Sometimes very active discussions about peripheral issues overwhelm a thread, so this is a permanent home for those conversations.
I’ve opened a new “Sandbox” thread as a post as the new “ignore commenter” plug-in only works on threads started as posts.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/their-balloons-first-aeronauts-transformed-our-view-world-180973715/
The Alzhe Club member goes to see his doctor and complains about his very bad memory.
Alzhe: Doc, you’d better do something about my forgetfulness, coz I can’t even remember why I believe in evolution anymore.
The Dr. Asks: Since when have you had this problem?
Alzhe: Since when what problem?
Another box checked.
walto,
A link to follow!
“Cambridge Researcher Finally Proves One of Darwin’s Evolution Theories”
Was there more than one of Darwin’s theory?
What was the second one for? A back up one, just in case the first one sucked? 😉
Darwin was right at least about one thing…🤣
Another box checked 😭
Interesting letter to the editor and who knows high blood pressure might have a survival advantage if being treated with ARB’s. Authors are all from Iran and while not on its face a red-flag-raiser a personal experience of reviewing a manuscript authored by some folks in Iran led to an interesting experience. It took me reading the title and a few sentences of the abstract to reaize that what I had in my hands was my wife’s publication with a global replacement of the species name of the subject of my wife’s research with the species of their study. The tables and plots had their data inserted in them but all sentences were written by my wife. I ended up recommending that changes would need to be made prior to acceptance for publication…..in so many words.
Now as to not tarnish all Iranian authors with that plagarism brush and in this case it appears to be worth investigating. The US has a clinical trial ready to start for investigating this:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04312009
Any bets that the author is an anti-religious atheist or agnostic? Contradicted? LOL! Muslim scholars came up with the same idea in the 9th century, and Christians like Aubrey Moore celebrated Darwin & Wallace’s “natural selection” idea right away. Wallace himself was a “spiritual” thinker & importantly distinguished between “natural selection” and “human selection” in a way that went beyond Darwin’s health-destroying insularity (his “regret” was palpable in the sickly man he became) & fear of speaking about his twisted & tangled views of religion, while living with a Christian (cousin &) wife.
The Draper conflict model strikes again … and thinks it’s free of ideology! This stuff is insufferably superficial.
A lot of people believe that the virus was started by the US Government-Jewish Cabal . I am not saying it was, but I can’t say it wasn’t.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/conspiracy-theory-that-jews-created-virus-spreads-on-social-media-adl-says/
What do others think?
v
Whilst I see no problem with referring to the current strain of virus, technically Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS coronavirus-2) as Wuhan virus, this can apparently be construed as racist.
Might help in limiting trolling opportunities if you could refrain from referring to it as such.
Moved a comment to guano. Posting racist comments can lead to suspension.
It’s bullshit, obviously
Alan Fox,
You prefer Tel-Aviv Germ? Suit yourself.
Just reporting the news.
How do you know?
That way you don’t have to do anything, but try to ban me for criticizing you?
The Coronavirus Conundrum: ACE2 and Hypertension Edition
http://www.nephjc.com/news/covidace2
Because it’s obviously antisemitic, consparanoid bullshit
A sociological note of curiosity. I’ve noticed in recent days Peaceful Science has lost traffic and grown much quieter, while BioLogos remains visited with more active threads. Can anyone here suggest why they think that is? Thanks for any responses.
A follow-up, as the change is quite stark. The sample size is small, as I’ve only noticed this over the past few days. (That’s what a sociologist of this science, philosophy, theology/worldview conversation does.)
When Peaceful Science (PS) started, it understandably wasn’t getting as much traffic as BioLogos (BL), but grew quickly, such that it reached a period with upwards of 20 threads going on, when it had sometimes double the number of threads running in a 24-hour period compared with BL. Some of the most active BL people, especially liberal evangelical non-YECists, simply moved shop to PS, which uses the same Discourse software, and continued the same conversations there. George Brooks being the most blatant example: retiree with time on his hands, even if not much added value to say (much like Roger A. Sawtelle used to volume post at BL, while Brooks is a volume poster there too).
