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I'm not sure hunting down viruses that don't cause problems in 90% percent of people is a good idea. Maybe they have some positive effect that we haven't realiz

by blix 5y ago

I'm not sure hunting down viruses that don't cause problems in 90% percent of people is a good idea. Maybe they have some positive effect that we haven't realized yet. We are only just now catching up to the idea that bacteria are not always dangerous. There are probably other things we don't know. The tonsils and appendix recently were recategorized from vestigial organs to immune privileged bacteria resevoirs which play significant roles in the immune system. I think it would be a better idea to try to identify the reasons that some people have adverse reactions and some don't before going into the body and removing things.

yaacov 5y ago
It’s getting clearer and clearer that these viruses are extremely bad, see for example https://denovo.substack.com/p/epstein-barr-virus-more-maladies https://denovo.substack.com/p/epstein-barr-virus-more-maladi...
- blix 5y ago
  EBV is linked to many, many things. But why does it only have these effects in some people and not others? Why is the prevalance of weird EBV-linked conditions increasing with time? Until these question are answered I don't think it's possible to call it uniquely bad.
  - ck2 5y ago
    EBV is typically activated by other stress. Hence "not a problem" for younger, healthier people. Until something unpredictable happens, like covid. One kind of long-covid is activated EBV by covid (there are other kinds). VZV (typo in my earlier post) hides in nerve cells waiting for immune weakness to attack (ie. shingles) Wildly high number of people have it dormant.
    - rkk3 5y ago
      Appendicitis is activated by inflammation and "not a problem" for most people. The Appendix organ hides in the body and waits to become inflamed to attack. It's certainly in the realm of possibility EBV or other viruses have no benefit, but the history of medicine is harmful medical intervention after harmful medical intervention...
      - sudosysgen 5y ago
        It's almost certain that EBV has no benefit. We have a nice control group of people without EBV and as far as I'm aware absolutely no benefit is apparent.
        331c8c71 5y ago
        The non-carriers are not a control group unless we are 100% sure that the assignment is random. I find it hard to believe when the vast majority of population are carriers.
        sudosysgen 5y ago
        It's not random. More developed countries and richer people in more developped countries have a lower incidence rate. The chance of catching it increases with age. The part of the population that doesn't catch it seems to be avoiding it by luck, higher hygiene, and fewer vectors. See: https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/208/8/1286/2192838 https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/208/8/1286/2192838
        blix 5y ago
        As recently as 15 years ago we were 'almost certain' that the appendix had no function. Oops.
        sudosysgen 5y ago
        If a large portion of the population was missing the appendix naturally with no drawback, it would have almost definitely held.

by blix 5y ago

yaacov 5y ago

It’s getting clearer and clearer that these viruses are extremely bad, see for example https://denovo.substack.com/p/epstein-barr-virus-more-maladies https://denovo.substack.com/p/epstein-barr-virus-more-maladi...

blix 5y ago
EBV is linked to many, many things. But why does it only have these effects in some people and not others? Why is the prevalance of weird EBV-linked conditions increasing with time? Until these question are answered I don't think it's possible to call it uniquely bad.
- ck2 5y ago
  EBV is typically activated by other stress. Hence "not a problem" for younger, healthier people. Until something unpredictable happens, like covid. One kind of long-covid is activated EBV by covid (there are other kinds). VZV (typo in my earlier post) hides in nerve cells waiting for immune weakness to attack (ie. shingles) Wildly high number of people have it dormant.
  - rkk3 5y ago
    Appendicitis is activated by inflammation and "not a problem" for most people. The Appendix organ hides in the body and waits to become inflamed to attack. It's certainly in the realm of possibility EBV or other viruses have no benefit, but the history of medicine is harmful medical intervention after harmful medical intervention...
    - sudosysgen 5y ago
      It's almost certain that EBV has no benefit. We have a nice control group of people without EBV and as far as I'm aware absolutely no benefit is apparent.
      - 331c8c71 5y ago
        The non-carriers are not a control group unless we are 100% sure that the assignment is random. I find it hard to believe when the vast majority of population are carriers.
        sudosysgen 5y ago
        It's not random. More developed countries and richer people in more developped countries have a lower incidence rate. The chance of catching it increases with age. The part of the population that doesn't catch it seems to be avoiding it by luck, higher hygiene, and fewer vectors. See: https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/208/8/1286/2192838 https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/208/8/1286/2192838
      - blix 5y ago
        As recently as 15 years ago we were 'almost certain' that the appendix had no function. Oops.
        sudosysgen 5y ago
        If a large portion of the population was missing the appendix naturally with no drawback, it would have almost definitely held.