Talk about a clickbait headline. But seriously: stop. The millennial obsession with wearable devices and health optimization is pointless, narcissistic quackery.
I would argue we've done close to nothing to actually extend life. The differences we see among countries are due to infant mortality, not people who reach adulthood live longer.
I used to think that also, but it not accurate: The life expectancy of a 50-year-old American male, just as an example, in the 1950s was 22 more years. Now it is 30 more years. I'll take 8 more years....
Only if the life is good. I don't want 8 more years in diapers and if I need a walker to move around. Put a pillow over my face and get me out of my misery.
Ya’know, quality of life isn’t just measured by one’s physicality/physical state of affairs; it’s more about ones mental/spiritual health — there are too many folk out there in perfect health whose mental health is such that they don’t enjoy their wonderful fully functioning bodies nor their life. Some people are just miserable.
Then there are folk like Dennis Prager who through a tragic accident (shower?) became paralyzed from the neck/shoulders down. To hear him talk today, while it’s obvious something happened, he is still a bright vibrant person who still desires to enjoy this world.
My mother is 91, uses the walker and wears the diapers. She's beautiful, witty, gracious, fun to be around and she loves me. So stop that talk about the pillow and realize what the important things in life are.
you have to admit your Mom is a rare one. I'm sorry you lost her.
My Dad just passed at 91 and I'm certain it was the over vaccination and over doctoring and under-caring of the Medical Industrial Complex that killed him.
He was legally blind (he took Tums a lot) and lived alone and tinkered around with electric rewiring and other projects.
My grandparents at 60 were in far worse shape than I am at 70. I agree that so-called healthspan is more important than lifespan, but people who aren't obese at 50 have a lot more good years than their grandparents did.
Ding, ding, ding! Spot on here! This is a prime example of statistical manipulation. Fudge the numbers to make things seem better than what they really are. Happens quite often with chemo as well.
Life is not just about quantity. It's also about quality. And "quality" can be improved by paying attention to certain metrics, and aligning your daily habits and routine to try to maximize the quality of your life.
Just because two people lived to 75 doesn't mean their lived lives were of equal "quality".
Second, the GLP1 craze is a horror just waiting to happen. I’ve we tried about that already but GLP1s deteriorate mental health, destroy the pancreases, and have a black box warning for tumor growth. A black box warning! The worse that a drug can get. We’ll hear of the damages from GLP1s here shortly in the coming years: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/the-hidden-struggle-in-health-care
Just based on my 70 years on this earth watching the drug crazes come and go, I agree that GLP1s are going to be seen as a disaster at some point--same with statins, IMHO.
Quite high cholesterol runs in my family (and me) but no heart attacks as far as the eye can see. But I have noticed that after years of doctors trying to bully me into statins including just sending prescriptions into my pharmacy without telling me, they aren't arguing anymore and don't seem annoyed when I turn statins down. I think the word is getting out on the dementia connection and the absolute lack of any impact on mortality of statins. But I have friends who still think I'm crazy.
I agree about the lack of impact on mortality. My husband took statins for years and his numbers looked beautiful on paper. I convinced him to get a cardiac calcium scan as a precaution because of his family history. He scored off the chart at 1142 at just 50 years old, 80/80/70 percent blockage in 3 major arteries. He had urgent triple bypass within 2 weeks. Doctors still insisted on statins post-op. Utter nonsense.
More and more cardiologists are waking up to the fact that heart and cardiovascular ails are not caused by cholesterol but insulin resistance. And women aren't getting heart attacks from estrogen but more likely from the lack of estrogen! Check out Holly Warner's substack on women's health!
Check out Malcolm Kendrick, a doctor from the UK, for more information statins, cholesterol, etc. I started following him during COVID. He recently blogged about GLP1's also: https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/
Stress is a real killer. I had it bad to where I was going to Mayo Clinic for Cardiology advice only to find out there was nothing wrong with my heart. I had pain in my arm pain in my jaw and pain in my chest all caused by my head. Honestly.
