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zw7

47 karma · joined October 12, 2020

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zw7··on GLP-1s are among the most important drug breakthroughs
- FDA approval for use for weight loss. Previously this was off-label use

- adoption of GLPs into diabetes treatment guidelines

zw7··on Plastic chemical phthalate causes DNA breakage, chromosome defects, study finds
I think about this every time I clean out the dryer lint filter and a plume of lint dust comes off of it. I try to avoid breathing it in but it’s likely some is making it into my airways.
zw7··on 'That's a bloodbath': How a federal program kills wildlife for private interests
The article briefly mentions non-lethal methods and that they are underfunded. I worked with a grad student who was doing research (supported by the USDA IIRC) on different dog breeds for use as guard dogs. Ironically, sometimes the guard dogs will kill a calf — they assume due to boredom and playing too rough.
zw7··on Nearly all of the Google images results for "baby peacock" are AI generated
I also use it daily. One of my favorite functions is being able to boost certain domains and block or downgrade results from other domains. So I boost results from domains I trust which significantly improves my results. They have a page with commonly boosted/blocked/downgraded sites which serves as a good starting point.
zw7··on Nearly all of the Google images results for "baby peacock" are AI generated
I feel like RSS feeds made it to easy for me to follow lots of blogs to the point where the amount of content was too much. Being forced to manually review blogs for updates works as a filter in that I only go through the effort (albeit still small) of visiting the page if I was interested enough in keeping up to date with it. Not saying RSS didn’t have great advantages; just that your comment made me think of this potential downside.
zw7··on Xylitol is associated with cardiovascular risk
I believe they confirmed it was xylitol with LC-MS to validate it:

> Subsequent stable isotope dilution LC-MS/MS analyses (validation cohort) specific for xylitol (and not its structural isomers) confirmed its association with incident MACE

zw7··on New Florida law signed to prevent protection for workers from extreme heat
The entire existence of labor laws is because businesses tend to not do what is best for their workers and workers need and deserve protections.

Not all workers are in unions. And even if they are, that shouldn't mean local governments shouldn't also be able to put protections in place.

All jobs have risks. Ladders are a necessary tool for jobs. Having workers labor in extreme heat without protections to prevent medical illness is not.

I'm not outraged. But certainly disappointed and hope for better for the laborers of Florida.

zw7··on New Florida law signed to prevent protection for workers from extreme heat
Heat related deaths are not uncommon. And likely undercounted[1].

It's one thing to not put in place protections. It's another to actively prevent protections from being put in place. Truly shows lack of compassion for laborers.

[1]: https://health.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2023-08-15/h...

zw7··on Vitamin B6 deficiency leads to social deficits and cognitive impairment
These are the over-diagnosis bias and the lead-time bias for anyone interested in learning more.

The book Risk Savvy by Gerd Gigerenzer has a chapter that does a good job of covering these. The entire book is worth a read.

zw7··on This page knows your battery charge level (unless you're using Firefox)
No, fraud would be if Uber asked for your battery level to determine price and you (or your browser perhaps) lied. Not wanting someone selling you something to know you are desperate -- in this case because your battery is about to die -- is just a rational decision to avoid them taking advantage of your situation. There's a difference between not showing your cards and lying about the cards you are holding.
zw7··on Australia's overuse of antibiotics driving rate of drug-resistant infections
> if every time you have a cold, you get antibiotics and they make you feel better, it is placebo.

Not necessarily. Azithromycin, a common antibiotic used for upper respiratory infections, has anti-inflammatory effects separate from it's antibacterial effects[1]. So it may make patients feel better even if they have a viral infection. Thus perpetuating the patient's belief that they "needed" antibiotics.

[1]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15590715/

zw7··on Why do patients leave against medical advice?
That's insane. Luckily in the US this can't happen (post 1986) as EDs cannot deny care to anyone under EMTALA.
zw7··on Google Pixel Fold
How do you feel about the lack of security updates? I miss the smaller size of the 3a bit upgraded since they stopped shipping software updates. I'm hoping you can talk me in to resurrecting it.
zw7··on Oral Sex Stoking Throat Cancer ‘Epidemic’ in UK and US
This is correct. Now recommended for boys and girls. [1]

[1]: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/easy-to-read/adolesce...

zw7··on Four thousand weeks
I don't really think it's a contradiction. I think the idea, rather, is to focus on expanding the depth of your life (abundance), knowing you have little control over the length of it (scarce).
zw7··on U.S. cancer death rate has dropped by a third since 1991
I'm not arguing that they don't, but the fact is

- the American Cancer Society didn't start promoting cervical cancer screening until the 1960s [1] - mammography was first recommended officialy in 1976 [1]

Screening was just coming of age 50 years ago so it's no surprise we started to find something once we started looking for it.

