Books & Reading Them

Worldly and otherworldly topics

How many books you reading these days?

More than 20 a year
4
31%
Between 16 to 20 a year
1
8%
Between 11 to 15 a year
1
8%
Between 6 to 10 a year
2
15%
Between 3 to 5 a year
1
8%
One or two a year
2
15%
Fewer than one a year
2
15%
 
Total votes: 13

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starjots
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Location: New Mexico, USA

Re: Books & Reading Them

Post by starjots » Sat Jun 25, 2022 10:14 am

Light Leak wrote:
Wed Jun 15, 2022 7:24 pm
I haven't read fiction in awhile. When I read lately it's mostly health books. I still want to read fiction if I can find the time, but lately I've been trying to figure out how to fix myself since doctors can't seem to figure me out.
I've been reading a lot less fiction lately as well. I used to try to alternate between fiction and non-fiction, just to get some balance.

Thing is, to me good fiction is a long-winded way of illuminating or looking at life in different ways that is entertaining and informative about the human experience. But most of my recent fiction reads miss the mark. What stories, what myths (which are just stories with a long shelf life) actually inform me about the human experience? The modern stuff seems banal and the old stuff out of date. I know I'm painting with a broad brush here, but what I'm after is grokking life. Hell, I think that's what everyone is after -- it's part of our firmware.

Decent non-fiction can always add incrementally to the grok, the more factual the better -- please minimize opinions or at least state them openly as such. I finished Rachel Maddow's book on the oil industry and learn a some tidbits relevant to understanding the war in Ukraine. I read Daniel Dennet and learn a decent theory of the evolution of culture, the mind and so forth. I read a fiction book and get a retread of myth or trope overlain on somebody's fantasy. I think the Life of Pi was the last fiction book that made me think.

I heard an author's interview back in 2020. The guy had released a fictional work about a world pandemic right before Covid. But he admitted he could never imagine people would behave as they behaved in the pandemic, inventing conspiracy theories, making it political and so forth. His version of a terrible pandemic had everyone pulling together to fight the pathogen. The reality was everyone using the pathogen to stake out and solidify their position in their tribe of choice.

We need some new myths, and I'd like to read them.

Note: I read the Old Man and the Sea last year. It was a strong statement of individual struggle, but I wondered why he kept killing the sharks after it was obviously futile.

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Utisz
Posts: 676
Joined: Fri Nov 22, 2019 4:35 am

Re: Books & Reading Them

Post by Utisz » Sat Jun 25, 2022 10:27 am

starjots wrote:
Sat Jun 25, 2022 10:14 am
Note: I read the Old Man and the Sea last year. It was a strong statement of individual struggle, but I wondered why he kept killing the sharks after it was obviously futile.
Any time my father would see a grey crow, he'd go for the shotgun. Probably he still goes for it. He hates the fuckers. Apparently they'd eat the eyes out of lambs or calves. In which decade this happened and to whose second cousin this happened is anyone's guess.

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Catoptric
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Location: 1187 at Hundertwasser
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Re: Books & Reading Them

Post by Catoptric » Sat Jun 25, 2022 3:45 pm

Utisz wrote:
Sat Jun 25, 2022 10:27 am
starjots wrote:
Sat Jun 25, 2022 10:14 am
Note: I read the Old Man and the Sea last year. It was a strong statement of individual struggle, but I wondered why he kept killing the sharks after it was obviously futile.
Any time my father would see a grey crow, he'd go for the shotgun. Probably he still goes for it. He hates the fuckers. Apparently they'd eat the eyes out of lambs or calves. In which decade this happened and to whose second cousin this happened is anyone's guess.
I'm imagining the ending of this video.
Societal egress and ennui
Hello / Goodbye / Just a moment / Nothing / Cosmic / Man / Dream / Civilization / Open / Contact / Tremble / Gas / Memory / Transcend / ^2

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Light Leak
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:56 pm

Re: Books & Reading Them

Post by Light Leak » Sun Jun 26, 2022 5:57 pm

Utisz wrote:
Sat Jun 18, 2022 7:18 am
What's up Light Leak? What ails you?
The same stuff that has for years. Chronic headaches, autoimmune illness, anxiety, and some other stuff. Doctors don't seem to know how to help me, so I guess it's up to me.

