Upon removal of 4th leg, grasshopper goes deaf

My endocrinologist is puzzled by the fact that sometimes, when she increases my dosage of testosterone (which I do not naturally produce enough of), my blood level of it actually decreases.  I thought I’d check if possibly there was some odd interaction between other medicines I take and the testosterone.  One study looked promising – until I read the absolutely unbelievable details, which suggest that researchers will put any dosage of a drug they want into a test animal to prove their point.

From PubMed:

In the first of two experiments, young male cardiomyopathic hamsters were injected intraperitoneally twice a day for 29 days with 8 mg alprazolam/kg body weight or saline. Three hours after the same injections on day 30, they were sacrificed and plasma hormone levels were measured. Alprazolam increased cortisol, total glucocorticoid and triiodothyronine levels…These experiments suggest that chronic benzodiazepine treatment can affect adrenocortical function and perhaps some aspects of thyroid function.”

8 mg/kg body weight twice a day?  These experiments suggest that researchers at the VA Medical Center in E. Orange, NJ, need to move into the world of reality.  These people could make a good case against ingestion of dihydrogen monoxide.  For a 180 pound human (81.5 kg) to get an equivalent dose, that person would have to take over 1300 mg alprazolam per day (or more, for equivalent bioavailability peroral.)

I guess I’m safe at 2 mg/day.

Mammogram. Not too bad.

Because I have a weird genetic structure, starting this year I have to get regular mammograms.  I’ve heard horror stories which turned out not to be true.  Or else it’s that to a person who’s been through over ten kidney stone attacks, one kidney stone extraction, and a bone marrow test, a mammogram is like the proverbial walk in the park…