#21

That is excellent news and I’m sure it alleviates a little of the stress for you!

Thank you for the suggestion. I considered doing the CLEERLY, but it’s $1500 and I was told that while it might be interesting to track, the results won’t change my course of treatment. Meaning, I already know I have heart disease and do all the things I know I can. If there is something I’m missing, I’m all ears.

My additional thinking is if the news is good like yours, then I’ll feel relief like you do. However, if the news is not good, and because I was told my treatment wouldn’t change, the stress would give me a heart attack. Thoughts?

I’m glad you brought it up and I think you are correct that it would be ideal for people to choose CLEERLY over a CAC. For someone not motivated or who is not financially able, the simple inexpensive CAC would most likely be the path of least resistance. It’s also my impression the CLEERLY is not widely available. There are only two places in the Bay Area I could find.

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#22

I had looked at the Cleerly test but am hesitant because of the dye. They did not describe what is in the dye on their website. My child had a CT scan with dye and had a very serious reaction. Since we tend to share allergies it looks very risky for me.

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#23

If I recall correctly, it contains iodine. Do double check if you are interested.

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#24

Yes… I would do the Cleerly to put the arthrocleurosis issue to bed. In view of my familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). But even so… we have no family history of heart disease.

And, two Coronary Calcium Scans of zero.

The Cleerly which is damn expensive… not covered by insurance… is only offered in two places in Missouri… no where close to me… and the technicians run the test… but, you must travel another 3 hours and pay for a physician to read the results.

I think I can wait on this one.

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#25

From Facebook Rapa group:

a new free research tool out of Stanford that might be useful to members of this group. It’s called “Storm” (in the context of “brainSTORMing”) and it can provide you with a literature review on any topic you chose. (See the screen shot to get examples of topics that people are using it to explore.)

It’s located at: https://storm.genie.stanford.edu/ (free but you do need to set up an account).

Here is how it works: You provide a short topic and it gathers recent research on the topic, identifies key areas of focus across the papers, provides a summary of each area, and then gives you a list of links to all the papers it references (I checked and all the links worked and were accurate). As an experiment, I gave it the topic:

Necessary levels and types of protein to prevent age-related sarcopenia, while maximizing healthy life span and longevity.

It generated a 5-6 page document for me - below is the TOC to give you a feeling for what it generated. You can go to the tool and copy/paste the prompt above to see the full paper.

=======================================

Table of Contents

summary
Understanding Sarcopenia
Role of Protein in Muscle Health

Importance of Protein Quality
Protein Intake Patterns and Muscle Growth Food Processing and Protein Digestibility Alternative Protein Sources

Recommended Protein Intake
Meal-Specific Protein Recommendations Quality and Source of Protein
Overall Protein Strategy

Protein and Longevity
The Role of Protein in Aging
Benefits of Adequate Protein Intake Practical Considerations for Protein Sources

Strategies for Increasing Protein Intake Incorporating Protein-Rich Foods
Meal Frequency and Snacking
Timing of Protein Consumption Utilizing Nutritional Supplements Planning and Monitoring Protein Intake

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#26

“but, you must travel another 3 hours and pay for a physician to read the results.“

That part would be my block, too!!! My husband is driving over 2 hours for his, but then again, I do that for hair, so…. (We live in a small town!).

I’ll let you know what happens with his. In CA, a doc needs to order the CLEERLY, so I’m guessing the ordering doc gets the results and will then go over them with him on the phone. If that winds up being the case, and if you should ever decide you want to do it, I wonder if your regular doc can place the order and then you avoid that second doc that is related to CLEERLY?

We did whole body MRI’s last week and they set up a zoom call for this week to go over the results. No additional charge.

The paying a doc to read it thing is beyond annoying. It reminds me of my routine mammogram last year that is always 100% paid for by insurance. I got a bill for aprox $600 from the hosptial for the radiologist to read the report. I said oh no you don’t. In this case it was just the usual DDD from my insurance… they wound up paying. Sorry, everything turns into an insurance rant from me :).

