Pumphead story
I just joined Life Extension Foundation. One of the perks is
a copy of "Disease Prevention and Treatment, Expanded
Fourth Edition" (ISBN 0-9658777-5-2). Excerpt therefrom:
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Stephen Whiting, Ph.D., states that although the odds of surviving bypass surgery have improved since the operation was first introduced, the risk of experiencing a decline in mental function following surgery has remainedd consistent since the 1980s. Signals of this type of decline may include difficulty following directions, mood swings, and short tempers. [Sounds like me.] Many doctors have downplayed the importance of alterations in intellectual abilities that occur in about 50-80% of patients following bypass surgery, believing the decline to be temporary. It now appears a transient display of incompetency my predict an increased risk of intellectual instability several years later.
Researchers (reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine followed 261 bypass patients for 5 years. Enrollees in the study underwent intellectual testing before and after surgery, as well as at the 6-week, 6-month, and 5-year interval. Intellectual function declined by 20-53% considering presurgical and postsurgical mental status. The decline was 36% at 6 weeks and 24% at 6 months. In 5years after surger, 41% of the patients had experienced neurocognitive impairment. The researchers concluded that an intellectual decline in patients following heart surgery was signicantly associated with diminished mental abilities 5 years postsurgery.
