Irregular Heart Rhythms and Seizures

I'm going to drop this into my blog so I can find it. Last week I had a continuous heart monitor implanted to see if the heart rhythm was causing seizures or the other way around. Here's what I found although there is no good way to cite the source, as it has none but several articles, which actually includes one about dogs, another about epilepsy. That's why I don't like AI.

Irregular Heart Rhythms and Seizures

Irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias) and focal seizures are two distinct medical conditions that can occur independently or in conjunction with each other. Here’s a summary of their relationship and key points:

Arrhythmias: Abnormal heart rhythms that can be too fast (tachycardia), too slow (bradycardia), or irregular (atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, etc.)

Can be caused by various factors, including heart disease, electrolyte imbalances, medications, and genetic conditions 

May lead to symptoms such as palpitations, dizziness, fainting, or chest pain

Focal Seizures: Type of seizure characterized by abnormal electrical activity in a specific part of the brain (focal onset)

Typically involves involuntary motor movements or sensory disturbances limited to one side of the body or a specific area

Can be caused by various factors, including brain lesions, infections, or genetic conditions

May be accompanied by symptoms such as numbness, tingling, or weakness

Connection between Arrhythmias and Focal Seizures: Seizures can increase the risk of arrhythmias, particularly in individuals with underlying heart conditions

Seizure medications may also contribute to arrhythmias as a side effect

In some cases, arrhythmias can precede or coincide with seizures, making it challenging to distinguish between the two conditions

The autonomic nervous system (ANS), which regulates heart rate and blood pressure, can be affected by both arrhythmias and seizures

Clinical Significance: Accurate diagnosis and treatment of both arrhythmias and focal seizures are crucial to prevent complications and improve patient outcomes

Monitoring of heart rhythm and electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings can help identify the presence of arrhythmias and seizures

Treatment may involve medications, implantable devices (e.g., pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators), or surgical interventions, depending on the underlying causes and severity of the conditions

Key Takeaways: Irregular heart rhythms and focal seizures can occur independently or in conjunction with each other

Seizures can increase the risk of arrhythmias, and seizure medications may contribute to arrhythmias as a side effect

Accurate diagnosis and treatment of both conditions are essential to prevent complications and improve patient outcomes

Monitoring of heart rhythm and EEG recordings can help identify the presence of arrhythmias and seizures [This is the Medtronic device I have now.  It is NOT a pacemaker.]

The good old days of medicine

Although I'm old enough to remember when the doctor came to the house, I also remember when I could call the doctor and he would get back to me at the end of the day. I also remember when he would write a personal note at the end of the lab report that was mailed to me. I don't remember how many years ago it was, but if I were in the hospital, the doctor visited me there instead of a "hospitalist" I'd never see again.

The Fox interview with Kamala Harris

It seems I'm the only one who thought Kamala talked louder than Bret on Fox last night. I've heard that charge so often about how Donald Trump stopped the so called bi-partisan Senate border bill of 2024 even I could argue the sides. I've yet to hear the interviewer drill down and ask about the numbers of illegals allowed in. The bill gave authority to shut down the border, which wouldn’t kick in until the seven-day average number of cumulative encounters with INADMISSIBLE migrants was between 4,000 and 5,000 per day. And even that would be discretionary unless the seven-day average was above 5,000 per day. What Democrat president wouldn't love codifying the number of illegals at 5,000 a day? Then they would call them legal and sign them up to vote, live in hotels, flood the local schools, use welfare intended for citizens, and emergency funding for hurricane victims. All while rich Democrats like Obama and Pelosi live in gated communities!

And there were billions for Ukraine in that "border bill" too, although leftist media loves to split hairs on that in the old shell game.

And speaking of rich. That old saw Kamala trots out in each speech about Trump's tax breaks for the rich is right out of the 80s. Why can't interviewers ever ask her about that? The wealthiest, most powerful donors to elections in the U.S. are Democrats using illegal migrants as gardeners and house cleaners. Just a few months ago we saw a coup and the president was deposed by a few mega-rich corporate magnates and Hollywood PACs.