[1]: https://www.cancer.org/treatment/understanding-your-diagnosi...

zw7··on U.S. cancer death rate has dropped by a third since 1991
> An illness like diabetes presents very specific symptoms and doctors have been aware of diabetes for a very long time. The same is true for many kinds of cancer

You can have diabetes and high blood pressure and cancer and not have symptoms. That's why we screen for them. If you have symptoms, it is no longer screening, it's diagnosing. A lot more screening is happening now than before the 70s so we are obviously finding a lot more disease.

I'm not arguing against the fact that lifestyle and environment play a significant role in increasing cancer, but that doesn't change the fact that dramatically increased screening rates have contributed to dramatically increased disease diagnoses.

> There are literally people out there who basically do not get cancer heart disease or diabetes and nobody seems to think it’s important to get to the bottom of this

I think there is probably more research these days into causes of cancer than ever before.

> people like you who leave snide comments and contribute nothing. A worthless parasite.

Really?

zw7··on U.S. cancer death rate has dropped by a third since 1991
Cancer rates skyrocketed because we started screening for cancer. It's that simple.
zw7··on The antimicrobial resistance crisis needs action now
Z-pak (azithromycin) is not the recommended antibiotic for bacterial sinus infections nor pneumonia (common bacterial infections associated with upper respiratory infections) per most guidelines. Interestingly though, it does have anti-inflammatory properties in addition to its main antibacterial effect. When I see a clinician prescribe a Z-pak (urgent cares are notorious for having a low threshold for prescribing Z-paks), part of me wonders if it's to avoid overuse and potential resistance to appropriate antibiotics and placate patients who want a quick fix.

The downside is that since they feel better from the anti-inflammatory effect, its supports their initial thought they needed antibiotics and in the future will always think they need them, even though they very likely only have a viral infection.

zw7··on Ask HN: What is the best thing you read in 2022?
I also recommend his mailing list, "The Imperfectionist". He only sends out an essay maybe once a month but they aren't posted anywhere so you have to subscribe.
zw7··on A ticking time bomb: healthcare under threat across western Europe
I wonder how much of this reflects more screening?

See Gigerenzer 2013[1] for issues with 5-year survival rates.

I would be more interested in how mortality rates compare. EDIT: This[2] suggests US cancer mortality rate is lower but overall mortality rate is higher.

[1]: https://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f548.full https://sci-hub.se/10.1136/bmj.f548 [2]: https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/mortali...

zw7··on Software engineers paying 75K to get 3 inches taller
As someone who is 6' 4", I agree. Not that I'm complaining, but given the choice to pick my height, I'd opt for 6' 2". For pretty much all the reasons you mentioned but also because the world is built for people closer to average height. Think kitchen counters, plane/bus seats, stairwell ceiling clearance, etc. I'm relatively young but have back problems that I partially attribute to my height.
zw7··on Uses for an old Android device
This is my concern. I use my old pixel (3a) as an always-on Syncthing node but worry about the security implications.

But I haven't been able to find good info on what exactly the implications are. If I'm not worried about targeted attacks, does a device that is just a passive node pose a significant risk?

In other words, how much do security updates address targeted attacks (not my threat model) vs widespread attacks of non-updated phones?

zw7··on Show HN: Simplenote – Notes with support for publishing (hosted, Markdown)
That's true.

According to my notes (using Obsidian), there was not support for linking to other notes which was a deal breaker for me. I'm curious if this has changed, but not curious enough to install it.

zw7··on Put down devices, let your mind wander, study suggests
Nice! I've been wanting something to take notes on in the shower and this looks perfect.

Are you able to share your thoughts on how well it worked? I don't trust Amazon reviews.

zw7··on The Danger of Journaling Is Introspection
Good points. I especially like #2. I also had this concern, but actually in the context of pen-and-paper vs digital journaling. I was worried that a physical notebook may more easily fall into the wrong hands than digital but in this day and age it might well be the opposite.

What really bothers me about society in the context of personal notes being made public is that I feel like we don't recognize that people can change their opinions on things. Writing can be a way of thinking through and playing with ideas and beliefs that one doesn't end up holding long term. But people are routinely judged harshly for things they wrote/said/tweeted years ago even if they no longer feel the same way. Or at least that's my cynical view.

zw7··on Plan Your Route Privately: DuckDuckGo Now Has Driving and Walking Directions
My workaround for this was to create a shortcut to directions to home:

In Google Maps on Android:

1. Search for your home address and click "Directions"

2. Click on 3-dot menu (hamburger button?) next to origin and destination

3. Select "Add route to Home screen" to create shortcut