Recent content by Marfaned

As long as you can tolerate diary that could be a solution. There are other sources which have the additional benefits of trace minerals as well. Part of calcium supplementation is traces of boron some magnesium and zinc. Nuts are a good choice in this respect. If you have a tendency to form...

One slight issue I have is that only some but not all confounding variables have been studied. This population studied may have had an increased risk of atherosclerosis. We still do not know all the risk factors for atheromatous diseases. The study is a good one but an early one. They have...

Although they are both "cholesterol reducers" they also belong to different molecular classes and do have different side effect profiles especially in the presence of other drugs that you take. There is a good reason why we have 2 or 3 molecular class drugs for every indication as people are...

I dont know if this has been discussed elsewhere on this forum but according to Dr. Elefteraides, the drugs used to slow down aortic growth are largely unproven in terms of changing the natural history of the disease in most people. This is not to say they should not be used; their utility is in...

That is incredible james...surviving a double whammy. The update for me is that my surgeon now wants to see me pronto. I having these left of mid line pain and they are concerned it could be a symptomatic aorta which is already dilated. There are two opinions one to intervene and the other to...

Thanks everybody for the concern and good advice. Turns out this guy has some insurance (i dont know how much) and assets (??) and I have hired a personal injury attorney. Ross's point is valid though as in this case the guy is insured with a low caliber insurance company (surprise!) and my...

Just when you think you survived a nature made aortic tear, a DUI bloke rams into me at high speed and runs away. The cops finally got him, but hey I get to lose again! Sorry for the anger but I am now forced to play the waiting game while they observe me for a while to see if I have a hidden...

mainframe above has a point. I am one of those who would worry about going all the way to 5.0 as I was "unzipped by god" at 5.0. An IRAD study showed that at post mortem a large number of dissections/rupture deaths occurred at 4.5 to 5.0. This is not to frighten anybody but each person has to be...

INR 1.4 for a day may be OK but a hospital trip is not required unless you have stroke symptoms. Sometimes a small clot may form on your valve and nothing may come of it as it tends to dissolve. Prolonged, less than 2 INR over a week or more could be risky. I t happens to me now and then due to...

One more.... One more.... I have not seen the article, but it is worrisome for us because fungal endocarditis is awfully difficult to treat. Mycotic aneurysms come to mind as well. Asperigilus fungi cause this usually but is a rare event. I feel people just discharged from hospital are...

Generalized endocarditis due to a range of bacteria and fungi (yes! but rare) directly colonize the endocardium and break down the endothelial layer. In this case the immune reaction is not the issue. They can even cause the prosthetic valve suturing ring to come off because they have eaten into...

Immunology....I could not resist it...The fever i.e., the bacterium itself does not do the damage, rather the immune over-reaction to put it in simple terms. Many streptococcus bacteria have surface protein motifs/antigens which have similarities to the heart valve itself. So even after the...

Hi Lyn: Sorry for a delayed response. I had some Tax return complications and my accountant wanted to get some documents sorted out. I was neck deep in that stuff but it is done now. Your thinking on the Psoraisis is not wildly off but it is a complicated matter. Like I said there is cascade of...

Calcification Calcification Calcification and scar tissue formation (including that obstructive 'pannus" formation around replaced valves) involve a cascade of repair mechanisms that the body trigerrs after injury or surgery. Although it is hematologically driven, T cells themselves are...

The odor could be ketone bodies (specifically acetone aka nail polish remover) due to metabolic disturbances. This does indicate some liver/pancreas damage and insulin regulation problems. Or he could have been a diabetic; due to long standing insulin problems running in parallel. This does...