Myth : Deep Brain Stimulation Is Experimental Therapy
Fact: Deep brain stimulation, or DBS, is a procedure in which doctors place electrodes in the brain at the point when medications are less effective in masking motor symptoms, such as tremor, stiffness and slowness of movement.
While it may sound frightening and futuristic, its been around and successfully used for decades. DBS works very similarly to a pacemaker, except the wire is in the brain, not in the heart. Its been a standard procedure for the past two decades.
Pale Colored Nails Can Indicate Congestive Heart Failure
While shortness of breath and altered heart rate are the symptoms most commonly associated with congestive heart failure, there’s a much lesser known symptom that may appear on your fingernails. This is known as “Terry’s nails,” a symptom in which most of the nail appears to be a pale white color, and a band of pink is present at the tip of the nail, the area known as the distal band.
According to one study published in the Indian Journal of Dermatology, the color change in your nails is caused by “reduced vascularity” resulting from the heart’s inability to pump blood effectively, as well as an “overgrowth of connective tissue.”
Never Try To Treat Your Cough At Home If You Suspect Heart Failure
Attempting to treat your cardiac cough at home with an over-the-counter cough suppressant can be very dangerous for those with heart failure. “The active ingredients in some of thesenamely pseudoephedrine and triprolidine-pseudoephedrine can raise blood pressure and cause fluid retentionboth side effects that can exacerbate heart failure,” Richard N. Fogoros, MD, a retired cardiologist, tells Verywell Health.
Instead, continue taking any heart medication that has been prescribed to you and reach out to your doctor for immediate evaluation.
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What Is Congestive Heart Failure
Congestive heart failure is a condition in which the heart becomes enlarged, often due to high blood pressure or narrowing of the coronary arteries.
It leads to an increase in blood volume being pumped out of the left ventricle with each contraction. This leads to fluids backing up in the lungs and body, leading to various symptoms. These include breathlessness, weakness, fatigue and coughing. The most serious complication of congestive heart failure is fluid accumulating around the lungs, known as pulmonary oedema or “water on the lung.”
1. Congestive heart failure is the most common cardiovascular condition in people over 65 years of age.
2. Heart failure has two major causes: cardiovascular disease or acute myocardial infarction.
3. About one third of heart failure cases are due to dilated cardiomyopathy, in which the heart muscle is damaged by abnormal heart muscle cells .
4. About one third of cases are due to left ventricular hypertrophy .
5. About 15% of cases in males and about 75% in females are idiopathic .
The term congestive heart failure refers to a condition in which the heart becomes enlarged, often due to high blood pressure or narrowing of the coronary arteries.
If untreated, congestive heart failure may progress to decreased exercise tolerance and acute deterioration.
The link between coffee and congestive heart failure
The link between coffee and congestive heart failure
Here’s What To Do If You Notice Terry’s Nails
While there is no specific treatment for this symptom, it’s likely to lessen with treatment of the underlying condition. Besides medical interventions suggested by your doctor, the CDC recommends practicing healthy habits that lower your likelihood of congestive heart failure. These include not smoking tobacco eating healthy foods that are low in fat, cholesterol and sodium exercising regularly and limiting your alcohol intake.
Speak with your doctor if you notice any changes to the color of your nails, especially if you have any known history of a heart or liver condition.
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What Does This Mean For People With Parkinson’s
Professor Donald Grosset, leader of the Tracking Parkinson’s study and one of the authors of the study, explains:
“It’s not surprising that many people living with Parkinson’s also have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease as both conditions get more common as we get older.
“But our study highlights the impact of living with both at the same time.
“People with poorer cardiovascular health had worse walking and memory even in the early stages of Parkinson’s, so improving cardiovascular health may help these aspects of the condition.
“We were slightly surprised that so few people in the high and medium risk groups were taking statins, since they are proven to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
“We hope our findings will help to start a conversation about vascular health in Parkinson’s, so that it can be assessed and, where appropriate, treated.”
Additional Benefits Of Palliative Care For Chf
Palliative care is also there to guide you and your loved ones through all the distress caused by CHF. The team will help you navigate the complex health care system. They will keep you, your family and all of your doctors informed, up to date and on the same page.
Palliative care specialists can help you plan in advance because CHF episodes can become worse, sudden and unpredictable. In fact, one of the most important things your palliative care team can do is help you fully discuss your health with your family caregivers.
The team will use its communication expertise to help you achieve your personal goals while living with the disease. They understand that every patient and every family is different. The team is there to help you and your family achieve the best possible quality of life as you live with CHF.
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How Can Coffee Affect Your Health
There are two different types of risks associated with coffee: acute and chronic risks.
Acute risk includes having a heart attack, arrhythmia or indigestion, with or without ulcers after you consume too much caffeine.
These symptoms require immediate medical attention. The chronic risk is developing heart diseases due to your overall health. Given that caffeine increases your metabolism,
it can cause elevated blood pressure and increase cholesterol levels in the body as well as increase the demands on your kidneys and adrenal glands.