I heartily recommend taking just a few minutes sitting quietly and taking deep breaths when you're feeling stressed out. It sounds like a new age BS but it really does make a difference if you can just calm the f*** down.
Yes, the constant monitoring of anything is enough to raise one's BP! I have gotten to the point where I TELL THE DAMNED MEDICAL GHOULS that THEIR STANDARD OF CARE IN TREATING "HIGH" BLOOD PRESSURE IS OVERLY AGGRESSIVE AND IT'S ACTUALLY WORKING TO RAISE THEIR PATIENTS' BLOOD PRESSURE UNNECESSARILY, AND THAT THEY NEED TO STOP IT!!!
I had a neurologist that was always telling me that I had high blood pressure. I only had high blood pressure around him. I never said that to him but my body didn't trust him. He eventually messed up a spinal tap on me.
I got high BP readings - then i told the nurse, how tight the sleeve gets... she then said, let's try the x-L sleeve... didn't feel like my arm was getting cut into... or off - fairly comfortable with the bigger cuff.
Last reading 125/74, below 130/85 since the big cuff was used.
I could stand to lose 20-30 lbs... but BP isn't the reason why I need to drop weight.
Alex, this is most assuredly not just a millenial issue. Indeed, I see way way more Boomer patients who bring in reams of data from their Garmin devices and Aura rings. I cannot really tell it is doing any of them any good at all. The ones who were taking care of themselves are going to take care of themselves. It is that simple. The devices do not add much to the picture.
Moderation is key. Like you say, get some exercise, get outside in fresh air, get some sun, don’t overdo junk food, get some good sleep, avoid excessive alcohol, don’t smoke, and have a social life. There…write this down and print it and put it on your wrist. A lot less expensive and no stress!
I truly respect Mr. Berenson , but he’s missing the important point of life. When you have the level of evil that the left has created in this country, people need to rise up, who want to be responsible, accountable, caring, and above all, good, to reject this relentless endless despicable hate that the left sells as a defensible cause!
While below was written last week, it just reminds me how even when someone challenges this pathetic autopsy report that the DNC released last week, they’re still afraid to challenge their own.
Having recently been again personally confronted with the level of evil in a position of power, authority, and control, let me just tell you folks this: if you say nothing, you do nothing, and you expect everything, the zeros are the first two overwhelm the expectations of a positive regarding “everything”.
You know what folks, today you may lose some notoriety or influence or finances or a position in the community, but if you relentlessly and responsibly stick to doing what’s right responsible and appropriate, you will prevail.
And pay attention to those who won’t follow your lead, because at the end of the day, those who keep praying there’s no afterlife, you better be right, because if you’re wrong, fuck you…
No, that’s not the appropriate ending, you’re fucked…
So completely true. I'm a family doc and do not own an Apple watch or any wearable fitness tracker. The Apple watch primarily because I probably couldn't see it without putting on my reading glasses. The fitness/health tracker because it's meaningless to me. I check my BP occasionally not religiously.
Years ago in the days your family doctor also cared for you if you were hospitalized, I was in a call group so covering patients in the hospital for my colleagues every 4th night and every 4th weekend. I would often get awakened by a phone call from a nurse at 2-3 AM to tell me that Mrs. Jones' blood pressure (she had hypertension and was on medication) was 160/92 or something like that. Even then it was drummed in our collective minds that BP over 140/90 (even lower now) is abnormal. I'd ask how Mrs. Jones was doing clinically. The reply was that she was fine and fast asleep (unlike me now). I'd usually instruct the nurse to refrain from taking her BP until 8 AM or so. It begs the question of why are we even treating high blood pressure? To prevent end-organ damage like stroke, heart attack, renal failure OVER THE LONG TERM. One BP reading (other than hypertensive emergency like 220/120 or clinical symptoms) means nothing. But we've become overly concerned albeit fixated that something must be wrong when there is an abnormal value. That's not going to lead to enjoyment in life and probably won't even make a difference.
I restated what Alex had said in my comments but forgot to add let your kids eat some mud, run barefoot, chase tadpoles in creeks…they just may survive and not be wimps!
