So obviously my health has deteriorated over the past several weeks. That this is related to the hep C is doubtful; it seems to be cardiac related. I will call around on  Monday to make an appointment with a cardiologist and demand from the doctor an absolute diagnosis. The tachycardia is frequent and I’m unable to make it stop as I had been able to in the past. None of the suggested techniques work. Episodes can go on for hours and hours on end – and while in this state I experience extreme fatigue, shakiness, and perspire heavily. The simple task of going to the bathroom exhausts me.

While I don’t know all of the details, this condition is very, very similar to that which took my father’s life in 1990. He was 56 years old, just shy of his 57th birthday. Well, I’m now 51. Scared? Holy shit, yes!  My father had been diagnosed with a faulty heart valve, that’s all we knew. When he died we were informed that he was theophyline toxic – too much of the respiratory drug in his system caused multi-organ failure. Is it now my turn?

I have had tests in the past for this – wore holter-monitors many times, and of course, no tachycardia when it was in place. I truly believe that I have a mitral valve prolapse, have had it for most of my life, and believe that its becoming progressively worse. To get an absolute diagnosis I need to have an echo-cardiogram. My primary doc can’t order random tests, and my gastro/liver doc can’t really order cardiac related tests, hence the need for a heart doc.  I need to get this taken care of before I drop from exhaustion due to the simple need to breathe.

Note to self: find a cardiologist on Monday and MAKE the damn appointment.

So, while I’m rendered almost useless, my house is a mess. Huz & daughter don’t seem to mind it, but I do!  Layers of dust, dishes pile up, pans needing to be washed for days in the sink, counters in the kitchen needing to be cleaned, lots of laundry backed up. I so wish that we could afford to have someone come in to do some of this stuff since I simply cannot do it any longer. Frustration leads to tears, depression, and feeling like I just wish I could disappear. I cannot expect daughter to do more than she does. She’s working a job that’s almost full-time, doing cosmetology school on week-nights and during the mornings on Saturdays, plus she’s still working venues at Bethel Woods during concerts. That’s a lot for a 19 year old to take on.  Huz – works his ass off, sometimes for days beyond his actual shifts. When he’s home he likes to ‘veg’ and spends most of his time on his computer. Meanwhile, more dust layers onto others, the yard looks like a goddamn jungle, and the driveway looks like WT lives here with all of the miscellaneous stuff sitting in it that needs to be thrown away or put away.  All of the disarray causes me more angst and frustration renders me unable to do much of anything at all.  I’m in tears more often than not.

The dogs keep me partially sane. They play and carry on and that makes me laugh and smile on rare occasions. Of course my daily priority is to be sure that they have the freshest water possible – Zuzu puts a foot in the dish while drinking, and Caesar washes dirt/mud from his face once he comes in from one of his excavation adventures in the yard, so there’s always mud and plant matter in the bowl. I change their water at least three times daily because I don’t want them drinking their own YUCK!  I also make sure they’re fed. We have a strange feeding time – Caesar and Zuzu and crated and fed, Luna & Roo eat off of the living room rug – I have to put out a small pile of food for each of them within sight of me or the food won’t be eaten. Strange girls, that’s for sure.

Today – no tachycardia as of yet. I’ve managed to get a long, hot shower in and now have to undertake the task of combing out this massive mess of hair I have. I should let Andrea cut it, but I recently read that after a woman goes through menopause her hair pretty much stops growing. WHAT??  Geezus – this is not good news, but I supposed its life and I’ll have to deal with it. Sucks, that’s for sure.

Things I would like to get done today – some laundry, towels specifically, dishwasher is almost fully loaded, I think I can handle the rest and start it up. I wish I could strip my bed and change the sheets but that’s not a task I can take on by myself.

That’s it I guess.

DONE

Prof Frank L Greenway has reported on the findings of the largest clinical trial of Contrave in The Lancet today.

It appears to work – but ….

Contrave is a special mix of two existing drugs – naltrexone and buprion.

The combination works in two ways – it cuts appetite – and it works in the brain’s reward centre to reduce impulse eating.

The dropout rate in the 56 week trial was 50%. This was claimed to be normal – around 30% of those on Contrave had nausea while the placebo controls typically gave up due to poor weight loss.

Those completing the trial lost around 8% of the bodyweight.

