genetics
Written on October 5, 2007
i’m relieved to report that i do not have high cholesterol. there was a period of time at the beginning of last summer where i suspect that i did have high cholesterol. i took lipitor for one month, and exercised, and ate lots of fish. my cholesterol dropped 100 points, and i stopped taking the drug. now, four months later, my cholesterol is still within the safe zone, even despite my being on the road the past few weeks and encountering a disproportionately high number of hamburgers and french fries. that short period notwithstanding, i eat fairly healthy. but it’s hard to escape genetics.
i used to be terrified of needles as a kid. this was bad news for a kid who had to deal wih a lot of needles. about six months after i graduated from college i was put on coumadin. i still say coumadin is going to kill me faster than whatever it is i’m on it to prevent. anyway, there’s nothing like being on a blood thinner to get you over your fear of needles. once after surgery in highschool, i had a phlebotomist fill up twelve vials of blood in one sitting. and then when i realized i forgot my hat and went back to get it, the poor guy said “oh, i’m so glad you came back, we forgot to read the back of the form!” and so they had to use the other arm since one was all tapped out.
several years ago i photographed a biologist named simon levay. simon levay delighted in telling me that what i was actually taking was rat poison. coumadin (or something similar to it) is the active ingredient in rat poison. it’s an overdose. they bleed to death internally. welcome to modern medicine. makes you feel good, doesn’t it?