My kids’ pediatrician (1982-2000 and the medical establishment doesn’t turn out these compassionate wise doctors anymore) always said if the kid hasn’t eaten a pound of dirt by age 5 they won’t be healthy…oh how right he was!
My mom has been having some heart issues - two stays in the hospital with IV drips to reset her heart from afib. She does not have a history of afib. She only had it twice due to vagus nerve stimulation. Here are two examples of home monitoring devices one that was helpful in this situation and one was not helpful.
I bought my mom a Kardia Mobile that we connected to her tablet. I got it for one purpose - to see quickly if she was really in afib and needed to go to the ER. It was about not wasting time at the ER unnecessarily. Hearts can skip beats or go faster in certain activity, but that does not mean its an emergency and the heart will reset naturally. But because my mom was freaking out over every little heart thing, we needed this device for at home quick, though not perfect, diagnosis. This purpose and usage with a Kardia mobile has saved Medicare (and thus taxpayers) countless, pointless ER visits and unnecessary procedures. That has been a blessing to everyone. It was only used to determine if it was a normal heart rhythm. period.
However, my mom also bought and started wearing a PostOx device. She started wearing it not just when needed to check her vitals, but like hours on end... and freaking out over every little thing. First off, this type of device is not that accurate and add on top of that, every little movement makes it wrong. With this kind of device, you just cannot flip out over every little thing because its not accurate for moment by moment diagnosis. Its only good for a quick overall snap shot of you are not dying. Second, every time her heart beat went higher while doing strenuous activity, she thought it was an emergency. What was really going on was that her heart was getting a workout which it needs to keep her alive... and was telling her now it was time to rest. It was not a reason to rush to the ER and if she did not have this device, she would have just rested. Lastly, she became crazily obsessed with it and changed everything she would normally do based upon it... and was staring at it shaking in fear. Frankly that meant she was doing less physical activity and stressing more which will shorten her lifespan in the long term.
In the end, I looked over her lab work and recommendations from the ER, saw she was low in potassium, and prescribed her the clear and dye-free version Gatorade (you know, the sports drink). After drinking half a bottle in the morning and half at night for 2 weeks, her heart was beating normally again. So in the end, a women with no history of afib just needed some electrolytes. She did not need a constant monitoring device that she was freaking out over nonstop.
Overall the problem with monitoring devices, is they don't solve anything and they create psychological stress. They are good enough to determine if you need to go to the ER or are not dying, but you cannot stare at them all day every day ... and not go crazy.
Spot on, Alex! Just live your best life, enjoy in moderation, and don't be preoccupied with every little ache or pain. We live in the greatest time in history from a physical perspective, but we behave like we will be overtaken by some kind of cooties, or malady every day. Nothing is chasing us down the road. Enjoy your life, exercise, and don't be stupid.
"What gets measured, gets improved". I love seeing my sleep patterns and trying different things to see how my body reacts. I like to see how fast my heart rate returns to my baseline after a sprint. Alex, the Whoop or Oura ring are fun, interesting and yes, they help improve your health. Don't knock it until you try it.
Sure, you can knock it, so long as you understand that YOUR experience is singular to you, and not - as Alex has done - ascribe it to everyone ELSE as well.
Agreed. I like seeing the data out of curiosity, and it's incentive to take better care of myself. I don't obsess over it, though, and actually got rid of my Whoop because its sleep and recovery scores were seeping into my subconscious, influencing how I actually felt. Reason and moderation are important when it comes to analytics, too. :)
I can see that. For me, it gets me to try and go to bed a bit earlier. I also like that it knows my patterns and tracks my workouts automatically: weight training, jogging, playing pickleball, walking... It records everything without me doing anything. I look at it 1-2x p/d for 1 minute max. So far so good.
