3 ms·

This has shown up on HN before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7743036 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7743036 That said, "inflammation is elevated,

by tjohns 12y ago

This has shown up on HN before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7743036 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7743036 That said, "inflammation is elevated, recover with a green smoothie" seems like questionable medical advice. I pretty much gave up on this right there.

tedks 12y ago
Their core competency is building sensor systems, not delivering medical advice. If you know you're more inflamed, that's useful information in itself.
- tptacek 12y ago
  In the thread I linked down downthread, a physician questioned the utility of the inflammation marker they're testing.
  - tedks 12y ago
    That's a different criticism than that their medical advice is unsound.
- tjohns 12y ago
  I'm not entirely sure it's useful. At least not in a home context. Elevated inflammation could be a sign of something like arthritis, cancer, crohn's disease, a heart attack, or a dozen other serious things... or you could just have a mild bacterial infection that will resolve on its own... or you might have just gotten back from the gym. I've never had a doctor test for inflammation markers unless there's something else noticeably wrong and they're trying to perform a differential diagnosis. It's just not something that you'd want to routinely test for, let alone know how to interpret in a meaningful way. And summing all of that up into "drink a green smoothie" doesn't help anyone. That smoothie isn't going cure a bacterial infection. (But it might sell your product to health conscious consumers who don't know better.) Edit: Which isn't to say that certain data can't be useful. Cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure, weight... these are things that serve as good general indicators of health and are worth frequent monitoring.
dang 12y ago
Thanks. Since the story has had significant attention in the last year, this counts as a dupe. (See the FAQ for a description of this.) We sometimes make exceptions if the product has undergone a major state change, such as being launched. But I don't see that here.

by tjohns 12y ago

tedks 12y ago

Their core competency is building sensor systems, not delivering medical advice. If you know you're more inflamed, that's useful information in itself.

tptacek 12y ago
In the thread I linked down downthread, a physician questioned the utility of the inflammation marker they're testing.
- tedks 12y ago
  That's a different criticism than that their medical advice is unsound.
tjohns 12y ago
I'm not entirely sure it's useful. At least not in a home context. Elevated inflammation could be a sign of something like arthritis, cancer, crohn's disease, a heart attack, or a dozen other serious things... or you could just have a mild bacterial infection that will resolve on its own... or you might have just gotten back from the gym. I've never had a doctor test for inflammation markers unless there's something else noticeably wrong and they're trying to perform a differential diagnosis. It's just not something that you'd want to routinely test for, let alone know how to interpret in a meaningful way. And summing all of that up into "drink a green smoothie" doesn't help anyone. That smoothie isn't going cure a bacterial infection. (But it might sell your product to health conscious consumers who don't know better.) Edit: Which isn't to say that certain data can't be useful. Cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure, weight... these are things that serve as good general indicators of health and are worth frequent monitoring.

dang 12y ago

Thanks. Since the story has had significant attention in the last year, this counts as a dupe. (See the FAQ for a description of this.) We sometimes make exceptions if the product has undergone a major state change, such as being launched. But I don't see that here.