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Monthly Archives: October 2015

Too Young to Have a Stroke?

29 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by webbywriter1 in signs, strokes

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Too Young to Have a Stroke? Think Again
By JANE E. BRODY SEPTEMBER 3, 2012 12:42 PM September 3, 2012 12:42 pm 108

Six years ago, Todd McGee was a lean, athletic 34-year-old working in construction and living with his wife and toddler daughter on Martha’s Vineyard, where he spent summer weekends surfing. A stroke changed his life forever.

Today, with one arm useless and difficulty speaking, Mr. McGee, now 40, cannot work. He devotes most of his time to keeping as healthy as possible. Though he is able to drive and care for his daughter, now 7, everything takes longer, and he has trouble concentrating even on routine activities that others take in stride, like grocery shopping.

His experience, complicated by a serious delay in diagnosis, is a powerful reminder that strokes can and do happen to young people. The sooner the correct diagnosis is made, the less likely the result will be lifelong impairment.

Although a vast majority of strokes occur in people over age 65 (the risk is 30 to 50 per 1,000 in this age group), 10 percent to 15 percent affect people age 45 and younger (a risk of 1 in 1,000). A study by doctors at the Wayne State University-Detroit Medical Center Stroke Program found that among 57 young stroke victims, one in seven were given a misdiagnosis of vertigo, migraine, alcohol intoxication, seizure, inner ear disorder or other problems — and sent home without proper treatment.

“Although young stroke victims benefit the most from early treatment, it must be administered within four and a half hours,” said Dr. Seemant Chaturvedi, a neurologist at Wayne State who directs the program and led the study. “After 48 to 72 hours, there are no major interventions available to improve stroke outcome.”

“Symptoms that appear suddenly, even if they seem trivial, warrant a meticulous work-up,” he added.

Follow-up analyses of the Detroit study showed that patients seen by a neurologist in the emergency room, as well as those who were given an M.R.I. as part of the initial work-up, were less likely to receive a misdiagnosis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported a steep increase in strokes among people in their 30s and 40s. A rise in risk factors — obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep apnea — and improved diagnosis account for this upturn.

But younger patients are no better today at recognizing the symptoms of stroke. “Only 20 to 30 percent of patients get to the emergency room within three hours of symptom onset,” Dr. Chaturvedi said. “They tend to wait to see if the symptoms will go away spontaneously, and they show up in the E.R. 12 to 24 hours later.”

But a majority of strokes that affect young adults result from clots precipitated by the usual cardiac risk factors: obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking. Abuse of alcohol and drugs are also contributing factors; among women, use of birth control pills can raise the risk of stroke. People prone to migraines also have a somewhat higher risk of stroke.

When to Act Fast

The distinguishing characteristic of stroke symptoms is their sudden onset. Thus, Dr. Chaturvedi said, no matter what a person’s age, the sudden appearance of any of the following symptoms should prompt a trip to the hospital as quickly as possible.

¶ Numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body.

¶ Confusion, trouble speaking or understanding speech.

¶ Trouble seeing in one or both eyes.

¶ Difficulty walking, dizziness or loss of balance or coordination.

¶ Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.

Unlike a heart attack, most strokes are painless. Even if the initial symptoms dissipate they must be taken seriously.

“A CT scan doesn’t show strokes very well in the first 24 hours,” Dr. Chaturvedi said. He recommended that if the diagnosis is uncertain, an M.R.I. should be done and a neurologist consulted in the emergency room.

“Patients may have to be proactive and insist on a thorough work-up and ask to be seen by a neurologist, and E.R. doctors should consider the possibility of stroke regardless of a patient’s age,” he said.

Dealing with Dementia – prevention and cures Drhyman.com

26 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by webbywriter1 in dementia, diet

≈ 4 Comments

Article taken from drhyman.com

There is no effective known treatment for dementia. But we do know a lot about what affects brain function and brain aging: our nutrition,inflammation, environmental toxins, stress, exercise, and deficiencies of hormones, vitamins, and omega-3 fats.