Yes! One of my favorite Apple Watch features is how it integrates with my Hevy app for my weight lifting workouts. I can track the entire program without having to touch my phone, which keeps me on task and not distracted
Ha I actually loved this kind of more than anything you’ve written. My paternal grandma turns 100 in July. She lives independently. Not without help but independently. She’s never obsessed about her health. Has eaten reasonable well and definitely never been overweight. Never smoked. Used to have a sifter of brandy or a bull frog (vodka and diet or regular 7up) every night but has given up alcohol within the last year or two. Raised four kids almost on her own (grandfather was a fighter pilot and fought in three wars so he was gone a lot). Buried my father when he was only 42 (she was a mere 67). Grandpa was diagnosed with ALS within a year of that and died 6 years later. Awful. Has lived the last 25 years on her own but never without strong connections to others. Thats her secret. She doesn’t exercise but she still does light cleaning and entertained big groups until very recently. She survived a heart attack in her early 90s that would have killed most 60 year olds (and talked through the whole thing). I just mailed out invitations to her 100th birthday party, including one to her cardiologist. There’s really no secret. On paper, she hasn’t done anything special other than being an incredible woman. Also seriously still one of the sharpest people I know. While it’s not enough for everyone, finding a reason to live is a really good one. And God’s good graces. I’m so grateful to still have her. She has been one of the most influential people in my life.
As a card-carrying GenXer and former Whoop user, I see both sides of this. For me, it wasn't narcissism, but more curiosity. I liked seeing how things affected me, how it showed up in empirical data, not just subjective feelings. On the one hand, this insight can be...too much. For example, Whoop's scores sometimes made me feel worse. If it said I'd slept poorly or my recovery was low, I'd scale back my workouts even if I *felt* fine...I'd think, "I'd better not push too hard because Whoop said I'm not at my best." This is actually why I stopped using it. Whoop was dictating how I felt and that's just BANANAS. On the other hand, it can provide an incentive and help to change habits for the better. My husband insisted alcohol didn't affect his sleep or any other biomarkers (he's had some health issues already). Wearing a Whoop showed him otherwise, and it's helped him to curtail his consumption and get to bed earlier.
"If it said I'd slept poorly or my recovery was low, I'd scale back my workouts even if I *felt* fine...I'd think, "I'd better not push too hard because Whoop said I'm not at my best." This is actually why I stopped using it. Whoop was dictating how I felt"
If I may be so bold, I think your mistake was *letting* it dictate how you felt. The WHOOP didn't actually dictate anything; it merely provided data and information.
You *could* have ignored that information when you felt fine, and done your workout anyway.
Correct! I was easily swayed...or looking for an excuse. :) It's basically a placebo effect, and it works both ways. There was actually a study done of Whoop users that showed their perception of how rested they felt and their behavior (including cognitive performance) changed based on their sleep score, regardless of their actual state of restfulness. Which begs the question of whether you could just artificially inflate the scores to spur better performance.
I would argue we've done close to nothing to actually extend life. The differences we see among countries are due to infant mortality, not people who reach adulthood live longer.
in other words - civil engineers have done more of the heavy lifting on life exention than doctors
Love this!!!
How about clinical researchers? We define the protocols, doctors follow said protocols, oftentimes like lost sheep.
Couldn't agree more. If you pass 5 years old, you're pretty much set whether you live in America or Bolivia, 1826 or 2026.
Reducing infant mortality was the key, everything else are marginal improvements.
I used to think that also, but it not accurate: The life expectancy of a 50-year-old American male, just as an example, in the 1950s was 22 more years. Now it is 30 more years. I'll take 8 more years....
Only if the life is good. I don't want 8 more years in diapers and if I need a walker to move around. Put a pillow over my face and get me out of my misery.
Ya’know, quality of life isn’t just measured by one’s physicality/physical state of affairs; it’s more about ones mental/spiritual health — there are too many folk out there in perfect health whose mental health is such that they don’t enjoy their wonderful fully functioning bodies nor their life. Some people are just miserable.
Then there are folk like Dennis Prager who through a tragic accident (shower?) became paralyzed from the neck/shoulders down. To hear him talk today, while it’s obvious something happened, he is still a bright vibrant person who still desires to enjoy this world.
My mother is 91, uses the walker and wears the diapers. She's beautiful, witty, gracious, fun to be around and she loves me. So stop that talk about the pillow and realize what the important things in life are.
My dad is 93. Bad eyesight, but no pillow needed here.