But Bret just let that fly on by and continued to let her lie, lie, lie, and obfuscate about her role as border czar and a "middle class" kid who didn't show up for work in California. She blames Trump who held no office in the Senate and gave a tax break to the middle class in his four years.

Bret . . . I think you failed.

Frustration with electronic devices

 Last week I was in the hospital again and this time received an implantable cardiac electronic device for cardiac arrhythmia management made by Medtronic. It's called a loop recorder. It's supposed to be way more accurate than those clunky monitors that they stick on the outside and give you a little transmitter to push. Sounds like a terrific piece of technology, doesn't it? Just try to get anyone on the phone (low tech) to report a problem, or even at my own cardiologist's office here in Columbus. I looked at the patient information page on-line which is worthless so then looked at the professional page which had a lot of sexy numbers and percentages and AI stuff, but still no information on how to find a real person to talk to who hasn't left a recorded message and will call back in 48 hours.

So I did get a call back at about 24 hours later from the "clinic," but the staff member was from the pacemaker group and not the loop device. This then involved her calling the company with an explanation from a non-native speaker of English about how it was set up to record. None of this made sense because I was receiving their messages just fine, but there was no way for me to contact them (a feature explained to me at the hospital). Then the staffer at the local clinic told me her supervisor was not in today, so she'd have to call me back.

Update: It was "fixed," and I suspect someone in the company asked their grandchild, and it appears that the app was removed and reloaded. It works with your TV, why not the implanted heart device? I still think there is too much high tech and not enough high touch (people).

Are you voting Progressive in 2024?

You are voting progressive in 2024. These are the issues you wish to impose on me.

socialism
intersectionality
The national religion of woke
gender surgery for minors
abortion into the 9th month
freedom of speech restricted
religious rights restricted
2nd amendment destroyed
larger and more powerful government at all levels
inflationary income tax increases
taxes on unrealized gains
lawfare--weaponization of the law
laws and regulations based on skin color and ethnicity
males stealing athletic scholarships from females
sexually explicit books required for young readers
drag queen parades, shows and story hours
no national borders
destruction of democratic process for election of officials
packing Supreme Court
dismantling the electoral college so only largest metro areas vote

Transient Ischemic attack

 Excerpt from StatPearls, 2024

A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a medical emergency. It is defined as a transient episode of neurologic dysfunction due to the focal brain, spinal cord, or retinal ischemia without acute infarction or tissue injury. The definition of a TIA has moved from time-based to tissue-based. A TIA typically lasts less than an hour, more often minutes. TIA can be considered a serious warning of an impending ischemic stroke; the risk is highest in the first 48 hours following a transient ischemic attack. Differentiating transient ischemic attack from other mimicking conditions is important. Transient ischemic attacks are usually associated with a focal neurologic deficit and/or speech disturbance in a vascular territory due to underlying cerebrovascular disease. It is always sudden in onset. Evaluation of TIA should be done urgently with imaging and laboratory studies to decrease the risk of subsequent strokes. The subsequent risk of TIA or ischemic stroke can be stratified with a simple clinical measure. Immediate multimodality therapeutic interventions should be initiated. These will include aggressive treatment of blood pressure, high-dose statin, antiplatelet therapy, blood sugar control, diet, and exercises. Specific underlying etiology needs to be managed accordingly. This treatment scheme may substantially reduce the risk of recurrent strokes or future TIA by at least 80%.

StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov)

Transient Ischemic Attack - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf (nih.gov)

"The ABCD2 score is very important for predicting subsequent risks of TIA or stroke. The ABCD2 score was derived from providing a more robust prediction standard. The ABCD2 score includes age, blood pressure, clinical symptoms, duration, and diabetes.

Age: older than 60 years (1 point)
Blood pressure greater than or equal to 140/90 mmHg on first evaluation (1 point)
Clinical symptoms: a focal weakness with the spell (2 points) or speech impairment without weakness (1 point)
Duration greater than 60 min (2 points) or 10 min to 59 min (1 point)
Diabetes mellitus (1 point).

