Abstract

>>> print("Hello r_medicalschoolanki!")

Long time lurker and beneficiary of incredibly well curated Anki decks. I think I can speak for many redditors here, we share this sentiment: "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."

I'm a huge fan of memory castles and like many here dismayed that Sketchy fails to cover those pesky vitamins, inborn errors of metabolism, and rare genetic disorders. In a bid to complement this deficiency (multiple puns intended), I've curated a Pepper-style Picmonic-based Biochemistry deck I like to call COFACTOR.

I do feel indebted to Picmonic and while Sketchy is a dominant resource in the memory castle space, I think Picmonic has some really great STEP1 studying material for Embryology, Psychiatry in addition to an impeccable Biochemistry section. I would argue these topics covered by Picmonic are better than Pixorize. I'm not affiliated with Picmonic in anyway, but please do check out their other mnemonics at www(dot)picmonic(dot)com. I also love how they're a lot more reasonably priced than Sketchy.

My hope is that this deck is useful to other Anki'ers out there. Please note that while I believe my work qualifies as Fair Use, where I've injected my own insight into making these cards, I respect Copyright laws and I am happy to take this down at any time. Download here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EgAIaB6ZLoDo66dlzPi3GLwDsBmNG_FC

Deck overview

The deck is designed to be a complement of SALT Sketchy Path deck, Pepper Sketchy Micro, and Pepper Sketchy Pharm decks. It spans 3 major subjects:

• Enzyme Deficiencies {PKU, Galactokinase_def, Alkaptonuria, Hartnup, Maple_syrup_urine_dz, PDH_def, Ornithine_transcarbamylase_def, Cystinuria, Orotic_aciduria, Hyperammonemia, Homocystinuria, G6PD_def, ADA_def, Lesch_nyhan, Von_gierke, Pompe, Cori, McArdles, Fabry, Hunter, Hurler, Niemann_pick, Tay_sachs, Krabbe, Gaucher, Metachromatic_leukodrystrophy, Essential_fructosuria, Fructose_intolerance, Classic_galactosemia}
• Genetics {CF, Thymic_aplasia, Angelman, Prader_willi, Cri_du_chat, Williams, Marfan, Ehlers_danlos, Fraile_x, Patau, Edward, Down}
• Nutritional disorders {Folate, Zinc, Cholecalciferol, Vitamin_A, Kwashiorkor, Marasmus, Thiamine, Beriberi, Wernicke_korsakoff, Riboflavin, Niacin, Cobalamin, Pantothenate, Pyridoxine, Vitamin_C, Vitamin_E, Vita

Hi!

I've been wondering this since the start of my textbook, where they mentioned that phosphorylations and dephosphorylations required Mg2+ as a cofactor. They would also write Mg2+ over reaction arrows in the early chapters, but phased it out in later chapters. Is it just implicit that phosphorylations and dephosphorylations require Mg2+? And they just stopped writing it since its too much work?

TIA for answers :)

I have been trying to figure out which & how much cofactors I should take for Vitamin D3.

In my case, I'm interested in taking 5000 iu daily (125 mcg) of Vitamin D3, provided this is not too high.

I understand if this issue has been mulled over before here in parts, but I would really, really, appreciate a clear explanation of what are the suggested dosages in one thread. In researching the cofactors, I have become very confused about the recommendable amounts, and there seems to be some contradictory statements especially around K2 MK-4 dosage.

From what I understand, at least these may be D3 cofactors. The below are my own research notes, and not what I suggest anyone to take. If I am correct however, what are the suggested / best practice dosages for these?

• K2
  • MK-4
  • MK-7
  • (According to Chris Masterjohn I should take both MK-4 and MK-7, but I'm unsure on the correct dosages of especially MK-4).
• Magnesium
  • Probably Magnesium Bisglycinate or Magnesium L-Threonate.
• Zinc
  • If you have suggestions on which form/brand of Zinc supplementation is good, please let me know.
• Vitamin A

Perhaps also:

• Boron
• Calcium
• Phosphorus

After 2 NBME's and some blocks in UWorld, I found that my weakest link BY FAR is my biochemistry. I can't remember the pathways and their associated diseases. I'll learn them one day and have a bunch of "aha" moments, but by the time I'm back to review them I've forgotten all the substrates, enzymes and cofactors, etc. I can maybe remember about 15% of what can be considered high yield for biochemistry.

I'm considering just writing the pathways by hand on a paper over and over again until it sticks and post them all over my walls. A friend of mine also taking STEP says that's a waste of time and that I know it subconsciously. UWorld says otherwise. Any strategies?

I've been going through the RebopBebop/JS Biochem cards, and it looks like there's a nontrivial amount of information on enzyme cofactors/coenzymes.

For example: acetyl-CoA carboxylase requires biotin; fatty acid synthase requires B5.