Whatever you do, keep him out of care homes (they don't care).
you have to admit your Mom is a rare one. I'm sorry you lost her.
My Dad just passed at 91 and I'm certain it was the over vaccination and over doctoring and under-caring of the Medical Industrial Complex that killed him.
He was legally blind (he took Tums a lot) and lived alone and tinkered around with electric rewiring and other projects.
My grandparents at 60 were in far worse shape than I am at 70. I agree that so-called healthspan is more important than lifespan, but people who aren't obese at 50 have a lot more good years than their grandparents did.
Could not agree more. Quality of life versus quantity of life.
Ding, ding, ding! Spot on here! This is a prime example of statistical manipulation. Fudge the numbers to make things seem better than what they really are. Happens quite often with chemo as well.
Statistical deception: modern medicines famous tool: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/statistical-deception-the-great-travesty
But look how much money was made selling that ware.
I’d be interested in seeing a life expectancy comparison of those who reach age 10.
Life is not just about quantity. It's also about quality. And "quality" can be improved by paying attention to certain metrics, and aligning your daily habits and routine to try to maximize the quality of your life.
Just because two people lived to 75 doesn't mean their lived lives were of equal "quality".
Plot twist: it’s the Whoop making him sick due to the EMFs it’s transmitting to its body as the body was never designed to have external EMFs interacting with the bodies natural EMFs: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/how-trump-and-rfk-are-advancing-transhumanism
Second, the GLP1 craze is a horror just waiting to happen. I’ve we tried about that already but GLP1s deteriorate mental health, destroy the pancreases, and have a black box warning for tumor growth. A black box warning! The worse that a drug can get. We’ll hear of the damages from GLP1s here shortly in the coming years: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/the-hidden-struggle-in-health-care
Just based on my 70 years on this earth watching the drug crazes come and go, I agree that GLP1s are going to be seen as a disaster at some point--same with statins, IMHO.
statins already are..... Alzheimers and dementia wrapped up in a pill.
Quite high cholesterol runs in my family (and me) but no heart attacks as far as the eye can see. But I have noticed that after years of doctors trying to bully me into statins including just sending prescriptions into my pharmacy without telling me, they aren't arguing anymore and don't seem annoyed when I turn statins down. I think the word is getting out on the dementia connection and the absolute lack of any impact on mortality of statins. But I have friends who still think I'm crazy.
workout regularly, eat properly, get your weight in check. that's the best medicine. your brain needs cholesterol to function.
@Sea- but some of us make more than we should.
I agree about the lack of impact on mortality. My husband took statins for years and his numbers looked beautiful on paper. I convinced him to get a cardiac calcium scan as a precaution because of his family history. He scored off the chart at 1142 at just 50 years old, 80/80/70 percent blockage in 3 major arteries. He had urgent triple bypass within 2 weeks. Doctors still insisted on statins post-op. Utter nonsense.
More and more cardiologists are waking up to the fact that heart and cardiovascular ails are not caused by cholesterol but insulin resistance. And women aren't getting heart attacks from estrogen but more likely from the lack of estrogen! Check out Holly Warner's substack on women's health!
The movie Cholesterol Code is coming out soon. The data and understanding of cholesterol is fascinating.
A little research goes along way. Lots of info out on why statins are bad & cholesterol not bad. Too many docs refuse to read research.
And still so few know about the down side.
Check out Malcolm Kendrick, a doctor from the UK, for more information statins, cholesterol, etc. I started following him during COVID. He recently blogged about GLP1's also: https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/
Like the terrible fen fen.
100% agree!! I think it's going to be worse than imagined.
I would say women of a certain age would have another explanation for night sweats but its outta my league
Or tuberculosis! Lots of things can cause night sweats besides cancer. SMH
sometimes it's just caffeine.
Stress is a real killer. I had it bad to where I was going to Mayo Clinic for Cardiology advice only to find out there was nothing wrong with my heart. I had pain in my arm pain in my jaw and pain in my chest all caused by my head. Honestly.
