YC Bio • Hacker News Board

Re: YC Bio

#91

Post by d33k4y » Fri, Jan 12, 2018, 1:07 AM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #49

d33k4y wrote: post #47

"...it could be one of the best ways to address our healthcare crisis." It seems to me a great deal more people face a very different question, "how can I afford to live longer?"

Those two are connected - in particular, issues related to aging are a huge money sink, so just improving healthspan without improving lifespan would not only make a difference to people, but also free up resources in healthcare.

Resources are freed up in healthcare simply due to its unaffordability. Effective but devastating demand-side management strategy if you believe healthcare should be a universal right.

Lifespan has increased dramatically over the last 50 years. In "Being Mortal", Atul Gawande argues we haven't figured out how to live with the substantial increase in life- and health-span that medicine has already given most of humanity.

Recent discussions around ageism in the workforce (e.g. Tad Friend, New Yorker, 2017-11-20) highlight the double edged sword of increasing income disparity and longer life. "Healthspan" must also include mental health. Without sense of belonging, value, a feeling of security in one's future, mental health suffers. Deterioration of mental health manifests as physical health issues. The rate of growth of diagnosis and medical prescription for psychiatric problems is high. What can be done about the terror of aging?

Back to the OP, and to append my original comment, money for research aimed at solving medical conditions causing the greatest reduction in life span is excellent news.

Re: YC Bio

#92

Post by new299 » Fri, Jan 12, 2018, 1:10 AM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #37

jforman wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every disease is a different beast, and biology is very hard to tame. We've thrown probably trillions of dollars at cancer over the past few decades, and only in the past few years, with immuno-oncology, has there been any real hope of progress toward broad cures (there was a heady moment after Gleevec, too, but that turned out to be the exception rather than the rule). There was just a huge wave of Alzheimer's treat…

My father had Alzheimer's. He lived another 3 years after doctors announced he had six months left because my mom was a devoted wife who quit her job to take care of him. He also survived colon cancer in his late 60s for the same reason and I flew out and took care of my sister after her first mastectomy with her first round of cancer. The doctors attributed my father's survival after they wrote him off for dead to m…

I guess there are a few issues with this:

The first is, anecdotes are interesting, but is there data that supports this? It seems like there are too many variables, and that at home care may not help in all circumstances anyway.

Secondly, "getting proper care from someone who actually cares about you" by which I guess you mean a family member or close friend. Is not viable is many circumstances...

Finally, I guess it comes down to "what do you actually do". If it proves helpful, what can you do to promote this? Fund family member to quit their jobs to care for relations? It seems like that would be open to abuse and difficult to administer.

Re: YC Bio

#93

Post by ryanx435 » Fri, Jan 12, 2018, 1:16 AM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #21

Color me skeptical. I have a form of cystic fibrosis. I have gotten myself mostly well when that is not supposed to be possible. I was a homemaker for a long time. Eating right and germ control are a very large part of what I do and it isn't rocket science, as they say. I also can see no means to turn it into a business model or income stream, nor even get anyone interested in benefiting from what I know for free. It…

A great site that provides specialty diet foods (no affiliation: my sister buys from them) is http://med-diet.com

They have all kinds of great food to choose from

Re: YC Bio

#94

Post by new299 » Fri, Jan 12, 2018, 1:20 AM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #67

TeMPOraL wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I meant that in context of your entire comment tree; e.g. things like: > Things that are actually health promoting, like having a full-time parent to care for the kids and primary breadwinner, eating right, exercise etc are boring and don't make VCs rich. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I see you implying something like "why do medicine, if we could eat less 'junk food', work less and smile more instead". > curing Ricke…

That's indeed the domain of medicine. Which will tell you, "you need more nutrient $X in your diet" as a solution to the problem, instead of "eat healthier" (for values of 'healthier' determined by current fitness fashion). That sounds just really arbitrarily personally hostile towards me. I have gone through multiple blogs in which I have tried to lay out specific nutritional recommendations for people with CF. The…

It would be useful to link to the blogs, so we can better understand what is being discussed.

But, some people on blogs trying it and then some of them saying a diet works is not really scientific. What would be needed is a larger scientific study. You can argue that such a study should be funded.

In fact, there does appear to be some scientific research, based on some quick googling [1]. If your goal is to increase the adoption diets based on those studies, then I would cite them directly. Promoting that work might work better.

[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S156919930...

Re: YC Bio

#95

Post by DoreenMichele » Fri, Jan 12, 2018, 1:25 AM UTC

new299 wrote: post #92

DoreenMichele wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My father had Alzheimer's. He lived another 3 years after doctors announced he had six months left because my mom was a devoted wife who quit her job to take care of him. He also survived colon cancer in his late 60s for the same reason and I flew out and took care of my sister after her first mastectomy with her first round of cancer. The doctors attributed my father's survival after they wrote him off for dead to m…

I guess there are a few issues with this: The first is, anecdotes are interesting, but is there data that supports this? It seems like there are too many variables, and that at home care may not help in all circumstances anyway. Secondly, "getting proper care from someone who actually cares about you" by which I guess you mean a family member or close friend. Is not viable is many circumstances... Finally, I guess it…

The US is on a very short list of countries that do not provide maternity leave and iirc it is the only country on that list that does not have the excuse that we are too poor and underdeveloped to afford it. We could start with just providing maternity leave as a small step forward here. It is a well proven model with lots of examples out there and not terribly open to abuse because you have to have a baby to get it.

