5 ms·

Great. But we need to tackle it at multiple levels, specifically prevention and not just treatment. Furthermore, we need to develop a way of sustainable organ

Great. But we need to tackle it at multiple levels, specifically prevention and not just treatment. Furthermore, we need to develop a way of sustainable organ and blood availability. The only way I can see this happening is through synthetic/artificial means. What Organovo is doing is a good start, but they still need the matrix from an existing organ. Here is what I see as ideal: - Around the time a baby is born (before or after, or both), some stem cells, DNA samples etc are collected. - We need a tech for storing those samples for decades, not years. Including a tech for "feeding" and growing them in a sustainable manner. - Then we need to have a way to differentiate organs out of them. - And be able to store working organs for decades, not years. - And a tech to artificially grow, maintain, and store blood. - And inject that person's immune system culture into those stored samples and organs on recurring basis. So that they are up-to-date with that person's immune system. That means, if and when a person has organ failure, or is in need of blood, (s)he has the stuff ready from his/her own stash. No dependence on one another. It's crazy and super-moonshot? yes. But it's a very realistic way forward. And it's a holy grail worth working towards.

koolba 8y ago
This country (USA) can’t even agree to provide free universal vaccinations for children, how would they ever cover something like that for the masses? What you describe sounds like it would cost millions per person.
- b_tterc_p 8y ago
  That sounded preposterous to me so I looked it up. I think it leans towards being false. Obamacare seems to require plans to cover them without copay, and if you don’t have health insurance, the CDC provides a free program to get vaccinations for kids. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/index.html Bring 18 or under and uninsured is enough to qualify. To your credit, public awareness of this may not be everywhere.
  - koolba 8y ago
    Requiring people to buy something (insurance) and covering the cost only if their income is below a given level is not the same as providing it directly to everyone.
    - b_tterc_p 8y ago
      That’s not what this says? Either you have insurance and it must be covered or you don’t have insurance and it’s available for free through this program. Income is not a variable here.
  - istjohn 8y ago
    In my hometown Columbus, Ohio, the county health department will provide free vaccinations if the parent states they are unable to pay anything. I don't know how common that is, but I don't generally consider our county or city governments to be particularly generous.
credit_guy 8y ago
For your first 2 bullet points, the technology and providers exist already, and it's somewhat of a big business. For my kids, we used ViaCord. The collection of the Umbilical cord blood cost us about $4k per child, and the storage is supposed to work for at least 20 years (most likely they don't claim more because they don't have the history to prove it, not because the cells will somehow denaturate at the 20y point). [1] https://www.viacord.com/why-bank/benefits-of-cord-blood/?gclid=CjwKCAiAkrTjBRAoEiwAXpf9CWZOr5RROnIIvmvChr3xNJ0AlZamaosuDbrGX44CAZS9xqSiYJaMEBoCJu0QAvD_BwE https://www.viacord.com/why-bank/benefits-of-cord-blood/?gcl...
forgotmypw3 8y ago
>prevention and not just treatment. Unfortunately, this conflicts with "the economy". Many of us are getting paid to produce cancer-causing products, such as: * processed foods (most of the things you buy in a supermarket) * most shampoos, cosmetics, soaps, detergents, cleaning products, etc. * paraffin candles * cigarettes and alcohol * components of all these products and the byproducts of their production * not to mention shit done on industrial scale * the air, if you live in a populated area * and so on. If you really want to reduce your and your family's chances of getting cancer, you're doing your research and doing a lot of work to move away from the mainstream (which is still stuck in 1950's level of knowledge) on these habits, but most people are not, and just blindly trust the government and oversight bodies to protect them because it's "easier" and "cheaper" and "they wouldn't allow it to be sold if it was harmful". Years later: Surprise!
- agumonkey 8y ago
  I'm thinking of ways to start groups of aquaponics to grow local and toxin free. Spending more time in the green is good, eating simple and fresh too. The ~power of mainstream is high, it's not super easy to swim across the flow
  - forgotmypw3 8y ago
    No, it is not easy at all. And even in educated circles, your opinions will be in the minority, and cognitive dissonance will work against you too. People hate finding out that they're wrong, and nobody wants to admit that they've been poisoning themselves and their family for decades. It's either that or cancer, though...
    - agumonkey 8y ago
      I think it's more fear of doubt than being wrong. I'm sure if you come with a ready made solution they won't resist nearly as much.
      - forgotmypw3 8y ago
ed312 8y ago
That may help in some cases, but cancer specifically represents a broad class of diseases and treatment isn't always that simple. Blood-based cancers and later stages (having spread to multiple parts of the body) become more challenging to treat. Additionally, the disease can mutate even with a patient so you might need different treatments depending on how your disease has changed.
supermw 8y ago
Having cloned organs ready for transplant won't extend life as much as you think. A lot of this doesn't mean much if you can't replace a faulty circulatory system, which will inevitably cause organs to fail even if they are brand new. Unfortunately, a circulatory system is practically impossible to replace. It would cost tens of millions of dollars and you'd have to already be in great shape to survive the very long recovery time. And then you do all this, only to die eventually, all the same.
- fizixer 8y ago
  I'm going by the assumption that, aside from genetic reasons, a circulatory system can in principle be kept in good shape through diet and exercise. I think the first step is to focus on things that we don't have a solution for. Having good diet and exercise is a fairly comprehensive solution, no matter how hard it might be to maintain a lifelong strict regimen (as long as you're able to have such a regimen, your chances of the circulatory system going bad are slim to none). In the case of organ failure, we don't even have anything other than reliance on organ availability from others.

