So I was on the phone with some sort of patient advocate. We talked about my hypercholesterolemia, then we move on to my cancer.

Her: "You've had a gastric lymphoma. What's the medicine you take for it?"

My: "My lymphoma was not gastric."

Her: "Sir, we talked about your heart problem. We're talking about your cancer."

My: "Yes, I kn..."

Her: "Sir, first, I asked you about your heart problem. We're done with it. Now I'm asking you about your cancer."

Me: "Yes, I know this."

Her: [talking over me.] "Sir..."

Rinse and fucking repeat. We spent a good five minutes with her explaining to me, as if I were a damn baby, I might add, what I fucking already knew!!!

When finally, she asked me again for the medicine. I told her, "your diagnosis is wrong: my lymphoma was not gastric."

Her: "Oh...."

#ActuallyAutistic #PatientAdvocate #hypercholesterolemia #cancer

It looks like I'm going to be off #kava for a while.

"But why? ☹️ "

Because of the damn fat. I did get my cholesterol checked in December. It was too high. This is my opinion. I had two primary care physicians that told me my cholesterol was "fine." I did not believe them.

I saw my lipid specialist this morning, and he agreed with me that my cholesterol was too high. The only obvious thing to stop taking is the kava.

So from now on, no more kava.

THC, here I come!  

#hypercholesterolemia #FamilialHypercholesterolemia #cholesterol #lipids #thc

OMG! I shot myself!

"What happened?"

I shot myself with my alirocumab.

"Your ali-what?"

My praluent.

"Your what?"

My PCSK9 inhibitor.

"What does it do?"

As the name says, it inhibits the PCSK9.

"What's the PCSK9?"

Hell if I know. A protein, I guess.

"What's a protein?"

Did you fail biology class?

"Yes."

Well...

#PCSK9inhibitor #alirocumab #praluent #FamilialHypercholesterolemia #hypercholesterolemia #protein #biology

"We show that Aster-B and Aster-C are critical for nonvesicular #cholesterol movement in enterocytes...Enterocytes lacking Asters accumulate PM cholesterol and show endoplasmic reticulum cholesterol depletion. Aster-deficient mice have impaired cholesterol absorption and are protected against diet-induced #hypercholesterolemia. Finally, the #Aster pathway can be targeted with a small-molecule inhibitor to manipulate cholesterol uptake."

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adf0966

"For the first time, gene-editing provides hints for lowering cholesterol"

Wow! I hope this research pans out, because it would mean that I could get a "once and done" therapy rather than the cocktail of three drugs that I take right now to keep my cholesterol in check.

The patients in this study were people with familial hypercholesterolemia, exactly the disease I have. They edited a gene in the liver to bring the cholesterol down.

Medicine advances.

#hypercholesterolemia #FamilialHypercholesterolemia #cholesterol #CRISPR #GeneEditing

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/11/12/1211672034/for-the-first-time-gene-editing-provides-hints-for-lowering-cholesterol

Here's a good example of how the US health care system is messed up.

I have a genetic defect. This defect causes hypercholesterolemia. So I have what is called *familial* hypercholesterolemia, because the cause is my genes.

I've been approved for a PCSK9 inhibitor. This is a drug that works only for people who have familial hypercholesterolemia. If you give it to a random guy without my disease, it is going to do nothing to them. (Perhaps hurt them, I'm not sure.)

I've received a letter from my health insurance saying that my approval is expiring soon.

Why?  

This is a genetic defect. A PCSK9 inhibitor is not gene therapy. It does not modify my genetic makeup. That's why I have to keep taking this drug.

Because it is a genetic defect, I'm going to have to be on this drug until I die. Or maybe they are going to find something better, but I expect this "something better" will also require approval because we're wading into highly specialized territory here.

So, again, why ask for approvals every year? It is not like my genetic code is going to fix itself magically.

#PCSK9Inhibitor #USHealthcare #healthcare #approval #hypercholesterolemia #genes #GeneticDefect

Yo ho ho. Introducing Fartulent! You should watch the video if you want to learn about its side effects.

https://spectra.video/videos/watch/3c33caca-eeda-47b9-b1c7-91d4a6ca5845

#spoof #ad #advertisement #marketing #drug #hypercholesterolemia

Made fried chicken tonight. Here's the recipe:

Brine your bits in buttermilk, salt, garlic powder, msg and a dash of xanthan gum to thicken. 2 hrs in fridge.

Roll in AP flour, potato starch, rice flour, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, salt, white pepper, black pepper.

Double fry at 350 for 14 min and enjoy.

Next day, call your cardiologist. And update your will.

#FriedChicken #Hypercholesterolemia

-Time for a short #Introduction-

I am a group leader in #MedicinalChemistry at the University of Parma. My lab combines #chemical & #computational techniques to develop novel pharmacological tools to study different Chronic Diseases (#CysticFibrosis, #IBD, #Hypercholesterolemia, #Alzheimer, #Cancer) and Infective Agents (#SARSCoV2, #Enterovirus, #Flavivirus, #Monkeypox, #HIV).
We are particularly interested in the development of #MultiTarget inhibitors and open to new #collaborations in #DrugDiscovery.
#Tooting (sooner or later) about the #chemistry and #science