Seth's Blog

My work is all about how the past was better for us. People stood more; so they slept better. They ate more animal fat; so they slept better. They saw more faces in the morning and fewer faces late at night, so their mood was better. Their food had more bacteria growing on it, so their immune and digestive systems worked beter. And so on.

Past meaning 100,000 years ago. In Beijing, I am moving from one apartment (A) to another apartment (B). Apartment A is in a modern building, Apartment B is in a building maybe 40 years older. To my surprise, Apartment B is clearly better than Apartment A. The biggest improvement is that Apartment B has all-incandescent lighting. Apartment A was all-fluorescent. Exposure to fluorescent light in the evening can interfere with the faces-mood effect because it can resemble sunlight. Incandescent lamps are so much cooler than the sun that the light they emit is very different. Another improvement is that Apartment B, unlike Apartment A, has a sun deck. So it’s easy to get lots of sunlight in the morning — important for sleep and for the faces-mood effect. The third improvement is that Apartment B, like Apartment A, is on the sixth floor — but Apartment B is a walk-up. Walking up six flights of stairs will tire out my legs so that when I do one-legged standing (to sleep better) I won’t have to stand as long before getting exhausted. When I lived in Apartment A I could have taken the stairs, but I never did.

Today I flew from Tokyo to San Francisco. Just before boarding there was a level of security I hadn’t encountered before: Every passenger’s carry-on luggage was searched and every passenger was wand-scanned. Then my name was called. “Please come to the check-in desk.” I went to the check-in desk. “Are you Mr. Roberts?” Yes. The woman who had asked me that started typing. “Why did you call my name?” I asked. No answer. I asked again. No answer. Eventually I figured out I’d been summoned to the check-in desk to be offered a better seat, for which I hadn’t asked and for which I was very grateful. The airline was ANA.

dao ye. dao means to buy in one place and sell in another (an example of how Chinese has far more verbs than English). The literal meaning of ye is grandpa but it is humorously used to praise someone. The dao ye are people who buy little stuff, such as clothes, in Southern China, where it’s made, and sell it in Beijing. Probably on the sidewalk.

chao fang tuan. Chao means stir-fry (fast cooking), fang means houses or apartments, and tuan means group (of people). The chao fang tuan are those who speculate in real estate. They buy a house or apartment and sell it quickly. “Everyone in China hates the chao fang tuan,” said my friend.

• data logging with iPhone
• New York cavemen
• paleo nutrition blogs & sites
• Roger Ebert stops eating
• Why Nassim Taleb walks a lot

Thanks to Ben Hyde, Dave Lull, Marian Lizzi, and Brody.

In the 1960s, Richard Bernstein, an engineer and a Type 1 diabetic, pioneered the use of blood glucose self-monitoring. Using it, he was able to greatly improve his glucose control and thereby his health. No one doubts it helps Type 1 diabetics. With Type 2 diabetics, whose blood glucose is better controlled, the benefit is obviously less clear — but to many Type 2 diabetics, unmistakable.

A recent literature review, however, begged to differ:

Contrary to the widely-held belief, there is no proof that non-insulin-dependent patients with type 2 diabetes benefit from glucose self-monitoring. Moreover, it remains unclear whether an additional benefit is displayed by the blood test compared to the urine test or vice versa, in other words, whether one or other of the tests might offer an advantage to patients. The current data are quantitatively and qualitatively inadequate: the few trials that are suitable for investigating these questions have not included or have insufficiently reported many outcomes important to patients. Owing to their short duration, it is also not possible to draw any conclusions on the long-term benefit of glucose self-monitoring. This is the conclusion of the final report of the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), [which is in Germany,] published on 14 December 2009.

Which is even more ridiculous than dermatologists concluding that acne isn’t due to diet. At a forum for diabetics, the report was roundly criticized:

Telling a Type 2 Diabetic not to measure his/her BG is like telling an overweight person not to weigh themselves…Ignorance is NOT bliss.

Totally agree! I was told by a nurse the other week not to measure my blood pressure at home as ‘home testing can cause patients to get worried”!!!

I have recently been diagnosed with type 2, and without the regular testing i did whilst i was going though my diet change, I would have no idea which foods caused high or low readings. I definitely think regular testing gives you the ability to control your diabetes 100% more than with no testing and using the 3 month HBA1c tests.

[impressive self-experimentation:] For my own edification, I discovered that chromium, zinc, and vitamin B1 added to my diet were benficial. I discovered that cinnamon, selenium, Omega 3, and some other quack remedies being touted on the web did nothing for me except empty my pocket. I was about to start investigating CQ10 enzymes, but the doctor [who said "don't self-test"] stopped that trial in its tracks.

The most noticeable thing about this thread is how many people have either just joined or made a relatively “early” post after belonging for ages. Amazing! There is a depth of feeling aroused [by this report] that wasn’t apparent before!

Why have dermatologists claimed we can’t say acne is caused by diet (“there is insufficient evidence”)? Why did these diabetes researchers claim we can’t say home testing helps Type 2 diabetics? A big reason, I believe, is that these claims (if true, which they aren’t) would preserve their gatekeeper function. You don’t need to see a dermatologist to stop eating chocolate. Home testing will reveal all sorts of simple ways that you can control your blood sugar without medicine. The doctors who reach these ridiculous conclusions have a big conflict of interest that goes unstated. They are fine with the conclusion that home testing helps Type 1 diabetics because Type 1s will still need them. Because Type 1 diabetics inject insulin, they need doctors to prescribe it.