Yeah, there’s basically a “valve” muscle in the esophagus called the upper esophageal sphincter (either a part of the cricopharynx, vice versa, or they’re the same… Not sure). It stays closed for the most part, but opens for swallowing and burping. Swallowing is generally fine, but burping not so much. You may have seen the term R-CPD in the thread, that stands for Retrograde (outward direction) Cricopharyngeal Dysfunction. There’s a similar condition called achalasia, which is also treated with Botox, but that also has swallowing issues unlike R-CPD.

Anyway, the Botox helps that muscle relax. The body metabolizes it after several months, but in that time you have “training wheels” that help develop muscle memory to burp. About 80% of people are “one and done” with that one shot. I personally had a second and don’t really have “tasteable” burps, but I do have small ones that seem to help.

It’s funny, because before I suspected that issue in my daughter we saw a pediatric ENT (the type of doctor who performs the procedure). Knowing it’s an obscure thing many doctors have a hard time grasping, I told him about it figuring it may plant a seed for some parent in the future. His response? “That’s funny, I don’t burp either. What you said makes sense though.” I would have loved to go back to him, but unfortunately he moved across the country in the meantime. Ended up going to another doctor in the practice who is amazing though!

The main ones you see almost universally are

• excessive flatulence (it’s gotta come out somewhere),
• bloating comparable with pregnancy (usually equivalent to what you’d see after several months in, but occasionally people look full term!)
• Weird gurgling noises in the throat

There are also things like hiccups, hypersalivation, constipation, and things like that that are common but not guaranteed.

My daughter has been pretty underweight for a while. I realized she’s had massive farts, and a bit of a big belly given the rest of her relatively small size. She was super hard to burp as an infant (that varies a lot in adults with the condition) and it pretty much stopped after a while. Basically the bloat kills the appetite.

Pretty much. It affects people differently, but one guy talked to manually any doctor who would listen. Dr. Bastian in Chicagoland has a YouTube channel about laryngology (basically all throat stuff) and that guy who had so many issues with not being able to burp contacted Dr. Bastian about it. He told him to get some Botox on the muscle of the throat that releases gas, and the guy ended up flying to Chicago to have it done. Dr. Bastian is pretty legendary in that community now. He also has a very impressive background even before that.

I actually went to that practice for my first injection and was originally booked to see Dr. Bastian. He fell sick the week I was there, but another doctor in the practice was able to do it instead since I came from out of town. Honestly everyone there is great!

But also, I saw similar symptoms in my toddler daughter, who was very underweight (getting better!). It was hard, because it can be difficult enough to find someone willing to do it for an adult, but a young child? Nobody wants to take that risk. Most specialists I talked to thought it made sense, but it really wasn’t their area (fair) or they’d get skeptical. The ENT we saw about it was HORRIBLE and basically chased us out because it was a zebra. Eventually I booked a telehealth visit with Dr. Bastian just to see if I was projecting my own experiences on her, and he was the kindest man. Sent a letter with his opinion for me to show other providers, and I think it really helped show I wasn’t insane.

Daughter eventually had it done by a pediatric ENT doctor who has done it before. She did great for several days but snapped back after an endoscopy about a week later. We’re trying again in about a month and a half!

Sorry to ramble, but this has been such a big thing for me personally!

I would strongly suggest getting the treatment if you can! It’s a super simple procedure.

I was a part of the noburp community on the old site. In the last decade it’s been used to cure that. The body metabolizes it after about 6 months, but having that assistance often helps build the muscle memory and people can usually burp after that. I personally had it done twice and can still do small burps at last, and my daughter (toddler, born very prematurely) had it done at the beginning of the year. Her physical medicine doctor mentioned it as a possibility, and when I told him about the burping thing he basically equated Botox in the medical community with Windex in My Big Fat Greek Wedding

It depends on the product. I don’t want to be served slop, designed to generate mindless clicks but if AI is secondary to something being produced by a human, for humans, I’m a little less upset about it.

Examples: SNL used an AI photo as an illustration for a weekend upstate story joke. The star of the show was the news story and the punchline to follow. The illustration helps the delivery, but isn’t the product.

I could also understand (for example) AI-generated background music when creating a video on YouTube, so long as the purpose of the video is worth a damn.

With such a strictly utilitarian outlook on life, I bet you’re a joy at parties. Why even bring one of your favorite foods to share when that’s supposed to be the host’s job?

There are quite a few exceptions built into HIPAA. I’m sure there would be something as you describe, but also there are things like if a crime occurred on the premises of the provider (or whatever) and they think they recognize the person in their security footage as a patient, they can give that information to law enforcement (as one would expect with non-healthcare organizations).

Another is that if someone is talking with a patient in a double room with only a curtain separating, someone overhearing the conversation is considered incidental and not a HIPAA violation

I don’t think that he’ll be that much more prominent over this happening

The US $100 bill was introduced in 1914 and would have been worth over $3,300 in today’s dollars. Even if that’s only about half what $10k SGD is worth, that’s still a hell of a long time to hold that ceiling

There’s also voice user interfaces! I’m not sure if it goes by another name, but blind people have their own way of using a phone, plus there’s a lot of voice control when driving or using Alexa and the like

Certainly not one that has been around for centuries and has seen many different world views over the years!

That just means the law in question is the Constitution, which can also be amended.

I’m a white guy who went to a wedding in rural India. That attention alone got to be a bit much after a few days.

Also, I would have to be stupidly careful about pretty much everything. Hackers would actually think to target me AND could have an incentive to do so knowing I’ve got money (gained by fraud or blackmail if I’m not careful). In my current life I go to clothing-optional places pretty regularly (not a sex club or anything) and that would pretty much have to stop.

Just let me be rich in a way that nobody knows it, preferably not even my own friends.

the dialogue sounds awful

The dialogue sounds truly, truly awful

the dialogue is unbelievably repetitive

repeat the same lines

🤔

You’re missing out! He basically picks out random technologies and stuff that interests him and explains how they work in an easy to digest way. Even if you’re familiar with the subject he still manages to make it interesting. And he looooves heat pumps and anything remotely related to it.

https://youtu.be/7J52mDjZzto

Alec Watson (Technology Connections) would be disappointed in me

Squeezing (pressurizing) certain gases are basically how air conditioners work. Under pressure, the gases can absorb more heat (think pressure cooker - those get hotter because they raise the boiling point of water with the higher pressure). Shuffle that pressurized gas somewhere else with lower pressure, and it can no longer hold all that heat and needs to release it. Tada: heat has been moved from one location to another.

I think the main difference is that dads will vocalize it at every possible opportunity 😀

Not just songs, but all the other languages showing up in English comes up conversationally too! When you did something wrong, there’s the “mea culpa”. Or in the courts, there are tons of Latin phrases like “nolo contendre”. I’ve had “perritos calientes” (hot dogs, literally hot puppies) in Spain, but never have I had a “giant cheese” (quesadilla) or “little donkey” (burrito) in the states. And we just borrow other phrases as-is like “Je ne sais quoi” and schadenfreude.