone washes they hands before eating. This isn't common in the USA.

Re: Your Immune System Is Not a Muscle

#190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's long been believed that an ACL rupture requires surgery as the ligament does not have sufficient blood flow to repair on its own. But then a recent study showed that in a significant percentage of people who suffer ACL ruptures and elect not to have surgery the ligament eventually repairs itself on its own.

Curious about the ACL study... do you have a link handy?

I took DebtDeflation's entire comment and just threw it into Google, as I was also curious:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/06/28/torn-acl-...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna99606

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