I heartily recommend taking just a few minutes sitting quietly and taking deep breaths when you're feeling stressed out. It sounds like a new age BS but it really does make a difference if you can just calm the f*** down.
so true.
I had a dentist recently ask me if I was under stress. Turned out what I was going through caused excessive jaw pressure. ouch!
As someone with my fair share of issues, I agree fully.
My doc wants me to check my BP twice a day... did it for a month. Drove me crazy (and raised my BP!)
I now check maybe twice a month. I'm much happier and BP is where it needs to be.
And that's from medical advice I got... I can't imagine the obsession that comes from fretting over minutae like this on a daily basis.
Yes, the constant monitoring of anything is enough to raise one's BP! I have gotten to the point where I TELL THE DAMNED MEDICAL GHOULS that THEIR STANDARD OF CARE IN TREATING "HIGH" BLOOD PRESSURE IS OVERLY AGGRESSIVE AND IT'S ACTUALLY WORKING TO RAISE THEIR PATIENTS' BLOOD PRESSURE UNNECESSARILY, AND THAT THEY NEED TO STOP IT!!!
I had a neurologist that was always telling me that I had high blood pressure. I only had high blood pressure around him. I never said that to him but my body didn't trust him. He eventually messed up a spinal tap on me.
I got high BP readings - then i told the nurse, how tight the sleeve gets... she then said, let's try the x-L sleeve... didn't feel like my arm was getting cut into... or off - fairly comfortable with the bigger cuff.
Last reading 125/74, below 130/85 since the big cuff was used.
I could stand to lose 20-30 lbs... but BP isn't the reason why I need to drop weight.
Alex, this is most assuredly not just a millenial issue. Indeed, I see way way more Boomer patients who bring in reams of data from their Garmin devices and Aura rings. I cannot really tell it is doing any of them any good at all. The ones who were taking care of themselves are going to take care of themselves. It is that simple. The devices do not add much to the picture.
Moderation is key. Like you say, get some exercise, get outside in fresh air, get some sun, don’t overdo junk food, get some good sleep, avoid excessive alcohol, don’t smoke, and have a social life. There…write this down and print it and put it on your wrist. A lot less expensive and no stress!
Love that-- "put it on your wrist"!!!!!!!!
Moderation, baby. Reality is about knowing limits, accepting boundaries, and most of all, being at peace with who and what you are.
Check out a walk among nature some time. See any birds or squirrels checking their feet or paws for how many wing strokes or steps they've taken??
Oh, and moderation with those in positions of power influence control and authority??
Not happening....
Excellent comment here.
Thank you.
I truly respect Mr. Berenson , but he’s missing the important point of life. When you have the level of evil that the left has created in this country, people need to rise up, who want to be responsible, accountable, caring, and above all, good, to reject this relentless endless despicable hate that the left sells as a defensible cause!
While below was written last week, it just reminds me how even when someone challenges this pathetic autopsy report that the DNC released last week, they’re still afraid to challenge their own.
https://www.thefp.com/p/dnc-autopsy-report-2024-election-loss?utm_campaign=realclearpolitics
Having recently been again personally confronted with the level of evil in a position of power, authority, and control, let me just tell you folks this: if you say nothing, you do nothing, and you expect everything, the zeros are the first two overwhelm the expectations of a positive regarding “everything”.
You know what folks, today you may lose some notoriety or influence or finances or a position in the community, but if you relentlessly and responsibly stick to doing what’s right responsible and appropriate, you will prevail.
And pay attention to those who won’t follow your lead, because at the end of the day, those who keep praying there’s no afterlife, you better be right, because if you’re wrong, fuck you…
No, that’s not the appropriate ending, you’re fucked…
So completely true. I'm a family doc and do not own an Apple watch or any wearable fitness tracker. The Apple watch primarily because I probably couldn't see it without putting on my reading glasses. The fitness/health tracker because it's meaningless to me. I check my BP occasionally not religiously.