I would be fine if we provided parental leave for both parents when a child is born. But I would be happy with just bringing the US into the 21st century and getting on the same page as basically the rest of the planet and just starting with maternity leave. I only mention parental leave because if I don't, you can guarantee someone will accuse me of something nefarious for not explicitly stating that.

Re: YC Bio

#96

Post by new299 » Fri, Jan 12, 2018, 1:33 AM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #95

new299 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess there are a few issues with this: The first is, anecdotes are interesting, but is there data that supports this? It seems like there are too many variables, and that at home care may not help in all circumstances anyway. Secondly, "getting proper care from someone who actually cares about you" by which I guess you mean a family member or close friend. Is not viable is many circumstances... Finally, I guess it…

The US is on a very short list of countries that do not provide maternity leave and iirc it is the only country on that list that does not have the excuse that we are too poor and underdeveloped to afford it. We could start with just providing maternity leave as a small step forward here. It is a well proven model with lots of examples out there and not terribly open to abuse because you have to have a baby to get it…

I agree that parental leave is valuable (though I'd love to see data supporting this if you have it).

But it seems like a very different issues that increasing health care outcomes in general.

Re: YC Bio

#97

Post by DoreenMichele » Fri, Jan 12, 2018, 1:34 AM UTC

new299 wrote: post #94

DoreenMichele wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's indeed the domain of medicine. Which will tell you, "you need more nutrient $X in your diet" as a solution to the problem, instead of "eat healthier" (for values of 'healthier' determined by current fitness fashion). That sounds just really arbitrarily personally hostile towards me. I have gone through multiple blogs in which I have tried to lay out specific nutritional recommendations for people with CF. The…

It would be useful to link to the blogs, so we can better understand what is being discussed. But, some people on blogs trying it and then some of them saying a diet works is not really scientific. What would be needed is a larger scientific study. You can argue that such a study should be funded. In fact, there does appear to be some scientific research, based on some quick googling [1]. If your goal is to increase…

My firsthand experience suggests that linking to my blogs is not only not helpful, it has a huge downside. No good ever comes of it.

My most recent health blog is easy to find if anyone is genuinely interested. I have absolutely no reason to believe such interest exists.

I didn't make my comment to promote my blogs. I wish I knew how to promote my work and monetize it. I remain very poor and this is an ongoing source of stress in my life. But I don't know how to fix that. I see the current monetization schemes of health stuff as part of the problem. So to my mind that is a non starter.

I keep hoping someone will prove I am just stupid and it is possible to both do the right thing (in this specific domain) and also make money. But, so far, I am failing to find a path forward on that.

I wish I felt your suggestion was a good one. But 17 years of online drama suggests otherwise.

Re: YC Bio

#98

Post by DoreenMichele » Fri, Jan 12, 2018, 1:35 AM UTC

new299 wrote: post #96

DoreenMichele wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is on a very short list of countries that do not provide maternity leave and iirc it is the only country on that list that does not have the excuse that we are too poor and underdeveloped to afford it. We could start with just providing maternity leave as a small step forward here. It is a well proven model with lots of examples out there and not terribly open to abuse because you have to have a baby to get it…

I agree that parental leave is valuable (though I'd love to see data supporting this if you have it). But it seems like a very different issues that increasing health care outcomes in general.

Well, color me speechless. I don't think we have anything further to discuss.

Re: YC Bio

#99

Post by braja » Fri, Jan 12, 2018, 2:07 AM UTC

kayhi wrote: post #34

Awesome! We've been supporting start up bio companies by offering them a fair pricing on equipment, supplies and chemicals. I think we've sold to every YC bio company except Ginkgo (doh!). There's a huge problem in non-transparent pricing for products. For those outside the industry it's like buying used cars, dealing with sales reps and everything is a quote. Researchers are at a huge informational disadvantage when…

+1 for Sean and P212121

Re: YC Bio

#100

Post by yesenadam » Fri, Jan 12, 2018, 2:12 AM UTC

randomnumber53 wrote: post #54

DoreenMichele wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I don't have a source. We are seeing a huge rise in problem pregnancies, birth defects, etc. There are likely a number of contributing factors to that reality. It isn't PC to wonder if maybe the rise of female careers is at related. That is viewed as antifeminist and so on. Women routinely take time off work to care for relatives, whether their own children or other relatives. They get no credit for this vital wo…

Wow, this is extremely sexist and not at all evidence-based. Wouldn't it be nice if you could prove any nonsense proposition p simply by insisting that p "isn't PC" and therefore any attempt to prove p "won't get taken seriously anyway" so it very-well oh-so-likely must actually be true! And of course, asking males to take time away from their careers is out of the question...

What's sexist about what she wrote? (let alone 'extremely'?) I'm having trouble seeing it.

Also, you could have just said "any proposition" instead. Instead you get to passively-aggressively say her claims were nonsense, without saying so. That's how it seemed to me anyway.