I signed up for the clinical trial. Things were going quite well for most of a year, but then some things became a little strange.
I started to get very low blood pressure, down to 67/42. I noticed this seemed to correlate with computer use, but computer use had not caused any such thing for 40 years. When it got low, I took more time off from that activity and did physical work. I noticed the blood pressure seemed to go lowest when I played OS/2 Solitaire (far better than the Windows version). I strongly restrict my Solitaire play, but I do allow some. Solitaire play is much steadier and less interrupted than when doing real work.
I had an appointment with Dr Tashakkor 16 DEC 2024, and had little to report, though I did mention the low blood pressure. For once he didn't assign all kinds of tests - probably figured I was getting more than enough of those from the clinical trial.
The following day, 17 DEC, things went tilt. My blood pressure no longer went low, staying within 100 to 120, and my heartbeat was the normal rate, but erratic with double beats and missed beats, worse when using the computer. I used Solitaire as my test. Within a couple of days, things were so bad that if I tried to play Solitaire I'd have to quit half way through the first hand because I could feel things going awry.
Clearly desperate measures were in order - but I was preparing a Musica Donavania event for 28 DEC and had no time to spare - so just tough it out and avoid computers.
Then something occurred to me. Most of my computer time is spent on the ArcaOS (OS/2 2023) computer. I used the Windows 10 computer (my customer support computer) for doom scrolling, and it didn't seem to have the same effect.
The ArcaOS computer still had an old 19 inch square monitor, the Windows machine had a more modern 22 inch monitor. I ordered a nice big 23 inch for the ArcaOS machine, and a new video card to drive it. I installed it Sunday 29 DEC. INSTANT RELIEF! And the low blood pressure thing hasn't come back either.
My heart beat was still a bit unsteady, with a few missed beats, but by the 4th day it was back to normal, and has stayed normal, even playing Solitaire.
2 JAN 2025 I was in for a check up and blood sampling for the clinical trial. The local head for this trial is the same guy who is my regular cardiologist, so I tried to explain all this to him. He was completely uninterested and visibly annoyed that I was bothering him. He said, "I'll refer you to Dr. Tashakkor".
I'm pretty sure Dr. Tashakkor will have some interest in the fact that a computer monitor can screw up you blood pressure and heartbeat, unless he already knows.