Denver Voters Support ‘Magic’ Mushrooms

I bet your doctor won't tell you you have a better chance of recovering from your stroke in Denver. 

Access to marijuana and mushrooms and altitude.

My 13 reasons for marijuana use post-stroke.  

Don't follow me, I'm not medically trained.

 

Psilocybin: Magic mushrooms have been found to boost neurogenesis.(Aug. 2013) Science isn’t really sure why.

High altitudes for Training the Brain to Survive Stroke.

 

 

Denver Voters Support ‘Magic’ Mushrooms

20,000 steps at 9,500 feet - 10 miles

I was in Ecuador for the past week. Flew in on Monday, Feb. 12, on Tuesday we walked from our hotel to the Old Town area, did have to stop several times to catch our breath during the day.  Didn't have enough time to get acclimated to the altitude, the second night there I got absolutely no sleep.  Further posts coming on the beach excursion.

Maybe you want to live there for this reason:

High altitudes for Training the Brain to Survive Stroke.

Patients can fly, go to high altitudes with precautions after MI

You'll have to ask your doctor if they know one damn thing about this travel after a stroke.

Patients can fly, go to high altitudes with precautions after MI

Most patients after an MI and other cardiac conditions can return to high altitudes, including air travel, after a few weeks, according to information presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session.

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American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session

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Once high altitude, defined as over 2,500 meters (8,200 feet), is attained, a patient can experience “fairly significant” physiological changes. Most mountains are high altitude, and airplanes fly around 30,000 to 40,000 feet, but the cabins are pressurized to 2,400 meters.

John P. Higgins

Effect of high altitudes
“Altitude does require more work from the [CV] and respiratory systems,” John P. Higgins, MD, MPhil, MBA, FACC, FACP, FAHA, director of exercise physiology at Memorial Herman Sports Medicine Institute in Houston, chief of cardiology at Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital in Houston and associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, said in his presentation. “People with mild to moderate stable [CVD] can go with the right precautions and preparation to altitude. However, those that have [instability], high risk or a recent procedure should delay travel and be guided by their provider.”
Higgins said bodies work most efficiently at sea level, where the barometric pressure is around 760 mm Hg. At sea level, the partial pressure of inspired oxygen is 149 mm Hg and in-arterial saturation in blood is 98%. In higher altitudes, the partial pressure of the inspired oxygen decreases. At 8,000 feet, or where airplanes are pressurized, the barometric pressure is an estimated 564 mm Hg, the partial pressure of inspired oxygen is 108 mm Hg and in-arterial blood saturation is 60%.
“A healthy individual should have a saturation of 90% or more and be able to handle that without any problems,” Higgins said.
A short-term effect of going to a higher altitude is hypobaric hypoxia, where the body increases its minute ventilation and tidal volume, which causes hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction. The body’s cardiac output is increased to compensate for it, Higgins said.
Waiting periods
Higgins reviewed the recommended amount of time before patients can return to higher altitudes and air travel. Patients with CAD and prior MI who are stable experience angina symptoms at lower workloads. Those who had non–STEMI or STEMI should wait 2 weeks before flying or going to a location of high altitude, but if they had a complicated case of MI, 6 weeks is recommended. Patients with a recent diagnosis of ACS who were not revascularized are recommended to have a maximum stress test prior to air travel, but if they are revascularized with PCI and have no complications, they can wait a couple of days. Patients who recently underwent CABG should wait 10 days for gas to be reabsorbed, he said.

More at link.

Warfarin Pretreatment Reduces Cell Death and MMP-9 Activity in Experimental Intracerebral Hemorrhage

There is a slight problem here in that you would need to know you're going to have a hemorrhage so you can pretreat yourself. Or maybe you'd rather go to high altitudes for Training the Brain to Survive Stroke.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12975-014-0377-3

• Frieder Schlunk,
• Elena Schulz,
• Arne Lauer,
• Kazim Yigitkanli,
• Waltraud Pfeilschifter,
• Helmuth Steinmetz,
• Eng H. Lo,
• Christian Foerch

$39.95 / €34.95 / £29.95 *

* Final gross prices may vary according to local VAT.