In an editorial on this, Dr Arne Astrup was cautious. Both component drugs were known to increase blood pressure, and the trial results did not report an improvement in blood pressure or ‘good’ cholesterol.

Contrave should be considered for approval by the US Food and Drugs Administration in October.

Every cell in your body needs a steady supply of oxygen and nutrients in order to stay alive and work properly, including brain cells. Because oxygen and nutrients are carried in the blood stream, anything that impedes blood flow will starve those all-important brain cells. The plain truth is that a healthy heart makes for a healthy brain.

When clients ask me about optimal brain health and memory, the first thing I do is review their blood pressure and cholesterol level. I urge you to do the same: Know your numbers and if they’re elevated, take immediate measures to bring them down (eat healthy, exercise regularly, and when your doctor recommends medication — take it).

Here are some steps you can take to help optimize brain health and sharpen your memory.

• Keep blood pressure and cholesterol in check. A healthy heart makes for a healthy brain.
• Get enough sleep. Research shows that sleep deprivation can interfere with memory.
• Exercise regularly. Regular physical activity has been shown to decrease the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease by about half. Half! Aim for 30 minutes a day.
• Challenge your brain. Keep your mind active and challenged.
• Don’t smoke. Just as smoking increases risk of heart disease, it can also decrease blood flow to the brain and cause serious damage.
• Give yourself a break. Seek out ways to de-stress your life.

Any specific memory boosting foods?

Yes. Studies that focus on food and memory suggest that the more overall produce you eat, the better. One 25-year Harvard Medical School study of more than 13,000 women showed that the participants who ate relatively high amounts of vegetables over the years had less age-related decline in memory. Cruciferous vegetables and leafy green vegetables had the biggest effect on helping women retain their memory during the course of the study. In another study, the phytochemicals, anthocyanin and quercetin, actually reversed

some of the age-related memory deficits in laboratory animals.

1. Some of the best cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and bok choy.
2. Some of the best leafy green vegetables: spinach, collard and mustard greens, kale and Swiss chard.
3. Some of the best foods for anthocyanin: Berries (all varieties), cherries, black currents, eggplant, red, black, and purple grapes, plums, rhubarb, red onion, red apples, red/purple cabbage, and red beets.
4. Some of the best foods for quercetin: Onions (red, yellow, white), kale, leeks, cherry tomato, broccoli, blueberries, black currants, elderberries, apricots, apple with skin (Red Delicious), and red, purple, and black grapes.

Folic acid can also help your memory
Folic acid (also known as folate) seems to have a direct effect on memory. A study conducted at Tufts University in Boston followed about 320 men for three years. Those who had high blood levels of homocysteine showed memory decline, but if the men ate foods rich in folic acid (folic acid directly lowers homocysteine levels), their memories were protected. Also, an Australian study found that eating plenty of foods rich in folic acid was associated with faster information processing and memory recall. After just five weeks of introducing adequate folic acid into their diets, women in the study showed overall improvements in memory. Some of the best foods for folic acid include fortified whole-grain breakfast cereals, lentils, black-eyed peas, soybeans, spinach, green peas, artichokes, broccoli, wheat germ, beets and oranges.

Eating fish seems to help too!
A study conducted by researchers at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago followed more than 3,000 men and women for six years to see how diet affected memory. People who ate fish at least once a week had a 10 percent slower decline compared with those who did not eat fish, a difference that gave them the memory and thinking ability of a person three years younger.

 Be sure to click here for the best Resveratrol available – it’s 10X stronger than Resveratrol alone – It’s Shaklee’s super Anti-Aging Tonic. Just one teaspoon a day will help with brain health and heart health.  

For more information on sharpening your memory, along with meals plans, grocery lists and recipes, check out Joy’s Web site at www.joybauernutrition.com 

© 2010 MSNBC Interactive.  Reprints

• Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.^†
• Maintaining healthy cholesterol levels is a primary line of defense against heart disease.^‡
• Features an intermediate score of 57 on the Glycemic Index (GI), which measures how the foods you eat impact your blood sugar levels.
• AçaVie is an antioxidant packed ingredient that combines our patented açai and juçara freeze-dried powder and puree with Enlivenox™, a proprietary açai compound boasting 10 times more polyphenols than traditional açai.

† www.cdc.gov/HeartDisease/facts.htm
‡www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartdiseases.html