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Madrigal
Posts: 619
Joined: Fri Nov 22, 2019 8:59 am

Re: Books & Reading Them

Post by Madrigal » Sun Jun 26, 2022 6:31 pm

Light Leak wrote:
Sun Jun 26, 2022 5:57 pm
Utisz wrote:
Sat Jun 18, 2022 7:18 am
What's up Light Leak? What ails you?
The same stuff that has for years. Chronic headaches, autoimmune illness, anxiety, and some other stuff. Doctors don't seem to know how to help me, so I guess it's up to me.
Headaches are horrible! I have a few triggers and don't really take the precautions that I should so I probably get a 2-day migraine at least twice a month. And it doesn't matter what I take, it's gonna take 2 days to go away. I suppose you must have tried eliminating certain things from your diet and seeing what happens? I also heard that people with autoimmune illness can suffer from iron defficiency or anemia and that these things can cause headaches.

But I don't expect to tell you anything new, I guess, just thinking aloud. :/

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Light Leak
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:56 pm

Re: Books & Reading Them

Post by Light Leak » Sun Jun 26, 2022 10:01 pm

Madrigal wrote:
Sun Jun 26, 2022 6:31 pm
Headaches are horrible! I have a few triggers and don't really take the precautions that I should so I probably get a 2-day migraine at least twice a month. And it doesn't matter what I take, it's gonna take 2 days to go away. I suppose you must have tried eliminating certain things from your diet and seeing what happens? I also heard that people with autoimmune illness can suffer from iron defficiency or anemia and that these things can cause headaches.

But I don't expect to tell you anything new, I guess, just thinking aloud. :/
I have headaches more days than not. I've had them last up to 4 days, or maybe longer if the headache switching sides of my head counts as the same headache. I've tried the elimination diets. I didn't find very many dietary triggers, but it's hard to tell what triggers what when I get so many headaches. Beer, red wine, and artificial sweeteners are the only triggers I could find.

Anxiety is probably a trigger, but I haven't been able to find anything to control my anxiety.

I've had testing for deficiencies and the tests all come back normal, so I guess if I'm deficient in something it's not something they're testing for. I found out in the past week that I'm possibly salt deficient though. My physical therapist suggested that and give me samples of an electrolyte to try that has 1000mg of sodium in it. It didn't help specifically with the headaches, but I noticed it helped with digestion and low energy. Maybe if I keep using the electrolytes it will help with headaches. I don't know. The physical therapist said it helps with muscles and it seems like tight muscles in my neck and shoulders seem to contribute to the headaches.

I'm trying massage for the tight muscles, but it hasn't helped yet. The massage therapist said it might take several more sessions to loosen up all the tension because everything is so tight.

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Spartan26
Posts: 148
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2021 9:13 pm

Re: Books & Reading Them

Post by Spartan26 » Mon Jun 27, 2022 12:25 am

Light Leak wrote:
Sun Jun 26, 2022 10:01 pm
I'm trying massage for the tight muscles, but it hasn't helped yet. The massage therapist said it might take several more sessions to loosen up all the tension because everything is so tight.
Massages and acupuncture helped me immensely with my headaches. Even stopped a cycle of cluster headaches.

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Light Leak
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:56 pm

Re: Books & Reading Them

Post by Light Leak » Mon Jun 27, 2022 3:28 am

Spartan26 wrote:
Mon Jun 27, 2022 12:25 am
Massages and acupuncture helped me immensely with my headaches. Even stopped a cycle of cluster headaches.
I do acupuncture on and off too, but I'm not sure that the needles do much for me. I think this treatment my acupuncturist does called gua sha helps, but it leaves ugly marks for a couple days.

Physical therapy seems to be able to break headache cycles for me, but my physical therapist gets booked quickly so it's difficult to get an appointment when I have a headache. It would also be expensive to do for every headache.

