Home Inspection

I'm back from the condo today where I met with the home inspector.

The condo has a wood-burning fireplace. I was feeling pretty neutral about that. Now, I'm feeling pretty negative after learning that we could pay an additional $500/year for home insurance, and we could need to pay for a WETT (wood energy technology transfer) test before getting a policy. I'm going to see if any insurance companies will write a policy with an exclusion for the fireplace and then never use it. Roasting marshmallows a few times a year isn't worth it.

The drain in the laundry room is kind of odd: it's raised slightly from the rest of the floor. Miriam and I commented on that when we were there for the viewing. Turns out the hole in the floor for the drain is not centered on the drain pipe, so it doesn't rest nicely on the pipe flange. Instead, the flange is keeping the drain elevated while the rest of the floor sags slightly around it. That's just awful workmanship. We could cut a rectangle out of the floor between the joists and replace that section with one that has the hole in the correct place.

The vent hood over the stove has no vent: it just recirculates. I thought that might be the case, but we can live with that. The electrical box has two open slots, so we could add a breaker for a dishwasher. I took measurements in the kitchen so we can think about where we would put one and how to rearrange things.

So no big news other than the fireplace home insurance issue. The furnace is older but works. Appliances work. Windows are newish and are all fine. Nothing to really keep us from proceeding.

Teachers Make Bad Predictions

I saw a meme on Facebook that I loved with a picture of Laverne Cox, quoting her as saying:

"My third grade teacher called my mother and said "Ms. Cox, your son is going to end up in New Orleans in a dress if we don't get him into therapy." And wouldn't you know, just last week I spoke at Tulane University, and I wore a lovely green and black dress."

Some teachers aren't very good predictors of kids' futures, though I suppose this one got it right in their way! *laughs*

I had a teacher who told my parents that I have no manual dexterity whatsoever. Maybe that's why I never quite got my five-ball cascade down solid? I can do some relatively complex three-ball work though. Unfortunately, my rola-bola is in Wisconsin 'cause that thing was fun. I wonder if I could combine that with ribbon work somehow?

New Covid Research - Brain Damage, Anxiety, Depression

Some new research proposes the mechanism by which Covid kills brain cells.

It looks like we've known that Covid attacks astrocytes in the brain for some time. There are two new (I think) things here. One is that the brain damage is in an area specifically linked to anxiety disorders and causes anxiety and depression along with "brain fog." The second is the mechanism of attack, which maybe suggests research into ways to prevent that damage?

I already had two reasons to do my utmost to not get Covid. Miriam may be immune compromised and have a really bad case. If I got a bad case and needed hospitalization, I have no insurance to pay for it. New reason number three is that I *already* have clinical anxiety and depression. I'd like for them not to get worse!

https://iflscience.com/sars-cov-2-can-kill-brain-cells-and-scientists-think-theyve-figured-out-how-64866

Danae's Health - Genetic Sequencing - Potential MS

We have results back from Danae's genome sequencing that point to avenues of inquiry for her health issues. This was the primary goal of getting her genome sequenced so that's a positive outcome. A few things that connect here:

First, she learned that she is lactose intolerant. This is something she had suspected for some time, but had not confirmed. It's a hard thing to face when you love cheese as much as we both do!

Second, she has a genetic variant called HLA-DRB1*1501. This variant puts her at increased risk for multiple sclerosis.

There is a connection here to her vitamin D deficiency. A few years prior to moving to Amsterdam, her vitamin D tested dangerously low. Her doctor prescribed a regimen of prescription vitamins to raise the level to normal. Looking at her records, a doctor in the Netherlands advised her that, if her D levels were that low, she would most likely need to be on vitamin D supplements for the rest of her life. She began taking vitamin D again, but her levels may have been extremely low again prior to that.

Of relevance here: one potential result of prolonged consumption of dairy for people who are lactose intolerant is damage to the microvilli in the digestive system in ways that make it harder for them to metabolize certain nutrients. Like vitamin D.

Here is the connection: the expression of the genetic variant that makes her susceptible to MS is mediated by vitamin D levels. So the longer she has low levels of vitamin D, the more likely she is to develop MS, or have it progress.

She has symptoms consistent with MS. The ENT she recently saw told her that her reactions to his exam were very abnormal and likely related to central nervous system dysfunction, which is what MS is. She got a referral from the ENT to a neurologist at the time she saw him, but now that referral seems more important, as doing diagnostics for MS seems called for. She's also going to talk to her GP about getting her D levels checked again.

So it's really good to have more information to go on. At the same time, as she wrote in her post on this topic, MS does permanent damage. If that's the cause of the chronic pain that's been seriously affecting her daily activities, then this is likely her new normal. Hopefully a diagnosis and treatment could at least address her symptoms in better ways than we've been able to and prevent or slow progression of the MS as much as possible.

Neither of us have expertise in these matters, obviously. But we hope that doctors will take a look at these results and take them seriously enough to take some action to confirm or reject them.

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One paper on the topic of the connection between vitamin D and multiple sclerosis:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2882222/