koolba 8y ago

This country (USA) can’t even agree to provide free universal vaccinations for children, how would they ever cover something like that for the masses? What you describe sounds like it would cost millions per person.

b_tterc_p 8y ago
That sounded preposterous to me so I looked it up. I think it leans towards being false. Obamacare seems to require plans to cover them without copay, and if you don’t have health insurance, the CDC provides a free program to get vaccinations for kids. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/index.html Bring 18 or under and uninsured is enough to qualify. To your credit, public awareness of this may not be everywhere.
- koolba 8y ago
  Requiring people to buy something (insurance) and covering the cost only if their income is below a given level is not the same as providing it directly to everyone.
  - b_tterc_p 8y ago
    That’s not what this says? Either you have insurance and it must be covered or you don’t have insurance and it’s available for free through this program. Income is not a variable here.
- istjohn 8y ago
  In my hometown Columbus, Ohio, the county health department will provide free vaccinations if the parent states they are unable to pay anything. I don't know how common that is, but I don't generally consider our county or city governments to be particularly generous.

credit_guy 8y ago

For your first 2 bullet points, the technology and providers exist already, and it's somewhat of a big business. For my kids, we used ViaCord. The collection of the Umbilical cord blood cost us about $4k per child, and the storage is supposed to work for at least 20 years (most likely they don't claim more because they don't have the history to prove it, not because the cells will somehow denaturate at the 20y point). [1] https://www.viacord.com/why-bank/benefits-of-cord-blood/?gclid=CjwKCAiAkrTjBRAoEiwAXpf9CWZOr5RROnIIvmvChr3xNJ0AlZamaosuDbrGX44CAZS9xqSiYJaMEBoCJu0QAvD_BwE https://www.viacord.com/why-bank/benefits-of-cord-blood/?gcl...

forgotmypw3 8y ago

>prevention and not just treatment. Unfortunately, this conflicts with "the economy". Many of us are getting paid to produce cancer-causing products, such as: * processed foods (most of the things you buy in a supermarket) * most shampoos, cosmetics, soaps, detergents, cleaning products, etc. * paraffin candles * cigarettes and alcohol * components of all these products and the byproducts of their production * not to mention shit done on industrial scale * the air, if you live in a populated area * and so on. If you really want to reduce your and your family's chances of getting cancer, you're doing your research and doing a lot of work to move away from the mainstream (which is still stuck in 1950's level of knowledge) on these habits, but most people are not, and just blindly trust the government and oversight bodies to protect them because it's "easier" and "cheaper" and "they wouldn't allow it to be sold if it was harmful". Years later: Surprise!

agumonkey 8y ago
I'm thinking of ways to start groups of aquaponics to grow local and toxin free. Spending more time in the green is good, eating simple and fresh too. The ~power of mainstream is high, it's not super easy to swim across the flow
- forgotmypw3 8y ago
  No, it is not easy at all. And even in educated circles, your opinions will be in the minority, and cognitive dissonance will work against you too. People hate finding out that they're wrong, and nobody wants to admit that they've been poisoning themselves and their family for decades. It's either that or cancer, though...
  - agumonkey 8y ago
    I think it's more fear of doubt than being wrong. I'm sure if you come with a ready made solution they won't resist nearly as much.
    - forgotmypw3 8y ago

ed312 8y ago

That may help in some cases, but cancer specifically represents a broad class of diseases and treatment isn't always that simple. Blood-based cancers and later stages (having spread to multiple parts of the body) become more challenging to treat. Additionally, the disease can mutate even with a patient so you might need different treatments depending on how your disease has changed.

supermw 8y ago

Having cloned organs ready for transplant won't extend life as much as you think. A lot of this doesn't mean much if you can't replace a faulty circulatory system, which will inevitably cause organs to fail even if they are brand new. Unfortunately, a circulatory system is practically impossible to replace. It would cost tens of millions of dollars and you'd have to already be in great shape to survive the very long recovery time. And then you do all this, only to die eventually, all the same.

fizixer 8y ago
I'm going by the assumption that, aside from genetic reasons, a circulatory system can in principle be kept in good shape through diet and exercise. I think the first step is to focus on things that we don't have a solution for. Having good diet and exercise is a fairly comprehensive solution, no matter how hard it might be to maintain a lifelong strict regimen (as long as you're able to have such a regimen, your chances of the circulatory system going bad are slim to none). In the case of organ failure, we don't even have anything other than reliance on organ availability from others.