Today, there are only 4 threads running at PS, vs. 15 threads at BL. That’s a major shift of inattention at PS! Curious to hear why people think that is. What doesn’t Swamidass’ PS provide that BL does? Why so quiet at PS?
PeterP,
I have to say , I don’t really know what defines hypertension. It seems a vague concept.
Is it higher than average blood pressure?
Gregory,
Can anyone suggest a reliabie way of checking and comparing site traffic?
Right, but high blood pressure can have many causes (cocaine use, too much salt…) and it can be acute or sporadic. So when they say someone has high blood pressure, do they mean always, sometimes, once…?
I would presume it means continual high blood pressure?
I had a run-in with my (now previous) doctor because he checked my blood pressure and insisted on putting me on tablets. He didn’t take into account the stress involved in squeezing in the appointment between work assignments and finding somewhere to park on market day.
About a year ago, I went for a routine checkup with my (younger, much more sympathetic) doctor, who also said my blood pressure was high (160/90) and that I might need medication. I asked if there was an alternative and she said OK: regular exercise, cut down on fat, salt, sugar, spirits – especially pastis (high liquorice content) – and lose a bit of weight. Do it for a month and come back. Also self-test morning and evening and keep note. I got back to a “normal” 130/80.
Blood pressure does vary over the day, lowest first thing in the morning, and with* activity but self testing over a few days at regular intervals will give a much better indication of a problem than one snapshot.
ETA*
Sorry to hear you find the subject confusing. I just imagine there might be some sources of information you could look at to help you out. While I haven’t looked I wouldn’t be surprised if the Mayo clinic or John Hopkins websites might have the information you lack. While your visiting such sites you might also want to check out the death rate for meases infections as that seems like another topic you were confused about as well.
acute and sporadic seem like similar categories to me. I think, but I might be wrong, that there is another category you should consider. I’m trying to think of the word but I’m getting the impression that it, the word, might start with the letter ‘c’. If I remember the word later I’ll post it for you!
Why presume when there are informational sites that contain discussions of the concept and criteria for diagnosis? Perhaps sites that discuss human physiology or medical diagnosis and criteria for such concepts.
Does the concept of diabetes and blood sugar levels also confuse you?
PeterP,
No, the problem is that you are being imprecise with language. Hypertension just means high blood pressure. But high blood pressure can be caused by many reasons.
So shut up.
And:
Again, shut up PeterP.
This is why I said hypertension is vague.
I am an endurance athlete. My blood pressure is generally very low. But I recently had to take a physical. The doctor was on the fifth floor, so I ran up the stairs. The first thing he tested was my blood pressure, which was about five seconds after running up the stairs. He said it was slightly high. I said check it in two minutes and it won’t be. He said never mind.
pretty much the entire medical profession knows and understands the concept of hypertension. these professionals, and many, many laymen (unlike yourself) understand the concept and that the medical terminology refers to chronic (that word that begins with ‘c’) hypertension. these professionals also understand the influence of excercise on BP as well as the ‘white coat’ syndrome on BP. It appears that you alone are confused by the concept of chronic hypertension. Acute instances of high BP are considered for source….excercise expected and normal….cocaine overdose acute and dangerous…..chronic, regardless of etiology, is a dangerous and silent killer among humans.
so back at ya phoodoo…shutup.
is this something you think is earth shattering and beyond the medical profession’s understanding?
About that measles death rate did you ever figure that out?
PeterP,
No, now you have just changed what you are saying. Nowhere did you say chronic hypertension, and in fact that is the exact reason why I said acute or sporadic-to mean it could be NOT chronic (acute and sporadic are also not the same thing-acute means severe, sporadic doesn’t) which you completely failed to understand.
Furthermore, hypertension is a symptom, not a disease. Just like high blood sugar is a symptom, and diabetes is the disease. They are not the same thing. As I have said, there can be many causes of high blood pressure.
You somehow seemed to have failed to even read what I just showed you.
How did you miss this, when it was from the paper you linked to and I quoted!:
I guess you don’t understand that last sentence very well. Here is a hint, it is exactly what I said.
But it’s ok to quote a racist comment!
