Quote:
Originally Posted by nimrod4u
Thanks for the encouraging note, Canadoc. I know that staying positive is paramount in order to recover, and I am fortunate to be experiencing slow and steady improvement. I have found that woodworking is a great activity that I can pursue in between vestibular and vision therapies. I can get my heart rate up to 165 now on the elliptical machine without bringing on excessive symptoms, although I went to an NBA playoff game last week and felt on overload of stimulation. I also felt like I was going to pass out on a walk the following evening after a long day of doing stuff, so I guess it depends on the day and circumstances.
A couple interesting developments have been revealed by my blood work recently. My vitamin B, vitamin D, and cholesterol are all extraordinarily low (Total Cholesterol is 101; Triglycerides: 30; HDL (good): 74; LDL (bad): 21). Do you know if having too low cholesterol can affect brain health? I forget the exact vitamin B and vitamin D numbers, but they are well below the typical range. One doctor thinks my bloodwork in conjunction with my PCS symptoms could actually be an indication of Lyme disease, so I got tested for Lyme disease but I am still awaiting the results.
Regarding alternative treatments, I am considering trying hyperbaric oxygen. I am reading Dr. Harch's book, "The Oxygen Revolution," about using hyperbaric oxygen to treat PCS. It reviews some fascinating studies on the effectiveness of HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen treatment). HBOT appeals to me because I have always said that my PCS symptoms make my brain feel like it's not getting enough oxygen. I know that traditional, old-school neurologists belittle HBOT treatment as a snake oil solution with no evidence behind it, but I think recent studies that implement SPECT brain imaging can objectively show an improvement in oxygenating the brain and seem to have a real effect in helping the symptoms for combat veterans. Do you have any thoughts or experience with HBOT?
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Further to my recent reply,
I did a pub med on-line search and came up with a few studies of interest. Unfortunately, in most of the abstracts, the sample size of study subjects is small. The other issue that is not well described in the abstracts is the profile of the participants with regards to their disabilities. As you know, PCS comprises a multitude of symptoms that likely reflect injury to different parts of the brain. Grouping all those afflicted with PCS under a single diagnosis would make the study outcome more difficult to extrapolate to an individual. When extrapolating study outcomes involving vitamins, one must distinguish between individuals who are supplementing because of a state of deficiency versus those (which includes most of us) who supplement even though we are vitamin sufficient. I'll let you make your own conclusions.
HOBT
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24260334
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24255008
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24004322
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23031217
Vitamin D
(Not much I could find on specifically mTBI and benefits of Vitamin D supplementation in human study subjects other than case reports or very small studies. Plenty of research on vit D and its potential role in neurocognitive health. Whether this can be extrapolated to those suffering from PCS is less clear from an evidence point of view. Remember though absence of proof doesn't mean proof of absences. Not much data on optimal daily dose from a purely neurocognitive perspective and any recommendation I would make would be purely anecdotal. Personally I follow the current recommended daily dose of 1000-2000 units considering the other proven benefits of this supplement (especially in colder Canada). If there indeed is a role for vit D in PCS healing, that's icing on the cake).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24604440
Vitamin C
Many of the studies I came across involve ACUTE head injuries and involve animal models. There is great interest in the role of vit C and its reduction of oxidative stresses in the acutely injured neural cell. Extrapolating this data to the improvement of outcomes in chronic PCS patients may not be accurate but not necessarily unreasonable considering the low risk of toxicity at recommended doses. I realize this may be contrary to what others have stated in this blog but I'm basing my statement on purely evidence-based data that I've been able to find. If others have come across data to support recommendations, I would invite them to respond.