andrewducker | All men are created equal

As some of you know, Erin has PCOS. The solution to this is to basically give her drugs that return her body to normal levels of insulin/glucose so that her testosterone levels drop and she's normal again.

Now, I have insulin problems too. And according to recent statistics a large proportion is ending up with type 2 diabetes because of dietary problems. So it'd be great if we could brute-force a solution to this.

In some ways.

How far from the norm do people have to be before they are considered eligible? Do you allow people to self-medicate away their problems? Do we allow people to use this tech to make themselves thinner (or fatter) than normal by medicating? Is it reasonable to allow people to basically make themselves dependent on this technology so that their hormone levels are constantly monitored and adjusted and tuned to keep them at optimum levels.

More to the point, lets extend that to a general level. We're gaining more and more control over our bodies and brains. Are we going to take control of our bodies on a deep invasive level (eventually redefining what it means to be human) or are we going to decide that only certain changes are to be allowed? This underlies many issues facing modern politics, from cloning to genetic manipulation to human/machine interfaces. At some point this basic issue is going to have to be faced, or the decisions will be taken piece by piece and not in the directions we necessarily want them to.

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But _why_ do you think people should take the hard work route rather than the "simple tool to fix your problems" route?

Surely as a coder you're in favour of skipping the hard work in favouir of havign the tech do it for you?

I am advocating the simpler option. Simpler in that it directly addresses the cause rather than plasterign over (possibly only the most obvious) symptoms.

The problem with eating sweet things is that they raise blood glucose levels, which has various bad effects. Break that connection and you get the good (sweeties!) without the bad.

Likewise - why pump chemicals into your body and alter yor hormone balance is badly understood ways when you could just avoid having sex if you didn't want kids?

I suppose that I don't see that sweeties are good. They are defintely bad for your teeth. I don't like sweet stuff generally anyway. I suppose it might be harder to give them up if you liked them.

Pregnancy/child birth is a huge issue, not just physically but more importantly, economically.

I don't do hormonal contraception any more anyway. If there were no options for contraception at all, yes I would avoid sex (Probably easier for me to say at 31 than at 16!). If I had had the information at 16 that I have now, I may never have started with any of it, but even so, compared to the pure horror of having kids, any effects from contraception have been totally minor.

I strongly believe that women need some way of avoiding pregnacy that is under their control and can (as is sadly necessary in many parts of the world) be done without their partner knowing.

I don't do hormonal contraception any more anyway.

When did that happen? Last time I checked you were regularly having needles stuck in you...

I found out it stops bone accumulation (v. important). They didn't even know this 10 years ago. The bloody nurse didn't know it when I asked last year.

I'm pissed off, but there is nothing that I can do. Their anwser is that 9-10 yrs is Ok (like they actually have a clue , but no more). Depression (even one episode) is a big factor in osteoporosis too. guess i'm doomed.

Ouchie. Now, is this a result of that hormone specifically, or down to the fact that it's injected, or what?

I'm pretty much set on-course for a vasectomy at the moment, as the simplest form of comtraception for those that really don't want a kid. I just have to get my arse in gear.

Down to what it is, as far as I can tell.

I wish more men thought like you! There are possible side-effects to vascetomy - do do the reading first!

Shame it's a general anaesthetic and cutting into the abdominal wall etc. or I'd consider sterilisation myself.

I haven't looked at this thread in a while, and would just like to address this point, specifically the notion that behavioural adaptation, such as adopting a healthier diet, is 'hard work', with an example from my own case.
When I was 14, I decided to adopt a vegetarian diet. This was annoying to my parents, but there was very little they could do about it. For me, it was effortless. Okay, granted, I didn't really like to eat as a teenager, but this was an extremely easy decision to put into practise. Within weeks, I stopped perceiving meat as food. I'd be hungry, go to the kitchen, see some meat in the fridge, and it wouldn't register, and I'd have oatmeal. Some years later, I got very ill, and after a long time being ill, my stomach capacity had shrunk to about six ounces. Once I started getting better, I was interested in maximally nutritious foods that would do for me, espacially as I'd dropped a ridiculous amount of weight and really needed to address that. As by this time I was pretty much in total control over what I ate and lived in a place where I could have been a vegan macrobiotic without too much extra effort, this wasn't hard. In a very short space of time, my diet consisted primarily of olive oil, brown rice, amaranth, miso, adzuki and pinto beans, seaweeds, tinned tomatoes, and whatever fresh fruit and veg were in season. I couldn't afford supermarket organic, but bought things from the local farmers' market whenever I could.
I ate no refined sugar or carbohydrates, and the reason for this was not ideological, but that I couldn't stand them. Once I was well again, there was no reason why I shouldn't occasionally eat this stuff, but my body didn't (still doesn't) like refined foods, and my tastes had adapted to match. Maybe necessity drove me to this, but I have to look back on the transition from a happy hotdog devourer to a fairly strict veg-- really, quite painless, and I suspect it would have been the same for the other dietary change.
I don't think my experience is unique. Lots of people, once they start eating healthier, find that they both feel better and no longer like worthless food. Lots of people, if they get regular exercise, find that they feel better, sleep better, and they feel wrong if they don't get at least a wee walk in a day. Behavioural adaptation is not necessarily *work*. It may be hard at first, but if successful, the change can for many be permanent, maintenance effortless.
Just a thought.

I'll happily agree that once you get yourself moved over it's not a problem at all.

Can I ask how much fun you find most food? Do you look forward to anything in the same way you used to think "Mmmmm, Doughnut..."?

Oh, yeah. Food. Food good.
Mmmmmm. Sushi. Mmmmmmmmmm. Well, I guess that's kinda normal...

Sushi is vegetarian???

Can be. Cucumber maki wasabi bombs are about the best thing in the world.
Anyway, I'm not vegetarian anymore... I'm arather sad about that, but I couldn't get the kind of stuff I was used to eating in Vermont once I moved here and my digestion freaked out again. It's easier in a lot of ways too because my husband doesn't like most vegetables. I reserve my aubergine and brussels sprout dinners for his developer's meeting nights. ;)

But brussel sprouts rock! It's just that most people are introduced to them in "boiled-into-mush" form.

I do, by the way, currently try to eat well, avoid sugary food, etc.

But if they come up with a pill that will allow me to snack on doughnuts and chocolate, I'll be there like a shot.

I know! They totally rock!
Well, I think you can be forgiven your doghnut and chocolate fetish if I can be forgiven my cheese one. Cheeeeeeeeeeeeese. Yum.

Aw, now you've got me thinking about grilled aubergines, and I'm going to have to go out and get an aubergine and grill it. ;)

All men are created equal

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