Every time a post of phoodoo’s gets sent to Guano that could be construed as racist, and from henceforth I shall construe it as such.
I gave you ore credit than you deserved. Most people understand what hypertension means in the context of underlying comorbid or treatment condition. I also didn’t write the article but it appears straight forward outside of the chronically obtuse.
Nor did the authors. I was able to understand the article(s) if you weren’t clear on what they meant perhaps you should contact the authors and inform them of your confusion.
why couldn’t it be chronic ?
No it is’t what you stated. The sentences you quoted rightfully describe the shortcomings of data not collected under controlled conditions. The folks who collected the data did not describe what criteria were used in classifying HBP/hypertension although the context of the article of underlying conditions contributing to increased mortality with severe covid infection is quite obvious. The question raised is the inclusion of hypertension as a comorbid condition based on medication use and history or acute response to severe infection. The former makes sense while the latter would likely include all patients (with severe infection) up until the point they crump.
diabetes is a name for abnormally high blood sugar and we also call it a disease. There are also numerous causes of high blood sugar does that confuse you as well?
I don’t know, but would be interested to see the #s. A few people here are Members at PS. Why not ask Swamidass? He used to post his #s there monthly in the early(ier) days.
How about you post the quote where I was using imprecise language. Can you do that ? I predict no.
Depends on the context. In toxicology acute refers to an exposure that occurs over a shorter period of time often less than 1/3 the lifespan of the organism. The acute exposre may be continuous or periodic,i.e., sporadic. Chronic exposure is of much longer duration >1/3 of the lifespan of the organism.
In this context acute hypertension is not necessarily severe but rather of short duration versus chronic hypertension which manifests itself over a longer period of time.
When I mentioned hypertension I did qualify that condition/diagnosis when treated with ARBs. seems quite precise to me
Do you know of anyone put on HBP medications for elevated BP resulting from running up a fight of stairs or any other excercise, stress, anxiety related scenario?
My doctor advised me to stop visiting TSZ.
to reduce toxicity, BP or both?
I had a new neighbor move in Friday. My welcome gift was a bottle of hand sanitizer.
=P
Cut it out, Sal.
My wife made a sign for our gate for the neighbors and others.
It says: ‘Go away! No visitors!
With COVID-19 in a big circle with a slash through it
She hung it this morning. that kept her occupied for a couple of days so I can hardly wait to see what her next project is going to be.
PeterP,
Our village tried the “singing from your balcony” way of lifting spirits this evening. Short but enthusiastic. On the stroke of the Church clock striking 8 pm, folks struck up with brass and drums. Did my best to join in but the anthem chosen was Bella Ciao so only the “Bella ciao, ciao, ciao!” resounded from our balcony.
Not an original idea!
All racists may be assholes, but that doesn’t mean all assholes are racists.
🙂
ya gotta do what ya gotta do!
My neighbors are kiinda clueless so you have to ride herd on them pretty closely. for example one of my neighbors is a close friend we’ve known for close to 40 years. we do a lot of projects together helping each other and some for hire projects. He saw the smoke from my burn pile a couple of days ago and dropped by to chat me up. we kept our distance, or rather I did, and our conversation was mostly me trying to drive home the fact that he needs to stay home. his response was to tell me that he thinks his wife has this ‘shit’. Knowing his wife ( a bit of a hypochondriac) I asked him what symptoms she was presenting with. No fever. No cough. no aches. no shortness of breath. but her knee hurt. She is very overweight and has had knee problems for years. In any case I told him that if she did have it the last place he needed to be was over at my place. He says he feels fine so what is the problem. big sigh on my part then the story about the asymptomatic folks spreading the disease. I also reminded him that my wife has pretty severe asthma and the last thign she needs is a respiratory virus to fight. His comeback was ‘I had no idea’ that was possible. After apologizing he asks me what am I doing on tuesday and do I want to work on a project with him in town. I said no and that we should plan on working at our own places for the next few months. A bit bewildered he asks why is that? At that point I shrugged my shoulders went to the barn and gave him 4 dozen eggs and sent him on his way with an admonishment to call and not just stop by I tried to stress that we are now operating under new rules for the new days and to forget how we operated during the ‘before days’.