It is not just one gene, but the interaction between many genes and the environment that puts someone at risk for a chronic disease such as dementia. And we know that many things affect how our genes function — our diet, vitamins and minerals, toxins, allergens, stress, lack of sleep and exercise, and more.

Even though no long-term studies have been done to look at treating dementia based on genes, there are so many scientific threads that weave together a picture of how and why our brains age and what genes are involved. This leads me back to George …

For this man, whose mind and life were evaporating, I looked deeply into his genes and the biochemistry his genes controlled and found places where we could improve things.

He had a gene called apo E4, which is a high-risk gene for Alzheimer’s disease(ii) and also made it hard for him to lower his cholesterol anddetoxify mercury from his brain.(iii) He also had a version of a gene for detoxification of metals and other toxins (glutathione-S-transferase, or GST)(iv) that was very inefficient, making him accumulate more toxins over his lifetime. Having the combination of a problem with GST and apo E4 puts people at even more risk for dementia.(v),(vi) In another study, people with an absent GST gene were likely to have much higher levels of mercury.(vii)

George had another gene called MTHFR(viii) that made him require very high doses of folate to lower his blood levels of homocysteine, which is a substance very toxic to the brain. Lastly, he had a gene called CETP that caused his cholesterol to be high, which contributes to dementia. Combine this gene with the apo E4 gene and your risk of dementia goes way up.(ix)

We found that George had high levels of mercury(x) and helped him detoxify with foods such as kale, watercress, and cilantro, herbs such as milk thistle, nutrients such as selenium and zinc, and medications that helped him overcome his genetic difficulties by getting rid of toxins.

We lowered his cholesterol with diet and herbs. We lowered his homocysteine with high doses of folate and vitamins B6 and B12.

What happened then was impressive …

After a year of aggressive therapy that was matched to his genes, not his diagnosis, he had a remarkable and dramatic recovery. Before I saw him, he could not manage his business, nor did his grandchildren want to be around him.

While this area of genetic testing and nutrigenomics is new, and more research is needed to help us refine our understanding and treatment.

A woman named Christine was eighty and was experiencing severe memory loss and cognitive decline. Her family was obviously concerned, so she was tested with hours of neuropsychological testing and found to have dementia.

Her neurologist offered her words of comfort, but told her and her family there is no treatment truly effective to stop or reverse the progression of dementia. That’s when her daughter brought her to see me.

We discovered many subtle changes in her health that on their own wouldn’t explain dementia, but when added all together put a strain on her brain function. All we did was correct those problems — low thyroid function, mercury toxicity, inflammation, and deficiencies in vitamins B6 and D, folate, coenzyme Q10, and omega-3 fats — and improved her diet overall. I encouraged her to exercise, because exercise can help improve cognitive function and prevent dementia.

Six months later, she had the extensive memory tests repeated. Her psychologist was surprised to report that her scores got BETTER!

To put this in perspective, mental decline happens progressively, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, but NEVER gets better — according to our traditional medical thinking.

But just like we once thought that heart disease and artery-clogging plaques couldn’t be reversed (and now have proof that this does happen), I believe dementia can be reversed (if caught early enough) by attending to all the factors that affect brain function – diet, exercise, stress, nutritional deficiencies, toxins, hormonal imbalances, inflammation, and more.

9 Steps to Reversing Dementia

Start by looking hard for correctable causes of memory loss. They include:

  1. Pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome
  2. Low thyroid function
  3. Depression
  4. Deficiencies in B vitamins, especially vitamin B12
  5. Omega-3 fat deficiencies
  6. Mercury or other heavy metal toxicity
  7. Vitamin D deficiency
  8. High cholesterol
  9. Unique genes that predispose you to nutritional or detoxification problems

Once you identify the underlying causes of the imbalance, here are a few things that can help your mind get a tune-up:

  • Balance your blood sugar with a whole foods, low glycemic diet
  • Exercise daily — even a 30-minute walk can help
  • Deeply relax daily with yoga, meditation, biofeedback, or just deep breathing
  • Take a multivitamin and mineral supplement
  • Take an omega-3 fat supplement
  • Take extra vitamin B6, B12, and folate
  • Take vitamin D
  • Treat thyroid or low sex hormones
  • Get rid of mercury through a medical detoxification program

This is just a start, but it can go a long way to giving your brain the chance to heal and recover if you have memory problems. Even if you aren’t suffering from cognitive decline, you should take these steps because they can help you prevent the aging of your brain and obtain lifelong health.