Are these things worth committing to memory, or should I just ignore them during Anki?

Correct me if I am wrong ,an Inverse of a Matrix Operator reverses the Transformation that the Matrix Operator did to the Basis Vectors of an elementary Cartesian Space .

Now how does the adjoint of a matrix achieve this ? First of all what is the geometric meaning of adjoint of a matrix? ,What is the geometric meaning of a cofactor matrix and what is the meaning of transpose of a cofactor matrix ? ,I think get the part where we divide by the Determinant of a Matrix ,we are supposedly bringing back (or) cutting out the enlargement caused by the Matrix Operator .

Thank you for reading and answering my question

First, I want to say thank you to this subreddit. After my first cluster around 7 years ago, I found this subreddit and learned about vitamin D3 helping CHs. I have been taking 10,000 IU during Spring during clusters and it has been very effective. I skipped years without having a cluster and never have had a CH as bad as the first cluster (very grateful). However, I just had an unusual cluster during late summer and D3 is not working as well. I don't feel like my eye is being ripped from my head, but I am having 3 hours of pretty bad pain, to the point where I'm begging for it to stop. I just did some more research and realize I haven't been using all the D3 cofactors. So I will buy Calcium, Magnesium, K2, and A. Hopefully this helps.

Otherwise, its been 2 weeks and I really hope this cluster ends soon. My typical pattern is a headache every 2-3 days for 2-3 weeks. I may need to try something more serious like 02 or 5-MeO-DALT if things don't get better.

A little anecdote about my first cluster 7 years ago:

I was feeling light-headed/foggy-brained and had some gut pain, and went to see urgent care to get checked before my trip to Hawaii. The doctor did not know what was wrong. I go to Hawaii, get my very first cluster headache cycle. It was extremely painful and very bad timing.

Hi there! I take Vitamin D3 because I have a D3 deficiency. Along with it, I found that I needed to take Magnesium to be able to tolerate it, as they work together. I also take some K2 (MK7), as I'd read something about D3 increasing calcium levels in the blood, and the K2 will help ensure that it gets moved into my bones (as opposed to building up in my arteries).

HOWEVER... even with taking these things alongside Vitamin D, I have found that I get low-level anxiety from Vitamin D, even from normal-sized (non-mega dose) doses. It causes me to not be able to concentrate as well as I'd like, sometimes I get bad sleep, and my teeth grinding worsens in my sleep. After a lot of back-and-forth of reducing amounts of supplements and cutting things out, I realized it's 100 percent the Vitamin D3 that's causing this.

Doctors aren't much help to me so far.

I read earlier that excess calcium in the blood could cause anxiety symptoms, so I'm wondering if maybe increasing my K2 (MK7) dose could help... How much K2 do you take with your Vitamin D? I've been taking 100 mcg (80% of suggested daily intake). Maybe it's not enough, perhaps I'll try out 2 pills instead of 1 to see if it helps?

The missus and I tried Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) for pain management and seemed to run into problems feeling VERY twitchy and washed out.

On the positive side, it did seem to help with pain management and unexpectedly with digestion (Selfhacked suggests it may help with histamine and mast cell activation)

We were trying it out based on the Nootropics Depot Pain Management beginners stack and some of the comments from /u/MisterYouAreSoDumb

Given that we both felt wrung out enough that we had to stop taking it, I'm thinking there might be some cofactors or other support we might be low on.

Might anybody have any pointers or experience on how best to supplement with Palmitoylethanolamide effectively?

Hey all, I’m about 5.5 weeks into addressing my vitamin d deficiency, and while I’ve noticed improvement with my fatigue and anxiety (taking 8000 iu D3, 100mcg K2, and 400mg magnesium daily) I’m wondering what type of magnesium you personally take?

I’ve been taking 400mg magnesium oxide since the beginning, (my mag levels were normal prior to all this) but have read it’s not the best for absorption. Thanks for your input, I get my six week mark blood work to test all my levels this week and will report back then. My initial D level was 21.4ng around 5 weeks ago. B12 was 333. If the blood work comes back and my magnesium levels are still sufficient, I’ll probably continue with the oxide as it’s fairly cheap, but I’m just curious.

Are there any nutritional cofactors that can increase the rate of lipolysis of body fat?

Any amino acids, vitamins/minerals, or even environmental factors like sunlight or increased hydration?

I’m trying to do everything I can do reduce SCD1 and burn more body fat

Edit: original post https://www.reddit.com/r/Biochemistry/comments/lybaqi/help_explaining_a_lifesocial_issue_to_someone/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Sooooo....

As I promised to one of the responses I received in the original post, I would update you guys after I saw the person in question and used some of your very helpful analogies.

