Pre-Emptive Gerontology, Pathologies and General CR Philosophy...

[Guest guest]

Greetings--

Have recently visited a friend whose doc put her on methadone for

chronic pain. The side effects disturb me. She has gone from 105 pounds

to 150 pounds in very few months because she is constantly on a sugar

jones. Aside from that, she has slurred speech and slowed

conversational response, which I understand is normal for her dosage.

She plans on remaining on this regimen because it's the only thing that

relieves the pain. I can't fault her for that, nor can I question the

doc. I was wondering, though, if there's any way to short circuit the

sugar jones through nutritive means. Is this a low blood sugar thing or

a seratonin thing or something else entirely? Even if this is an

unavoidable side effect of the drug, can it be managed in such a way as

not to cause insulin resistance in the long term?

I've read everything I can find on the side effects, the sugar thing

isn't mentioned at all except as something that addicts do.

Does anyone here have any experience with this kind of drug interaction

affecting nutritional needs?

This leads me to other questions, which are difficult for me to

articulate, but I'll have a go at it anyway.

What brought me into the healthy lifestyle was watching a friend of

mine rebound astonishingly quickly from a brain hemorrage. Because he

was in very good shape, his body was able to respond to the trauma much

better than the average person.

Sold me.

I get the sense that, as a group, we are very healthy. We're committed

to practicing a healthy lifestyle. I also get the sense that most of us

are over thirty. (I may be wrong.)

If we are, then we're a group that has either avoided serious illness

or we've overcome some health hits to enjoy the benefits of being able

to focus on above-average health rather than trying-to-get-better

health or just-trying-to-function health.

An analogy is that we've got enough health 'dollars' to not only pay

our current bills, but also invest our energies toward our future

health.

This brings me to another, perhaps vague question about the aims of CR

Society as a group of lab rats. As the current population ages, more

and more people will be drawn toward life extension, but there will be

a lot of people, like my friend, whose needs will be different. We are

practicing pre-emptive gerontology. What we learn in this group will

help those that come after as well as help each other.

While it isn't my place to run in and tell my friend how to eat, it is

my place to ask whether something can be done to help her or others

like her. Since eating disorders get mentioned here frequently, it

appears that we _do_ have a concern with eating pathologies as part of

the whole fabric as well as a concern with therapeutic nutrition.

So, given all of that,

1) Does anyone have any information that could help my friend? Does

anyone know anything about the chemistry that's going on inside of her?

Would there be any way to short circuit the sugar jones nutritively?

2) Does anyone know of any studies that have been done regarding this

question?

3) Have there been any studies on nutrition and chronic pain, thus

lowering the needed dosage of pain meds?

3) How many of us have overcome some health nastiness or are in the

midst of overcoming some health nastiness? I would really find your

stories instructive and inspiring.

4) Is there a minority of lurkers who aren't experiencing the same

success that some of the more vocal members are? Are there any health

factors that may be compromising your success? What have you tried to

do that has or hasn't worked?

While anecdotal evidence may not be conclusive by any stretch of the

scientific imagination, it might spark some clever researcher to come

up with a solid study that will lead to some conclusive results that

can be used - or through an archival search of these forums, find the

anecdotal evidence needed to justify a study.

Thanks for bearing with me,

Lee