The effects of all this stuff wears off I have to keep going. Also, sometimes physical therapy, massages, and acupuncture give me a headache for a day or two afterwards which I'm told is fairly common. For some people the pain spikes before it gets better. I guess I'm one of those lucky people.

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HighlyIrregular
Posts: 601
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:20 pm
Location: New York
Formerly: BarIII

Re: Books & Reading Them

Post by HighlyIrregular » Mon Jun 27, 2022 8:19 pm

Light Leak wrote:
Sun Jun 26, 2022 10:01 pm
I've had testing for deficiencies and the tests all come back normal, so I guess if I'm deficient in something it's not something they're testing for. I found out in the past week that I'm possibly salt deficient though.
What country did you get the tests in? Do you know the exact tests you got? I could look up the name of the test to see what it includes. Could you describe your diet?

I searched Pubmed for systematic reviews within the last 5 years using the search term headache sodium. There were 20 results. I don't think there was anything on dietary sodium - just scarier forms. There was mention of melatonin but I looked up the side effects and even that's scary. One study said propranolol, a beta blocker, was effective for migraines. I looked up natural beta blockers and found Hawthorne berry mentioned in the journal Pharmacy and Therapeutics (a regular Google search lists a ton of natural beta blockers but I'm trying to avoid random websites). Hawthorne berry supposedly has heart and circulation benefits, which propranolol also has.

From https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/hawthorn :
How Much Do We Know?
Hawthorn has been studied for heart failure in people. Heart failure is a condition in which the heart can’t pump as much blood as it should.

Not much is known about hawthorn for any other health conditions as there is little or no evidence.

What Have We Learned?
There is conflicting evidence about the effects of hawthorn in people with heart failure. Although some older, short-term studies suggested that hawthorn may have benefits in patients with heart failure, other, more recent, studies did not confirm these benefits. In these studies, unlike some of the older ones, patients were given hawthorn in addition to the recommended conventional treatments for heart failure. One of the studies suggested possible harm in people taking hawthorn as it appears to increase the early risk of heart failure progression.

What Do We Know About Safety?
In most studies of hawthorn for heart failure, no serious safety problems have been reported. However, in one study, patients taking hawthorn were more likely than those taking a placebo (an inactive substance) to have their heart failure get worse soon after the study started. The reason for this is not clear, but one possibility is that hawthorn might have interacted with drugs the patients were taking.
Side effects of hawthorn can include dizziness, nausea, and digestive symptoms.

Hawthorn may interact in harmful ways with drugs, including some heart medications. If you’re taking medication and you’re considering using hawthorn, consult your health care provider.

Little is known about whether it’s safe to use hawthorn during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.
I eat Total cereal because it's well fortified. It has the three vitamins claimed by the following study to help with migraines:

Pyridoxine [vitamin B6], folate and cobalamin [vitamin B12] for migraine: A systematic review.

Acta Neurol Scand. 2020 Aug;142(2):108-120. doi: 10.1111/ane.13251. Epub 2020 Apr 30. PMID: 32279306.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32279306/

"...significant benefits were registered for the use of B6 alone, in combination with folate and in combination with folate and B12 in the prophylaxis of migraine with aura (MA) in adults compared to placebo (five RCTs, only one did not obtain significant results). Folate supplementation alone was not more efficacious than placebo (one RCT)."

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Light Leak
Posts: 34
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Re: Books & Reading Them

Post by Light Leak » Tue Jun 28, 2022 4:04 am

HighlyIrregular wrote:
Mon Jun 27, 2022 8:19 pm
What country did you get the tests in? Do you know the exact tests you got? I could look up the name of the test to see what it includes. Could you describe your diet?
Thanks for the interest. I've been dealing with this problem for years. I don't really want to go into it all here. I was really just trying to share what types of things I've been reading lately.
I eat Total cereal because it's well fortified. It has the three vitamins claimed by the following study to help with migraines:

Pyridoxine [vitamin B6], folate and cobalamin [vitamin B12] for migraine: A systematic review.
Yep. I have a high quality multivitamin that has all of these in bioavailable forms so my body can absorb them better. I also take magnesium, CoQ10, and riboflavin because they're supposed to help based on some study.

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