Get Access

Abstract

Little is known about the pathophysiology of oral anticoagulation-associated intracerebral hemorrhage (OAC-ICH). We compared hematoma volume, number of terminal deoxynucleotidyl dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL)-positive cells (indicating cell death), MMP-9 levels, and perilesional edema formation between warfarin-treated mice and controls. Intracerebral hemorrhage was induced by an injection of collagenase into the right striatum. Twenty-four hours later, hematoma volume was measured using a photometric hemoglobin assay. Cell death was quantified using TUNEL staining. MMP-9 levels were determined by zymography, and edema formation was assessed via the wet–dry method. Warfarin increased hematoma volume by 2.6-fold. The absolute number of TUNEL-positive cells in the perihematomal zone was lower in warfarin-treated animals (300.5 ± 39.8 cells/mm²) than in controls (430.5 ± 38.9 cells/mm²; p = 0.034), despite the larger bleeding volume. MMP-9 levels were reduced in anticoagulated mice as compared to controls (p  = 0.018). Perilesional edema formation was absent in warfarin mice and modestly present in controls. Our results suggest differences in the pathophysiology of OAC-ICH compared to intracerebral hemorrhage occurring under normal coagulation. A likely explanation is that thrombin, a strong inductor of apoptotic cell death and blood–brain barrier disruption, is produced to a lesser extent in OAC-ICH. In humans, however, we assume that the detrimental effects of a larger hematoma volume in OAC-ICH by far outweigh potential protective effects of thrombin deficiency.

Randomized, Sham-Controlled, Feasibility Trial of Hyperbaric Oxygen for Service Members With Postconcussion Syndrome Cognitive and Psychomotor Outcomes 1 Week Postintervention

Since this failed should we now go down the totally opposite route of sending patients to mountaintops for the thin air? As this suggests;

Training the Brain to Survive Stroke

I trust these results more that the possibly biased results from the Israeli HBOT institute here;

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Can Improve Post Concussion Syndrome Years after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury - Randomized Prospective Trial

And the failed HBOT  trial here;

Randomized, Sham-Controlled, Feasibility Trial of Hyperbaric Oxygen for Service Members With Postconcussion Syndrome Cognitive and Psychomotor Outcomes 1 Week Postintervention

1. William C. Walker, MD1,2,3
2. Laura Manning Franke, PhD1,2,3
3. David X. Cifu, MD1,2,4
4. Brett B. Hart, MD5

1. ¹Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
2. ²Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Richmond, VA, USA
3. ³Richmond Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, Richmond, VA, USA
4. ⁴Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, USA
5. ⁵Navy Medicine Operational Training Center, Pensacola, FL, USA

1. William C. Walker, MD, Department of PM&R, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1223 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA 23298, USA. Email: wwalker@mcvh-vcu.edu

Abstract

Background. 

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and residual postconcussion syndrome (PCS) are common among combatants of the recent military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO₂) is a proposed treatment but has not been rigorously studied for this condition. 

Objectives. 

In a secondary analysis, examine for possible effects on psychomotor (balance and fine motor) and cognitive performance 1 week after an HBO₂ intervention in service members with PCS after mTBI. Methods. 

 A randomized, double-blind, sham control, feasibility trial comparing pretreatment and posttreatment was conducted in 60 male active-duty marines with combat-related mTBI and PCS persisting for 3 to 36 months. Participants were randomized to 1 of 3 preassigned oxygen fractions (10.5%, 75%, or 100%) at 2.0 atmospheres absolute (ATA), resulting in respective groups with an oxygen exposure equivalent to (1) breathing surface air (Sham Air), (2) 100% oxygen at 1.5 ATA (1.5 ATAO2), and (3) 100% oxygen at 2.0 ATA (2.0 ATAO2). Over a 10-week period, participants received 40 hyperbaric chamber sessions of 60 minutes each. Outcome measures, including computerized posturography (balance), grooved pegboard (fine motor speed/dexterity), and multiple neuropsychological tests of cognitive performance, were collected preintervention and 1-week postintervention. 