The 2-day risk of stroke was 0% for scores of 0 or 1, 1.3% for 2 or 3, 4.1% for 4 or 5, and 8.1% for 6 or 7. Most stroke centers will admit patients with TIA to the hospital for expedited management and observation if the score is 4, 5, or higher. For patients with a lower score, expedited evaluation and management are still warranted. This expedited approach has been proven to improve the outcome.[9]"

Remarkable similarities in the four candidates

Have you ever thought about how much the 4 candidates actually do have in common? 

Vance's wife, Usha, and Kamala Harris are daughters of Indian immigrants who were well educated California academics. Say what you will about class and race in America, but Asian Indians are near the top in education, income and entrepreneurship. (Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley were also candidates and also ethnically Indian.) As an immigrant group they have an advantage since most have a college degree and English as a 2nd language when they immigrate. 

And Donald Trump's mother and wives Ivana and Melania were immigrants (Czech and Slovenian).

Vance and Obama were both raised by their grandparents (Obama technically isn't running, but that's not true in reality). 

Vance and Walz have strong rural backgrounds, Vance with his heart home in rural Kentucky, and Walz in several rural communities in Nebraska and working on a farm as a teen. 

For all they say about the importance of family values (and all candidates say that), fathers don't seem to be on the scene much. Walz's father died when he was young, Vance's father was completely out of the picture and his Papaw was his male influence, Harris's parents were divorced, and other than her father being a Marxist professor, we don't know much about him. Trumps' father is mentioned as a real estate mogul, but I don't see evidence that it was a warm relationship. 

Both Vance and Walz have experience in the military and attribute much of their success and leadership skills to that. 

Both Trump and Harris, children of privilege, attended private schools--Trump's was a military school and Harris' was in Montreal, Canada. 

In stories and rumors of sexual escapades, Trump and Harris match up well.

Can you think of other similarities?

More on my TIA

Because of my TIA two weeks ago, I've had some speech therapy (no one but me could hear the problem). This morning I did one of my vocal exercises and my husband put his hands over his ears (he wears hearing aids). He said, "I think you've passed."

If you're ever in need of an MRI or a CAT let me mention a side effect most people don't have. After questioning "Dr. Google" thoroughly I've decided I had a reaction to the contrast medium dye which is injected so they can see the blood vessels better and determine the problem.

 
I've now had 14 days of what feels like a sunburn on my face, but no rash, no fever and no one can see it. This is very hard to explain to my doctor. What you are told at the time is the heat you feel from the contrast medium will be gone after a few minutes. I'm suspicious I had a reaction to the iodine in the medium because I have thyroid disease. In rare cases for some people it lasts for months. It's not fatal and it is rare, and you still need the test. It seems to be lessening--or maybe I'm just used to it.

North Carolina on my mind

It's hard to know how this trifecta of tragedies will impact the 2024 election. On the surface a dock strike putting us in another inflationary period, another war in the Middle East because USA looks weak under Biden, and a Hurricane where FEMA can't get drinking water to some trapped in 5 days looks seriously bad for Harris/Walz.

But look how many people won't be able to get to the polls in NC? That's the silver lining. Americans will forget Helene in a week or so, while those unfortunate people will still be scrambling for the basics for months or longer. Hang on, my shirttail relatives in NC. 

Hurricanes are not a result of climate change, but they are fodder for politics. Remember how Democrats screamed at Bush for Katrina even though the governor of LA and the mayor of NOLA were Democrats unprepared at the local and state levels? Much of the hold up there was LA regulations preventing outsiders from coming in to help. And Trump had hurricane Maria and the complaints about bottled water not getting there on time. But FEMA had delivered; it was found out after he was demonized by the media that the local government had not delivered it.

 
Republicans blamed Obama for not getting emergency supplies to or visiting the flooded upper midwest in 2009. But he addressed the nation from Camp David, said he was monitoring it, and praised the volunteers. Didn't Kamala cut and paste that one for Helene?

 
And kudos to Tim Walz, governor of MN, who was out there filling sandbags in 2019 when there was serious Mississippi River flooding in Minnesota!

https://youtu.be/Kcld2vYXfWU?si=uvolc-PSaUiVacsT

September 30 news on Hurricane Helene | CNN