Years ago in the days your family doctor also cared for you if you were hospitalized, I was in a call group so covering patients in the hospital for my colleagues every 4th night and every 4th weekend. I would often get awakened by a phone call from a nurse at 2-3 AM to tell me that Mrs. Jones' blood pressure (she had hypertension and was on medication) was 160/92 or something like that. Even then it was drummed in our collective minds that BP over 140/90 (even lower now) is abnormal. I'd ask how Mrs. Jones was doing clinically. The reply was that she was fine and fast asleep (unlike me now). I'd usually instruct the nurse to refrain from taking her BP until 8 AM or so. It begs the question of why are we even treating high blood pressure? To prevent end-organ damage like stroke, heart attack, renal failure OVER THE LONG TERM. One BP reading (other than hypertensive emergency like 220/120 or clinical symptoms) means nothing. But we've become overly concerned albeit fixated that something must be wrong when there is an abnormal value. That's not going to lead to enjoyment in life and probably won't even make a difference.
I don't even weigh myself. My method: when some favorite pants or skirt starts feeling tight, !!!! I probably ate too much unnecessarily.
All I can say is, “Amen, preach it!” Narcissistic, self love, self esteem has created a couple generations of WIMPS (I’m a 67 year old grandma)
I restated what Alex had said in my comments but forgot to add let your kids eat some mud, run barefoot, chase tadpoles in creeks…they just may survive and not be wimps!
My kids’ pediatrician (1982-2000 and the medical establishment doesn’t turn out these compassionate wise doctors anymore) always said if the kid hasn’t eaten a pound of dirt by age 5 they won’t be healthy…oh how right he was!
Old fashioned probiotics?
sounds like my childhood. My sis ate the mud, I didn't see the joy in that.
My mom has been having some heart issues - two stays in the hospital with IV drips to reset her heart from afib. She does not have a history of afib. She only had it twice due to vagus nerve stimulation. Here are two examples of home monitoring devices one that was helpful in this situation and one was not helpful.
I bought my mom a Kardia Mobile that we connected to her tablet. I got it for one purpose - to see quickly if she was really in afib and needed to go to the ER. It was about not wasting time at the ER unnecessarily. Hearts can skip beats or go faster in certain activity, but that does not mean its an emergency and the heart will reset naturally. But because my mom was freaking out over every little heart thing, we needed this device for at home quick, though not perfect, diagnosis. This purpose and usage with a Kardia mobile has saved Medicare (and thus taxpayers) countless, pointless ER visits and unnecessary procedures. That has been a blessing to everyone. It was only used to determine if it was a normal heart rhythm. period.
However, my mom also bought and started wearing a PostOx device. She started wearing it not just when needed to check her vitals, but like hours on end... and freaking out over every little thing. First off, this type of device is not that accurate and add on top of that, every little movement makes it wrong. With this kind of device, you just cannot flip out over every little thing because its not accurate for moment by moment diagnosis. Its only good for a quick overall snap shot of you are not dying. Second, every time her heart beat went higher while doing strenuous activity, she thought it was an emergency. What was really going on was that her heart was getting a workout which it needs to keep her alive... and was telling her now it was time to rest. It was not a reason to rush to the ER and if she did not have this device, she would have just rested. Lastly, she became crazily obsessed with it and changed everything she would normally do based upon it... and was staring at it shaking in fear. Frankly that meant she was doing less physical activity and stressing more which will shorten her lifespan in the long term.
In the end, I looked over her lab work and recommendations from the ER, saw she was low in potassium, and prescribed her the clear and dye-free version Gatorade (you know, the sports drink). After drinking half a bottle in the morning and half at night for 2 weeks, her heart was beating normally again. So in the end, a women with no history of afib just needed some electrolytes. She did not need a constant monitoring device that she was freaking out over nonstop.
Overall the problem with monitoring devices, is they don't solve anything and they create psychological stress. They are good enough to determine if you need to go to the ER or are not dying, but you cannot stare at them all day every day ... and not go crazy.
Your Mom is blessed to have you!!
Spot on, Alex! Just live your best life, enjoy in moderation, and don't be preoccupied with every little ache or pain. We live in the greatest time in history from a physical perspective, but we behave like we will be overtaken by some kind of cooties, or malady every day. Nothing is chasing us down the road. Enjoy your life, exercise, and don't be stupid.