Right off the bat, I started with the easiest which was provided by u/tuna_bluefin who stated

"If your partner is struggling to bind to their ligand, you might be the cofactor they need for successful enzymatic function"

Preceeding this, I was just making regular small talk ultimately leading up to asking how their dating life was going to which I wasn't getting much of a response as they were just kind of noodling around on the guitar, but I feel like as soon as the word ligand left my mouth, they looked at me like they just saw a ghost, put the guitar down and I had their full attention. This was probably more just for my use of the word than the quote itself as they were probably thinking 'how the hell does he know what a ligand is?' Spoiler alert... I have no idea!

But once I had their attention I immediately decided to go straight into some of the other analogies you guys provided. Such as u/dschlink who stated...

One example is how an aqueous solution behaves when a semi permeable separates 2 solutions. If they stay isotonic by both having the same solute (ie amount of effort into a relationship) the wall stays firm. But if one side gets hypertonic then water will rush in due to osmotic pressure differences.

Now it was funny at this point because in order to appear more believable, I spent a good amount of Saturday committing these analogies to memory so I can use them naturally in conversation instead of reading them from my phone, and apparently I did this so well that the response I got was, well, I wish I could share it with you guys but whatever it was it might as well have been Chinese to me because it was what I assume is a bunch of biochemistry terms and words I'd never heard before. I asked if they could say that another way but they basically said, 'I get it. I'm hypertonic.' or something to that effect. Before I could even use another analogy, they disappeared and I didn't see them for the rest of the night. This all occurred at their parents house and before I went to leave I used the bathroom which is right next to their bedroom and it sounded like they were on the phone, which if th

Hello! I'm currently enrolled in a PhD program in organic chemistry. Previously, I'd obtained a BSc and MSc degree in Biochemistry. However, I've been thinking lately about moving into computational biology/cheminformatics. In regards to that, I have an intention to enroll in another BSc program related to computer science. Also, based on my previous education and self-taught experience I hope I could try to get a job as a bioinformatics analyst in order to financially support my decision and instantaneously get a practical experience.

My expectations of getting a computer science background are focused around filling the gap with my quantitative skills and becoming familiar with different programming environments. On the other hand, self-learning wouldn't be so effective because of the nature of my current position.

I'm writing in this sub because I suppose that many of you were in situations like this. It'd be very helpful to share some of your thoughts and experience managing to get into bioinformatics.

I am trying to find what cofactors, activators and inhibitors are used in industrial apps of catalase but I can't find them. Can somebody tell me where I can find something about this?

Good day everyone, im new to the sub and would appreciate some advice.

Im currently want to do my masters in biochemistry with my masters project being "Development of LC-MS/MS based adenosine ligand-receptor binding". Ive had prior experience working with LC-MS with my final year project for my hons degree. Seeing as with my masters now this will be a method development project and i will be working alot on the LC-MS. I was just wondering if it would be worth it to continue working with LC-MS. Is it a valueble skill? Will it benefit my career?

Hi, I am interested in taking 4000 IU vitamin D as per recent recommendations. However I am concerned about cofactors.

Reading https://vitamindwiki.com/Vitamin+D+Cofactors+in+a+nutshell I came to the following approximate stack:

• 4000 IU D3 once per day
• 100mg Magnesium Chloride take in multiple doses every day (how many?)
• 200ug K2 taken at a different time of day to the D3
• Daily calcium totaling ~1000mg (3 cups of milk)

I'm looking for more guidance. Has someone already done the cofactor math on this? Thanks!

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Title says it all.

Everytime I take 5000 IU vitamin D, I am ready to fall asleep while standing. It's that bad.

I have no idea what's causing it. It didn't always do this before.

I saw the following claim on r/nutrion:

>Humans on a low-carb diet require less ascorbic acid than those who eat a standard diet containing glucose. This happens because due to their similar structure, glucose competes with vitamin C.
>
>Source: https://www.kevinstock.io/health/do-humans-need-vitamin-c/

Do you believe the structural analogy between these molecules is sufficient, to the point where the enzymes can bind both? It does make sense to me, but my knowledge of biochemistry is limited to a few small undergrad courses.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Im a biology major soon to finish and I need advice on this regard. Should I pursue a masters or work my way up in science jobs and eventually get to the point where I land a biochem job?

Correct me if I am wrong ,an Inverse of a Matrix Operator reverses the Transformation that the Matrix Operator did to the Basis Vectors of an elementary Cartesian Space .

Now how does the adjoint of a matrix achieve this ? First of all what is the geometric meaning of adjoint of a matrix? ,What is the geometric meaning of a cofactor matrix and what is the meaning of transpose of a cofactor matrix ? ,I think get the part where we divide by the Determinant of a Matrix ,we are supposedly bringing back (or) cutting out the enlargement caused by the Matrix Operator .

Thank you for reading and answering my question