Multiple N=1 experimentation

If you use an Oura ring, for example, this is done automatically every night with no effort required.
I think the same is true for fitness trackers and Apple Watch, the latter which is great anyway since it can detect afib too and other things.

I personally have no interest in buying or wearing an Oura ring. There are many ways of measuring fitness and this is just an unnecessary expense and bother. If it suits you, fine.

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It’s not merely for measuring fitness, but also detecting fever, illness, etc before you are aware of it.
I don’t mind because I’ve already paid for it.

So we have 5 votes to do this and one vote to not do it. I think it is important at least to try having a multiple N=1 experiment so I will look at how to do this. I am thinking of starting by using google sheets and giving access to those people who wish to participate, but we need to learn the best way of doing this.

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I can fill in data from the last month. I use an Oura ring and I recently started checking (and recording) my BP most mornings.

We can also turn a post here into a “wiki” that anyone can edit, so that people can just add their data into the wiki here. The easier and more obvious you can make the tracking/posting process the more likely people will do it. The issue with these types of efforts is always “participation”. Its really hard to get people to participate in an ongoing way.

Here, for example, is a page / post that I created as a wiki for people to update pricing info… of course, nobody uses it :slight_smile: Rapamycin (& Other Longevity Drug) Pricing Quotes Wiki

Anyone can click “Edit” on that first post, and add their data.

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When someone has their data, they could just post a comment here or wherever is appropriate. For example when they took rapamycin and their HR the following days. Then someone can compile it.

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You are right about the confounding variables. To test things properly, there should be a testing protocol that the subjects agree to strive to adhere to and report on any deviations. For instance, you don’t take rapa for six weeks, then do a blood test, then go on rapa for six weeks and do a blood test again, while minimizing the changes to other interventions during that time. Ideally a lot of other data could be shared to look at things like sleep, activity, and body composition during the study period.

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There is, however, potentially a privacy thing. Some people may be willing to submit their data through a process which has some limits on access, but not to publish it on the internet for ever and a day.

Hence using something like google sheets or an online database of some form enables people to submit their data, but it would only be published in an anonymised form.

John - just as people sharing information here already take out their name on their blood tests, etc. - the same could be done in this information sharing situation. Most people don’t use their real names here, and if you anonymize the data (though have it linked to a username) it would seem to address the privacy issue.

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However, some people (myself included) post using their user name and often you can work out who people are from their username as they use it in different locations. Obviously I post some of my values, but there are things I would not necessarily wish to post and that potentially causes problem in terms of collating data. I am pretty certain that would be the same for other people. Hence I do think this is an issue. (as is potentially compliance with GDPR and similar legislation).

A short term solution would be for anyone who does not wish their details published on the forum to email results to me and I could collate the public results and those which are emailed.

However, if volumes increase beyond the probable 5-6 people to start out with then it could get easily to a point at which the workload really requires some automation.

You could use this Google Forms: Online Form Creator | Google Workspace to create a form people can fill out, however I’d prefer to not enter for example age except in a range and just give you the data and whatever else is very pertinent.

I took bulk 4000IE tablets for a few months after a fatty meal and still didn’t get my levels the way I wanted them. I switched to a oil capsule from the pharmacy and now I get the levels I want. Don’t know if the tablets are underdosed of just malabsorbed…

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They are probably malabsorbed, I would guess. Interesting that eating with a fatty meal didn’t help.

I saw the same issue with coQ10 supplementation, I now dissolve the powder of the capsules in olive oil and get the values I am looking for

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Best to have a poll on this as to where to start. Over time things can change anyway. So

  • Obtain data via people posting in a thread
  • Set up an online system for data using something like Google sheets or Google Forms

0 voters

So the vote is 6 for setting up google sheets and 1 for posting in a thread. On that basis I will look at sheets or something to do this. Logically there would be a thread for each experiment and if people wanted to post in that rather than using google sheets (or whatever) then I could probably pick up a bit of data that way.

It will now take a little bit of time whilst I sort this out.

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Further to this I am aware I have not yet responded. I have a court case which will swallow up much of this week. My current thought is for the way things to work to be that each participant has a google sheet into which they put their data in a standard format and these are then merged to produce an analysis.

However, I don’t expect to be able to do anything about this for a few days.

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Further on this I have started working up a google sheet that could be used for putting in individual data. This would then be in a standardised form which could be merged together. I am thinking of recording two days before taking the dose and three days afterwards. However, I thought it was best to put a link to the google spreadsheet that is my working document before finishing it off. At the moment I have only put in the two days before taking the dose because once we have all the data I would like to use cut and paste to put the rest in.

I would ask that people comment here rather than on the sheet itself even though people have commenting access to the sheet (well I think that’s the case).

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