Death and Disease

London has won the bid for the 2012 Olympics. London has just been racked with terrorist bomb blasts. Bombs went off in the underground and buses, during morning rush hour.

Went to see the specialist for cholesterol yesterday, and there's pretty bad news. Creatine kinase (CK) level is about 1.5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN). The link says CK leaks into the blood when muscle is damaged. Cell lysis or something, I guess. I reproduce the relevant passage in the explanatory sheet that comes with Crestor (rosuvastatin), which I'm currently taking, 10 mg/day.

Skeletal muscle:
As with other HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, effects on skeletal muscle e.g. uncomplicated myalgia and myopathy, have been reported in CRESTOR treated patients. Rare cases of rhabdomyolysis have been reported in subjects receiving rosuvastatin 80 mg in investigational clinical trials which were occasionally associated with impairment of renal function. All cases improved on cessation of therapy.

Patients who develop any signs or symptoms suggestive of myopathy should have their CK levels measured. CRESTOR therapy should be discontinued if CK levels are markedly elevated (>10xULN) or if myopathy is diagnosed or suspected.

[... paragraph on complications with concomitant therapy... ]

CRESTOR should be temporarily withheld in any patient with an acute serious condition suggestive of myopathy or predisposing to the development of renal failure secondary to rhabdomyolysis (e.g. sepsis, hypotension, major surgery, trauma severe metabolic, endocrine and electrolyte disorders; or uncontrolled seizures).

It says in the same sheet that adverse effects can be split into common and rare. Common (>1%, <10%) include headache, myalgia, asthenia, constipation, dizziness, nausea, abdominal pain. Rare (>0.01%, <0.1%) is just myopathy.

So... I'm feeling some muscle ache (myalgia) in my legs, and if this is serious (myopathy), and CRESTOR is bad for me, I'm quite screwed. Other statins are bad for my liver. In which case I can pick my poison: look forward to a heart attack in a decade's time, acute hepatitis, or some rhabdomyolysis which screws with the kidneys too.

Anyway, the specialist said increased exercise can also cause CK levels to rise. Had more blood drawn that day, awaiting results. I think I'll skip my dose tonight, though, just to be safe. Since the time-scales for myopathy and cardiovascular disease are very different.

Played tennis with James yesterday, after that appointment in Tan Tock Seng, after I took a Hepatitis A booster jab at Tan Tock Seng, after I went to polyclinic to get a cream for that inflammation under my left eye. With lunch somewhere in between, at the newly opened Kopitiam at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

Tennis ball bonanza. Found 20+ balls in the dustbin on the tennis court (which is really weird, first of all that there is a dustbin there, and secondly that there were only tennis balls in it, and thirdly that there were so many perfectly good, but I guess contaminated, tennis balls). I now have 34 good tennis balls, but I guess many of those need some disinfecting in the sun.

Didn't ride my bicycle out today, the front tire was totally flat. I think it's busted. Don't know what happened. Probably need to get a new bicycle if I want to have a bicycle. Or can repair the tire, I guess.

Need to pack my bags. My boss is going off on a week-long holiday (to Shanghai) tonight, she notified everyone yesterday. My other boss is going on honeymoon (New Zealand) in a few months' time. I fly on Saturday morning. Yinglan will probably have to do shredding when I'm gone.

Just bought flight insurance. $78 for $200,000 coverage. Quite expensive, I wouldn't have gone for it but my parents asked me to get. Can buy a tennis racquet lor.

This is Ben's website.