"What gets measured, gets improved". I love seeing my sleep patterns and trying different things to see how my body reacts. I like to see how fast my heart rate returns to my baseline after a sprint. Alex, the Whoop or Oura ring are fun, interesting and yes, they help improve your health. Don't knock it until you try it.
Tried it. Can I knock it?
Sure, you can knock it, so long as you understand that YOUR experience is singular to you, and not - as Alex has done - ascribe it to everyone ELSE as well.
Agreed. I like seeing the data out of curiosity, and it's incentive to take better care of myself. I don't obsess over it, though, and actually got rid of my Whoop because its sleep and recovery scores were seeping into my subconscious, influencing how I actually felt. Reason and moderation are important when it comes to analytics, too. :)
I can see that. For me, it gets me to try and go to bed a bit earlier. I also like that it knows my patterns and tracks my workouts automatically: weight training, jogging, playing pickleball, walking... It records everything without me doing anything. I look at it 1-2x p/d for 1 minute max. So far so good.
Yes! One of my favorite Apple Watch features is how it integrates with my Hevy app for my weight lifting workouts. I can track the entire program without having to touch my phone, which keeps me on task and not distracted
Ha I actually loved this kind of more than anything you’ve written. My paternal grandma turns 100 in July. She lives independently. Not without help but independently. She’s never obsessed about her health. Has eaten reasonable well and definitely never been overweight. Never smoked. Used to have a sifter of brandy or a bull frog (vodka and diet or regular 7up) every night but has given up alcohol within the last year or two. Raised four kids almost on her own (grandfather was a fighter pilot and fought in three wars so he was gone a lot). Buried my father when he was only 42 (she was a mere 67). Grandpa was diagnosed with ALS within a year of that and died 6 years later. Awful. Has lived the last 25 years on her own but never without strong connections to others. Thats her secret. She doesn’t exercise but she still does light cleaning and entertained big groups until very recently. She survived a heart attack in her early 90s that would have killed most 60 year olds (and talked through the whole thing). I just mailed out invitations to her 100th birthday party, including one to her cardiologist. There’s really no secret. On paper, she hasn’t done anything special other than being an incredible woman. Also seriously still one of the sharpest people I know. While it’s not enough for everyone, finding a reason to live is a really good one. And God’s good graces. I’m so grateful to still have her. She has been one of the most influential people in my life.
OMG Thank you for saying this. I thought I was the only one.
As a card-carrying GenXer and former Whoop user, I see both sides of this. For me, it wasn't narcissism, but more curiosity. I liked seeing how things affected me, how it showed up in empirical data, not just subjective feelings. On the one hand, this insight can be...too much. For example, Whoop's scores sometimes made me feel worse. If it said I'd slept poorly or my recovery was low, I'd scale back my workouts even if I *felt* fine...I'd think, "I'd better not push too hard because Whoop said I'm not at my best." This is actually why I stopped using it. Whoop was dictating how I felt and that's just BANANAS. On the other hand, it can provide an incentive and help to change habits for the better. My husband insisted alcohol didn't affect his sleep or any other biomarkers (he's had some health issues already). Wearing a Whoop showed him otherwise, and it's helped him to curtail his consumption and get to bed earlier.
"If it said I'd slept poorly or my recovery was low, I'd scale back my workouts even if I *felt* fine...I'd think, "I'd better not push too hard because Whoop said I'm not at my best." This is actually why I stopped using it. Whoop was dictating how I felt"
If I may be so bold, I think your mistake was *letting* it dictate how you felt. The WHOOP didn't actually dictate anything; it merely provided data and information.
You *could* have ignored that information when you felt fine, and done your workout anyway.
Correct! I was easily swayed...or looking for an excuse. :) It's basically a placebo effect, and it works both ways. There was actually a study done of Whoop users that showed their perception of how rested they felt and their behavior (including cognitive performance) changed based on their sleep score, regardless of their actual state of restfulness. Which begs the question of whether you could just artificially inflate the scores to spur better performance.