I doubt he got the message and he’ll be over as soon as he is bored or has a spat with his wife. I’ll have to run him off with a bit firmer admonishment next time.
We also supply most of our neighbors with eggs processed chickens, turkeys and pork. Had to tell all of them to stay the hell away from our place and when they want something to call and I’ll drop it at their gate but under no circumstances to come over. Some talk of overreaction eft and now some of them might be off the list for goodies. Gotta do what ya gotta do.
I’ve done it myself. But the simple fact is if we all stick to the rules (even if we think some things are ridiculous*) there is a chance to limit the outbreak.
*Here, the rule is you mustn’t go out except alone. My wife and I are together in the house and in the garden but we can’t exercise by walking locally together, only alone for a maximum of 2 km distance from home..
here the rule is everyone and everything not aready on the property is contaminated and will be treated that way. When I do go to town sometime in a couple of weeks I’ll carry a jug of diluted bleach and soap for cleanup prior to getting back into my rig to go home. Once home mail left out in the sun for a day or two, all grocery packages wiped off, town clothes stripped outside and then washed, into the shower after that and upon exiting a spray down with a bleach solution for faucet knobs, doorknobs and anything else I’ve touched.
I’d rather be considered a bit overboard than drag something home to my wife. I anticipated this a few weeks ago and started preparing. I have alot of feed (about a thousand pounds and not unusual for me) for my current critter population and my wife had me pick up (about a month ago) 200 bs of sugar for the hummingbirds. We have 10 freezers full of food produced on the homestead with some store-bought fish and other essentials. some of that is for sale but that might be closing after I cotact my poultry suppliers to see how they are moving forward. Also pigs are a couple of months off so I’ll start talking to my contacts and see if they have any litters hitting the ground now which will be ready to pick up when I’m ready for them. If I get the green light from my suppliers I’ll lay in my feed supply for them ASAP. That is typically 2 tons of feed for the broilers and turkeys and a 1-2 tons for the pigs dependent on how many I decide to raise this year. I always do this anyway since I get a break buying in bulk and don’t like to make repeated trips to town for animal feed even in the ‘before’ days.
Not sure how we will proceed with my wife’s veggie and flower start business as well as her farmers market sales. That will probably have to stop or at least reduce it to some type of delivery route where I can toss it out of the rig into their yard or something of the sort.
PeterP,
Blimey! Busy life! 😉
Well, UK on ‘full lockdown’ from today onwards. No non-essential journeys (just work for key workers and food location for heterotrophs), exercise once (???) a day, all outlets except grocery/pharmacy to shut, no ‘gatherings’ of more than 2. Not dissimilar to other European countries.
There’s a massive amount of self-righteous finger-wagging going on, which one can both understand and deplore. The weekend, the first warm and sunny days in about 5 months, saw a lot of people head for beauty spots and beaches. I would hardly blame them, given that nothing said they couldn’t, but it does put pressure on small, typically ageing communities, as well as the problem of clustering. Yet hark at the chorus of superior moralising against them – the ‘common herd’ – ! They got fresh air, sunshine and exercise, all positives for their immune systems.
I’ve been reprimanded for querying the sense of the ‘once a day’ exercise restriction – not that I desperately want to, I just don’t see what it achieves. Not a time to be a nonconformist outlier. Fortunately, they can’t legitimately gather at my door with their brands and pitchforks for the foreseeable.
That sucks. Here in NL we are still putting that moment off, but the government is considering full lockdown. As in your case, this is motivated by the many people gathering during the sunny spell in the weekend.
Heh. In another timeline I’d just be docking in Newcastle about now after sailing overnight from Amsterdam at the end of my ski trip!
You have a big girl’s blouse of a lockdown!
I just went out for my morning constitutional. I made sure I was carrying ID, my attestation – signed and dated for today – alone (even though wife and I are living together 24 hours a day) and no further than 2 kilometers! I walked back through the centre of our village and saw not a soul. Encountered not a single moving vehicle – or heard one.
Allan Miller,
🙁
Alan Fox,
😃