Such conditions can lead to heart attacks and arrhythmias if neglected over a long period of time.
What Is Heart Failure
Heart failure is a progressive condition that weakens the heart. It can be caused by coronary artery disease, chronic hypertension, cardiomyopathy, viral myocarditis, endocrine abnormalities, congenital defects in the heart muscles or valves of the heart.
Heart failure causes reduced blood flow to your bodys organs and other tissues. As a result you may experience shortness of breath or rapid or labored breathing. Other symptoms are fatigue, high blood pressure in your lungs and fluid buildup in your abdomen .
Heart failure can lead to complications, including life-threatening heart rhythm problems, low blood pressure, stroke and kidney failure.
To diagnose heart failure, your doctor will do a physical exam and check your blood pressure. Blood tests may be ordered to help rule out other problems that could cause symptoms similar to heart failure.
Heart failure affects an estimated 5.4 million Americans over the age of 65 and another 12 million people over the age of 20 in the United States. More than 23 million people in the U.S. experience some form of heart failure each yearmore than breast cancer and AIDS combined. Heart failure afflicts more than 6% of adults in the U.S. at a cost to the national healthcare system of over $19 billion a year.
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How To Get Palliative Care
If you or a loved one needs palliative care, ask your doctor for a referral.
Finding palliative care in your area is easy. Just go to our Palliative Care Provider Directory for a state-by-state list. To find out if palliative care is right for you, take our quiz.
Visit the American Heart Association for detailed patient and caregiver information on congestive heart failure: .
Visit the American Heart Associations Support Network to connect with others who have experienced congestive heart failure: .
What Are The Different Stages Of Parkinsons Disease
Each person with Parkinsons disease experiences symptoms in in their own unique way. Not everyone experiences all symptoms of Parkinsons disease. You may not experience symptoms in the same order as others. Some people may have mild symptoms others may have intense symptoms. How quickly symptoms worsen also varies from individual to individual and is difficult to impossible to predict at the outset.
In general, the disease progresses from early stage to mid-stage to mid-late-stage to advanced stage. This is what typically occurs during each of these stages:
Early stage
Early symptoms of Parkinsons disease are usually mild and typically occur slowly and do not interfere with daily activities. Sometimes early symptoms are not easy to detect or you may think early symptoms are simply normal signs of aging. You may have fatigue or a general sense of uneasiness. You may feel a slight tremor or have difficulty standing.
Often, a family member or friend notices some of the subtle signs before you do. They may notice things like body stiffness or lack of normal movement slow or small handwriting, lack of expression in your face, or difficulty getting out of a chair.
Mid stage
Mid-late stage
Standing and walking are becoming more difficult and may require assistance with a walker. You may need full time help to continue to live at home.
Advanced stage
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Myth : Parkinsons Is Only A Motor Condition
Fact: While its true that Parkinsons disease symptoms include shaking and tremor, rigid muscles, slowness of movement, and a frozen or flat expression, its a lot more than that.
Nonmotor symptoms deserve and are getting more attention from doctors and researchers. These symptoms include cognitive impairment or dementia , anxiety and depression, fatigue, sleep problems and more.
For some patients, nonmotor symptoms are more disabling than motor symptoms, which are the focus of treatment. Be sure to talk to your doctor about other issues so you can get all of your symptoms addressed.
Clinical And Ecg Evaluation
Each patient underwent an extensive evaluation including Hoehn & Yahr stage , Unified Parkinsons Disease Rating Scale , and Scale for Outcomes in PD for autonomic symptoms . Medications and comorbidities were recorded, using the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale . Levodopa Equivalent Daily Dose was also calculated. A long term time domain analysis of heart rate variability using 24-h 12-lead ECG recording , encompassing morning and night hours was performed and evaluated according to the NASPE/ESC Task Force in PD patients and age-matched healthy individuals. Both groups were asked to perform normal daily activity excluding intense physical activity. All time domain parameters analysed have been summarized in Table and calculated using cardioscan II software .
Table 1 HRV Time domain parameters evaluated in PD patients and controls
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Symptoms Of Parkinson’s Disease
These common symptoms of Parkinson’s disease often begin gradually and progress over time:
- Shaking or tremor
- Poor posture
- Slowing of body movements
As the disease continues to progress, additional symptoms can occur such as slurred or soft speech, trouble chewing and/or swallowing, memory loss, constipation, trouble sleeping, loss of bladder control, anxiety, depression, inability to regulate body temperature, sexual dysfunction, decreased ability to smell, restless legs and muscle cramps.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Parkinsons Disease
Symptoms of Parkinsons disease and the rate of decline vary widely from person to person. The most common symptoms include:
Other symptoms include:
- Speech/vocal changes: Speech may be quick, become slurred or be soft in tone. You may hesitate before speaking. The pitch of your voice may become unchanged .
- Handwriting changes: You handwriting may become smaller and more difficult to read.
