In yesterday’s post I should have specified that I discussed my JUNE test results with my doctor. I haven’t had any tests done since then. In Italy, patients see their test results before their doctors do. In fact, I have my test results mailed to me (and it’s a free service, too!). You can also go pick them up at the hospital. And we patients keep all of our lab reports, including X-rays. As I recall, in the U.S. and Canada it’s the complete opposite: you have to go to your doctor’s office to see and discuss your test results. That’s what I had to do, at any rate, when I lived in Massachusetts and Ontario.
I have always debated whether or not to answer blog comments publicly in my comment section, or privately, via individual e-mails. I have done both, but mainly the latter. Today I wanted to address one of the comments publicly: why am I testing curcumin without bioperine? Excellent question, to which I have two answers: 1. the capsules without bioperine are available on the Italian market, whereas I have to order the capsules WITH bioperine from the U.S. (a real drag, for many reasons), and 2. I simply wanted to see if curcumin capsules without bioperine would work as well as the ones with bioperine. Here follows the history of my curcumin intake, in a nutshell: in 2006, for months I mixed curcumin C3 powder with a fat (warm coconut milk, flaxseed oil, etc.); last summer, while on holiday in the States, as a matter of convenience, I took curcumin C3 capsules with bioperine; last fall I decided to continue to test those capsules, and then this summer I decided to try curcumin C3 capsules without bioperine. My test results have been quite decent up to now, except for a brief period last fall when I took a half dose of curcumin by mistake, duh. So, if my next blood test results are good, I would prefer to take the bioperine-less capsules from now on. Easy peasy!, as Jamie Oliver (the Naked Chef) always says. 😉
Ah, speaking of tests, I did not go to the hospital to have my blood drawn this morning. I decided to wait for a another couple of days after I woke up with a very bad headache (of course, it was gone by the time I had finished my morning coffee, sigh). Tomorrow I will be very busy, but I may have time to go to the lab on Friday.
Feline circus update. Peekaboo is now beginning to chase playfully after our three older cats, who are besides themselves with a mixture of fury and bewilderment. The little darling just wants to play with them, but they see matters differently. So all you can hear in our house these days is HISSSSS GROWWWWWL GRRRRR SNARRRL HISSSSS! I have also seen a few paws raised but €”in all honesty €”I cannot blame the older ones for wanting to whack the little critter, as adorable as she is (in the photo she is sitting on my dining room chair, planning her next move). She is simply…too much! This morning she began chasing after and playing with Piccolo’s tail! The poor guy tries to retain some dignity by remaining on high surfaces where she can’t reach him (yet), so he will jump from our dining room table to the kitchen counter and so on. If I didn’t feel so sorry for my adult cats, I would find it all very amusing. Well, I have a bit of research to do, the cats are asleep, all is peaceful at the moment…so off I go! 😉
re: curcumin plus bioprene.
Would this source be any use to you, Margaret?
It is UK not Italy but still in the European Union
which might make things easier.
http://tinyurl.com/yto9uh
Oh Precious Kitty!!
And Precious Margaret for continuing research.
Hi Margaret,
I’m sure I have read on your website that bioprene increases the bioavailabilty of curcumin and that it’s difficult to get curcumin into the bloodstream on its own. If that’s the case surely you will be better off taking your curcumin with plenty of black pepper.
I use the same source as Bill and they are fairly good suppliers.
Test results here are just as you say – the doctors think of them as THEIR property, not ours. Nevertheless I’ve trained my onc and his nurse to mail me a copy of all test results, but they do that after the onc has discussed them with me. Still, I like the hard copies.
On the other hand, our primary care physician’s office has a new internet service called MyChart where we can see our test results on-line. Highly secure, complex passwords, etc. It’s a big medical office, so they can afford the cost of developing that service where smaller offices might not. Unfortunately, though, the onc’s test results don’t show up on the MyChart service.
I’ll be interested in your bioperine-less test results. I’ve cut bioperine in half, because I was getting quite a lot of it; now only half of the capsules in each dose have bioperine.