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, MD

References

(i) http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm

(ii) Tsai, M.S., Tangalos, E.G., Petersen, R.C., et al. (1994). Apolipoprotein : Risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. American Journal of Human Genetics. 54 (4):643-649.

(iii) Godfrey, M.E., Wojcik, D.P., and C.A. Krone. (2003). Apolipoprotein E genotyping as a potential biomarker for mercury neurotoxicity. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 5 (3):189-195.

(iv) Stroombergen, M.C., and R.H. Warring. (1999). Determination of glutathione S-transferase me and theta polymorphisms in neurological disease. Human and Experimental Toxicology. 18 (3):141-145.

(v) Bernardini, S., Bellincampi, L., Ballerini, S., et al. (2005). Glutathione S-transferase P1 *C allelic variant increases susceptibility for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease: Association study and relationship with Apolipoprotein E4 allele. Clinical Chemistry. 51(6):944-951.

Speaking of Lattes

23 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by webbywriter1 in coffee, lattes

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coffee

Chapter Three

 

Speaking of Lattes

 

According to Calorie King (www.calorieking.com/foods), one Java Chip Frappuccino with soy milk and no whipped cream is 248 calories.

To burn that off you will need to do:

69 mins walking

28 mins jogging

21 mins swimming

38 mins cycling

Wow! That is quite a bit of work for just one drink. Going on, the amount of calories in each of these concoctions is staggering.

One more example; a Frappuccino with nonfat milk and no whipping crème is 180 calories. It will take 50 mins to walk it off,  21 mins to jog it off, 15 mins of swimming and 27 mins of cycling. We can eliminate jogging from that list because I can’t jog anymore due to knee problems (no skiing either.)

Conversely the calories in a cup of black coffee are a whopping three; that is 3 calories.  A Passion Fruit iced tea has 34.

But don’t all those drinks look so good and the season is changing to cooler weather; wouldn’t a pumpkin something be in keeping with the season and oh, they smell so delicious. You bet. Let’s go to calorielab.com/restaurant on the net and compare.

Cinnamon Dolce Crème (yum) with nonfat milk and no whipping crème – 420 cals.

Caramel Apple Cider (just in time for Fall) with nonfat milk  – 490 cals.

White Hot Chocolate (for you hot Mama’s) No whip crème/nonfat milk – 590 cals.

And the winner – Pumpkin Spice Crème (woo) No whip crème/whole milk – 600 cals!

Also, yum-yum (and so healthy too,) Blueberry Muffin (1) – 500 calories

Zucchini-Walnut muffin – 640 calories.  Wow!

Calorie king has a calculator for my age, weight, sex and activity level. According to them, for me to lose or maintain even, my perfect weight of 114 to 154 pounds, I should consume only 1100 -1300 calories per day. Per day! That is not very much and only one of these wonderful drinks would be half my calories for the entire day not leaving me much to eat for the rest of the day.

And, you say to yourself, ‘But I love those drinks and will feel deprived without them.’ Understood, however, you are not sixteen anymore and it is so tempting to go into these places and see hordes of teenagers with these tall ice-cream, whipped crème wonders with grated chocolate on the top, and they are skinny!!!! Teenagers are still growing and are usually very physically active. Trust me, when they turn 25, they won’t able to afford these calories either.

Think of these drinks and snacks the way I think of pancakes and syrup or doughnuts. I don’t cross them completely off my list, they are just ‘once in a while’ treats that I give myself when I have been really good. Once in a while is not everyday and it is not even every week. Once in a while is just that, once in a while. Granted, when all the pumpkin drinks start coming out in Fall (me and Harry Potter love pumpkin,) I will probably order one pumpkin something. That is one. After that it is back to my regular, black coffee.

From: Fit at Fifty+ – Courtney Webb

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