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#27

RCM anaphylactoid reactions are common enough that radiologist should have a standard pre-treatment protocol on hand. You have to let them know ahead of the procedure because it has to be started 24 hours prior. I would be a bit more concerned about the 10 mSV of radiation you would receive equivalent to roughly 400 chest Xrays or 2,000 dental x-rays.
One really has to weigh the benefit of the scan vs. risk. You have to ask yourself what would you do different if had some plaque vs if you didn’t.

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#28

Because it doesn’t have enough methionine and leucine to active m-tor.
That’s the point of this thread… and the whole forum dedicated to rapamycin which literally reduces protein synthesis.

The real question is how to balance anabolism and catabolism to produce maximum healthspan.

Personally I am trying some form of intraday and interday animal protein cycling. But this all just theories and experiments.

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#29

I absolutely see your point and that is a very reasonable way of looking at it. I guess it comes down to “how you’re wired”. For me, I want to have all the information I can, good or bad, actionable or not. In my case, yes, the news did make me feel a bit better but you’re right, if the news is bad it will just elevate your anxiety.

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#30

Genuinely asking, if Rapa impedes protein synthesis how do we explain that it’s use doesn’t seem to negatively affect hypertrophy or promote sarcopenia?

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#31

“You have to ask yourself what would you do different if had some plaque vs if you didn’t.”

Exactly - with two Coronary Calcium Scans of zero in the past 2-years and no family history of atherosclerosis or heart disease in my family. I am very confident in my circulatory health. Will pass on the Cleerly unless it is convenient (cost and taking the test)

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#32

I am not sure if you didn’t read my post or you just didn’t understand it.

Here is a great article that explains what you are asking about.

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#33

Good point. I have been trying to find a benign way to determine whether my drug interventions are having any effect on soft plaque and to estimate my risk. Any ideas would be much appreciated. The only benign approach I could think of is carotid ultrasound, but I am not sure this would give me any meaningful information.

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#34

It was the later, I didn’t fully understand it but thank you for taking the time to share the Healthspan article, it was fascinating and very informative.

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#35

Thanks Dr. Bart - an article that promotes what I have been sharing for years… based on both my tests and internal feeling (quantified and qualified). TRT builds… rapamycin clears and repairs.

November 2023

Well welcome to the raging steroid club.

Joking… 200 mg TRT keeps you in the normal USA range of 800 to 1500 . Not the 8,000 mg doses of crazed body builders. Big difference.

I think TRT is a good balance with rapamycin based on 3- years use of the combo. Feel like I haven’t aged any… actually reversed age.

As to male gonads… nuts, the rapamycin seems to keep fluid normal (full loads ejaculated) and atrophy (shrinage) away. I will spare pics… you can private message me… very private… lol.

In one of the 11 organ benefits of rapamycin, I posted some time back gonads are full … with no atrophy when on rapamycin. So they work well together.

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#36

I tried Quercetin 500 mg, it did not help me in lowering Uric acid. I tried one spoon of Allulose daily and it has lowered my uric acid from 7 to 5.

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#37

It is a good idea to combine whey + Collagen for two reasons:

  • Glycine from collagen will balance with Methionine from whey

  • Collagen in itself appears to have specific effects on the body for skin and joint health, as our cells actually have receptors for these peptides

#38

Dr. Valter Longo’s company has come up with a protein power that aparently doesn’t stimulate IGF1/mTOR much - L-Protein: Plant-Based Protein Powder for Longevity - Prolon. They have made this from plant amino acids, and have selectively left out some amino acids that are for concern for IGF1/mTOR. The idea sounds great, but such protein complexes don’t occur in nature. I’d rather have whey + collagen (which are processed no doubt, but closer to original protein configuration), and use other modalities to episodically supress IGF1/mTOR (via weekly rapamycin / fasting)

#39

Hey, that’s great. I had never heard of Allulose, but I’ll order some today. Quercetin did nothing for me either. Bellerica, on the other hand, is backed by one small but well-designed study. I could do both and avoid the potential side-effects of Allopurinol. Thanks for the tip.

#40

It really sounds great and could be much better than in “nature”, especially not everything in nature is beneficial. Nature doesn’t care much about us after we reproduce, so we have to go around to find better ways to extend lifespan.

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