Comments
Cognitive effects after heart surgery
Renee Brawley
5/9/2013 10:14:44 AM
I am 41 years old. I have had 3 open heart surgeries, none of which had anything to do with my diet, arterial blockages or genetics. and I have moderate cognitive issues. I have NOT had any blockages of any kind! I have a history of atrial myxomas which are tumors inside of my heart, and I have had my mitral valve replaced due to the location of the tumors. So your comment that cognitive issues are not caused by the lack of oxygen to the brain during open heart surgery but is due to blockages in the arteries that cut off oxygen to the brain is wrong!! I am living proof!! The bypass machines that people are put on are not producing the right amount of oxygen that is needed to prevent any damage to brain tissue. In turn causes mild brain damage. Every heart surgery I have had I woke up feeling ok, but after a few months of recovery, I have noticed some neurological problems. So don't feed me that bs that open heart surgeries don't cause brain damage, it may not be severe, but it is there!
Heart + Brain cures
Jason Samuel Allen
10/21/2010 11:50:12 PM
I was pondering cures for diseases seeing how my 1st name means healer and middle name means God. I was thinking the brain is like a spunge and if possible it could be squeezed to expunge the dirt or over loaded junk. Just a thought while in a crisis. Let me know what you think. Thank you.
Brain swelling after heart surgery
Kathy Patrick
10/19/2009 9:24:22 PM
My 69 yr old brother had valve repair in his heart. The next day he had 11 seizures and the next day about 5. MRI show swelling on both sides of the brain, they refer to it as in the watershed area of the brain. 2 weeks he is still on the ventilator and progression is very slow. We have no idea of the impairments he may have to deal with. Any comments you may offer????
Cognitive Impairments after Aorta repair
John N. Hatfield, Ph.D.
5/1/2009 9:31:01 AM
On March 28, 2009, I was admitted to the Emergency Room with severe chest pains and spitting up blood. The MRI revealed that I had incurred several tears in my ascending aorta. The surgical team on call began the surgerical procedures at 12:30 a.m. which lasted for 9 hours. The surgeon, Dr. Abbas Toughanipour, told me that the aorta had two tears and were unable to be closed. Being on the heart lung machine and my body temp lowered to 51.7 degrees F, Dr. T cut open the aorta and inserted a teflon piece of material 6 inches long and a matching piece on the outside, which was were together, sandwiching the aorta, making a "new" aorta.
Within 1 hour after surgery, I was awake and cognizant, talking and answering questions openly. Dr. T asked me the next day what I was doing to keep my brain so healthy. I told him that I am the general manager of Cognitive Systems which provides computerized cognitve activities via the internet and that I had practiced these cognitive tasks off and on for the past 6-8 years. Dr. T said that the new neuropathways that had formed had become so robust that they were able to withstand the trauma and stress from the severe loss of blood. He said that the blood in my brain had already began to "separate" and he feared the worse.
Dr. T told my wife only 10% survive this "silent killer" and that only 1 percent of those 10 percent survive without any serious cognitive deficits or major organ failure. I believe that the brain is capable to regenerating itself as new neurons are "given birth" from the hippocampus with each new neuron capable of making 30,000 new connections throughout the brain as directed by the hippocampus. It is now 32 days since my aneuorysm and corrective surgery. I am able to function fully, but just get a bit tired after about 4 hours of administrative work. Dr. Toughanipour said that the "new teflon aorta" is a permanent fix, but I should make sure that any dental procedure I may have in the future should include taking antibiotics as a precaution, keeping any infection from attaching itself to the teflon in my aorta. I can be contacted at 1/877-204-1737 x-12 or on my cell phone: 405-706-6950 for more details regarding this cognitive development system.
Triple Bypass
Kelly H.
4/6/2009 12:12:49 AM
My mother had triple bypass surgery and everything with the surgery went fine. Then everything went wrong. She was slow to wake from anesthesia, she was in ICU for 4 days (moved prematurely if you ask me too) and now she's confused and slow to speak a lot of the time. It's troubling to me how she's sicker now than before the surgery and even after the mild heart attack she suffered that landed her in the operating room to begin with. Of course, the hospital staff says everything is normal. I know my mother, this is NOT normal. THIS issue needs to be discussed more prior to surgery. Sure you'll live, but hey, you might never have a normal conversation again...it saddens me so much.
Cognitive problems after heart bypass surgery
beverly marking
3/27/2009 9:27:18 AM
My brother, age 70, had 3 heart bypasses in 12/08, A week + after the bypass surgery, he began to exhibit signs of cognitive problems, such as verbally expressing buying anything and everything, delusions, not making sense when he conversed, etc. It has been 3 months since his bypass surgery and he is not getting any better. Will he be cognitively damaged for the long term?
Healthy Heart, Healthy Brain
Cheryl J. Aine
4/30/2008 12:03:35 PM
We see this relationship in our brain research on aging, MCI, and Alzheimer's disease. Eighty percent of our MCI/AD also have brain abnormalities identified on their MRIs (e.g., white matter hyperintensities, volume loss), most of which have been linked to hypertension and type 2 diabetes. One third of our so-called healthy controls also have these abnormalities and the abnormalities are highly correlated with memory decline.