Results. 

Despite the multiple sensitive cognitive and psychomotor measures analyzed at an unadjusted 5% significance level, this study demonstrated no immediate postintervention beneficial effect of exposure to either 1.5 ATAO2 or 2.0 ATAO2 compared with the Sham Air intervention. 

Conclusions. 

These results do not support the use of HBO₂ to treat cognitive, balance, or fine motor deficits associated with mTBI and PCS.

Training the Brain to Survive Stroke

Fascinating idea, maybe we should be doing this instead of statins, but ask your perfectly knowledgeable doctor for what to do. And maybe I should retire in
United States, Colorado, Alma
At an elevation of approximately 10,578 feet (3,224 m), it is the highest incorporated municipality in the United States with permanent residents. 

This leads to the perfectly respectable question, should survivors move to higher elevations to increase blood vessel growth?
Easy research project for you grad students, Do higher elevation patients recover better?
This would be the complete opposite of  HBOT, so ask your researcher to follow up.

 

 

The article here:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0045108
A blogger talking about it here:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/12/stroke-priming/

Climbers Face Lasting Effects if Brain Swells

I did have nausea when I climbed to the top of Mauna Loa in Hawaii at 13,678 feet, but nothing when I got to the top of Galdhøpiggen in Norway at  8100 feet. If this applies to you see your doctor for answers.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/RSNA/36195
Extreme mountaineers who develop serious brain swelling at altitude appear to have lasting evidence of small hemorrhages in their brains, researchers said here.
In a single-center MRI study of 36 mountaineers, patients who'd had high altitude cerebral edema (HACE) had microbleeds in their corpus callosum, while those with other forms of altitude sickness largely did not, Michael Knauth, MD, PhD, of the University Medical Center Goettingen in Germany, and colleagues reported during a press briefing at the Radiological Society of North America meeting here.
"Microbleeds were found almost exclusively in the brains of HACE survivors," Knauth said during the briefing.
HACE typically occurs at altitudes above 7,000 feet and is considered the end stage of severe acute mountain sickness, or altitude sickness.
It's long been thought to be a fully reversible condition if the patient survives, but some work suggests that it does leave traces in the brain – particularly, hemosiderin deposits, or remnants of microbleeds.
These can be picked up on a very sensitive form of MRI called susceptibility-weighted imaging, Knauth said. So he and colleagues conducted these scans on 36 mountaineers, some of whom had experienced various illnesses:

• 10 had HACE
• 11 had severe acute mountain sickness
• 8 had high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE)
• 7 had been at altitudes above 7,000 feet but had no altitude sickness

Radiologists interpreting the scans were blinded to the climber's status, and classified each as positive, negative, or questionable for microbleeds.
Overall, Knauth and colleagues found that the microbleeds in the corpus callosum occurred almost exclusively in climbers who'd had HACE -- 8 of the 10 of these mountaineers had definite evidence of microbleeds, while two had "questionable" bleeds.
Only one patient with severe acute mountain sickness also showed evidence of microbleeds, the lone false-positive result, Knauth said.
There was one questionable finding in a patient who'd had HAPE and two questionable findings in those who'd been at altitude without becoming ill.
Knauth said the HACE patients who had been most severely affected showed the most prominent evidence of microbleeds, and he cautioned that the findings don't appear to be a function of altitude as much as severity.
"It's not like you can say that at 8,000 [feet] they'll have so many [microbleeds] and at Everest they'll have double," Knauth said. "But those who have the most severe HACE – the ones that almost died -- have the most severe changes on MRI as well."
He also warned that there don't appear to be many clinical effects of the microbleeds at this point in time – though longer-term effects may be a different story.
"The neuropsychological consequences are unclear, but at the present there are no data to support the hypothesis that they are impaired," he said. "They work normally, but subtle testing of their mental capabilities is still to be performed. But it probably [will show] nothing."
Knauth concluded that the findings counter the idea that HACE is fully reversible, given that this evidence of microbleeds remains for years after the initial injury.