- Depression and anxiety.
- Sleeping disturbances including disrupted sleep, acting out your dreams, and restless leg syndrome.
- Pain, lack of interest , fatigue, change in weight, vision changes.
- Low blood pressure.
How Parkinsons Disease Affects The Autonomic Nervous System And The Heart
In PD, there are two major reasons why the automatic control of the cardiac system is impaired. First, areas of the brain that control this system often contain Lewy bodies and have undergone neurodegeneration. In addition, the autonomic nervous system itself is directly affected by Lewy body-like accumulations and neurodegeneration. This means, when the baroreceptors in the heart and carotid artery sense a drop in blood pressure and try to generate a signal to the heart and blood vessels to increase the blood pressure, the message may not get through. This results in neurogenic orthostatic hypotension , or drops in blood pressure upon standing due to autonomic nervous system dysfunction. There are no medications that can cure nOH by restoring the autonomic nervous system in PD. nOH however, can be treated. Read more about nOH and its treatments here.
Structural problems of the heart such as coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathy are not thought to be part of the pathology of PD, although of course, could co-exist with PD.
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Myth : Parkinsons Medications Cause Symptoms
Fact: Even though the myth that Parkinsons disease medicines are toxic and make the condition progress faster was completely debunked, it persists. Levodopa is the main drug therapy for Parkinsons disease. Its a potent drug that helps patients with motor symptoms. But many people got the idea that over time, it makes the disease progress faster. The myth was that levodopa is somehow toxic and is somehow making the Parkinsons progression faster, hurting patients.
This misconception was debunked decades ago with a large clinical trial, where it was found that people exposed to levodopa versus a placebo werent worse. In fact, they were better at the end of the study.
Its true that levodopa isnt a cure as yet, there is no cure for Parkinsons disease but its not toxic.
Coffee And Coronary Heart Disease
If you’re looking for a much healthier drink to get your caffeine fix, here’s a much better option: Matcha. It’s the latest craze in the US and can be found at any coffee shop or health food store.
Matcha tea is made from finely ground and powdered tea leaves which are steamed and dried in order to prevent oxidation. It also contains 10x more EGCG than other teas – this is an antioxidant that boosts metabolism, helps fight against cancer cells, reduces inflammation, and guards against heart attacks. Matcha is also rich in L-Theanine which improves your mood by reducing stress levels.
There are two main ways to drink matcha: Pour hot water over the leaves allowing them to steep for several minutes Brew coffee maker, put 1-2 teaspoons of matcha in the brew basket, brew as usual wait for 20 seconds.
While there are dozens of matcha tea drinks you can make, here are some popular ones: Matcha Latte – Steep 2-3 tea bags in hot water for 3 minutes. Strain the tea before placing it in a mug with espresso coffee and frothing milk. Depending on your taste buds, you can add more or less sugar and sweetener. Matcha Lemonade – Use the boiling water, hot tea leaves, sugar, 5g of gelatin and 25g of lemon juice. Over the top with ice cubes before serving.
Subtitle: A review of the newest trend for a healthy caffeine high.
Article by John Bowne, E-RYT 500 with Yoga Alliance, Certified Personal Trainer & Nutritional Consultant
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Congestive Heart Failure: Prevention Treatment And Research
Congestive heart failure is a serious condition in which the heart doesnt pump blood as efficiently as it should. Despite its name, heart failure doesnt mean that the heart has literally failed or is about to stop working. Rather, it means that the heart muscle has become less able to contract over time or has a mechanical problem that limits its ability to fill with blood. As a result, it cant keep up with the bodys demand, and blood returns to the heart faster than it can be pumped outit becomes congested, or backed up. This pumping problem means that not enough oxygen-rich blood can get to the bodys other organs.
The body tries to compensate in different ways. The heart beats faster to take less time for refilling after it contractsbut over the long run, less blood circulates, and the extra effort can cause heart palpitations. The heart also enlarges a bit to make room for the blood. The lungs fill with fluid, causing shortness of breath. The kidneys, when they dont receive enough blood, begin to retain water and sodium, which can lead to kidney failure. With or without treatment, heart failure is often and typically progressive, meaning it gradually gets worse.
More than 5 million people in the United States have congestive heart failure. Its the most common diagnosis in hospitalized patients over age 65. One in nine deaths has heart failure as a contributing cause.
The Facts About Parkinsons Disease
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurogenerative disease that causes nerve cells in the area of the brain that controls movement to weaken and/or die. While healthy neurons produce a chemical called dopamine, which the brain needs a certain amount of in order to regulate movement, weakened neurons produce lower levels of dopamine. What causes these neurons to weaken is currently unknown.
Some patients with Parkinson’s disease also suffer from a decline in norepinephrine, a chemical that transmits signals across nerve endings and controls various functions, such as blood pressure and heart rate.
More than 10 million people worldwide are currently living with Parkinson’s disease and nearly one million will be living with the disease in the United States this year, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation.
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