Microinfarcts seen in CT scan

[johngail5950]

I got sick and fainted in July and went to the ER with terrible nausea and fainting. Being 72 years old the doctors at the ER did a CT scan to rule out a stroke. After 6 hours they diagnosed me with gastroenteritis. Last week I called my doctor to get the results of the CT scan and it turned out that I had chronic microinfarcts caused by high blood pressure and/ or high cholesterol both of which I have. My doctor was very blasé about the diagnosis telling me 30% of people over 65 will have this show up on a CT scan. He told me to take a baby aspirin every day to thin my blood. I am not very happy about this , and see this as possibly the beginning of vascular dementia. I called my brother-in-law who is a neurologist and he asked me to send the scan to him, but he also told me I need to see a nephrologist to find out why my blood pressure isn’t under better control despite my taking 3 bp medications. Now I am very worried. I don’t trust conventional doctors to help me. I am on the Plant Paradox diet for APOE4’s , and a follower of Dr. Bredesen. I can’t afford to go to a functional medicine doctor, and am very worried about how I am going to find a way to bring my blood pressure down and stop this chronic microinfarcts. I thought I was doing everything right. Anyone know anything about this, or have any suggestions?

[slacker]

I got sick and fainted in July and went to the ER with terrible nausea and fainting. Being 72 years old the doctors at the ER did a CT scan to rule out a stroke. After 6 hours they diagnosed me with gastroenteritis. Last week I called my doctor to get the results of the CT scan and it turned out that I had chronic microinfarcts caused by high blood pressure and/ or high cholesterol both of which I have. My doctor was very blasé about the diagnosis telling me 30% of people over 65 will have this show up on a CT scan. He told me to take a baby aspirin every day to thin my blood. I am not very happy about this , and see this as possibly the beginning of vascular dementia. I called my brother-in-law who is a neurologist and he asked me to send the scan to him, but he also told me I need to see a nephrologist to find out why my blood pressure isn’t under better control despite my taking 3 bp medications. Now I am very worried. I don’t trust conventional doctors to help me. I am on the Plant Paradox diet for APOE4’s , and a follower of Dr. Bredesen. I can’t afford to go to a functional medicine doctor, and am very worried about how I am going to find a way to bring my blood pressure down and stop this chronic microinfarcts. I thought I was doing everything right. Anyone know anything about this, or have any suggestions?

It's hard to know who to trust and where to turn when confronted with this kind of health news. My interpretation of "chronic microinfarcts" indicate that they have been there a while. As you probably know, high blood pressure is a leading cause of strokes, so seeing the nephrologist and getting your blood pressure under control with medicine is a prudent next step. At the same time, it's possible that focusing on lifestyle changes as recommended by both Drs Gundry and Bredesen will also help lower your blood pressure as well as prevent continuing microinfarcts as well as large infarcts to your brain. If a lifestyle approach helps your blood pressure, you may be able to get off some of the meds.

As a follower of Dr Bredesen, I hope you are doing things to help with stress; stress, worry, and anxiety can cause blood pressure to go up. We have great suggestions for managing stress in our wiki. How's your sleep? Any room for improvement? Is exercise safe with your current blood pressure levels? How are your cholesterol and insulin resistance (IR) labs? I'm hoping that the Plant Paradox diet has your cholesterol and IR in good shape, but perhaps they could be better.

Our Primer is also a great resource for understanding and implementing lifestyle changes. There is a lot to digest, so go slowly. Let us know if we can help you navigate through this.

[johngail5950]

Thank you so much for your support. I do want to report that following the Plant Paradox ketogenic diet , I have lost 20 lbs. , my blood pressure has come down and I have dropped one of 4 bp medications, and my HA1C has dropped to 5.0. That is why I have been thinking I am in such good shape, and so taken aback when I found out about these microinfarcts. I have to admit I am very frightened by this knowledge. Also, I was doing research on APOE4 online today, and I found a research paper starting that we 4’s don’t have the same vascular structures in our brains. I know I will feel much better after my neurologist brother-in-law reads the scan, and I get my bp completely under control. I will update this thread as I find out more, for the benefit of others . BTW, I live in coastal SC where I believe doctors aren’t as well educated as doctors in other states. I don’t even think my internist even knows much about the e4 allele other than it raises your risk for CVD and AD.

[slacker]

Thank you so much for your support. I do want to report that following the Plant Paradox ketogenic diet , I have lost 20 lbs. , my blood pressure has come down and I have dropped one of 4 bp medications, and my HA1C has dropped to 5.0. That is why I have been thinking I am in such good shape, and so taken aback when I found out about these microinfarcts. I have to admit I am very frightened by this knowledge. Also, I was doing research on APOE4 online today, and I found a research paper starting that we 4’s don’t have the same vascular structures in our brains. I know I will feel much better after my neurologist brother-in-law reads the scan, and I get my bp completely under control. I will update this thread as I find out more, for the benefit of others . BTW, I live in coastal SC where I believe doctors aren’t as well educated as doctors in other states. I don’t even think my internist even knows much about the e4 allele other than it raises your risk for CVD and AD.

It will be interesting to know if your neurologist brother-in-law can tell if these are new or old microinfarcts, and whether old microinfarcts ever go away (my guess is not). I'm actually impressed that your internist knows that the E4 allele increases risk for CVD and AD. Very much not on the radar, doubt it is covered in medical school.

Please check in as appropriate and let us know how you are doing.

[Sara]

johngail5950... Wow, congratulations on losing 20 lbs, reducing your blood pressure and dropping one of you bp medications not to mention reducing your HA1C to 5.0. Your situation can be scary but you are tackling it head on with some phenomenal successes. Search carefully for a Bredesen trained, Functional Medicine/Integrative physician near you. A few practitioners (admittedly few and far between) still accept insurances. Good luck and keep up the good work and please let us know how you make out!