Ischemic Dilated CardioMyopathy + Diabetes type 2

Trypanosoma Cruzi - Parasite of Chagas Disease

2014-10-22T18:35:00.000+07:00

Hi there. It has been a year since my physic & mind were down again due to my deteriorated heart failure. I could not even think clearly or even sit down for several hours to write something as usual. Now, i will try to add my short posts by all means...

Trypanosoma cruzi as a Protozoa, is an organism that have single nucleus, which rises to one mitochondrial DNA. It reproduce asexually using binary fission. In particular stage, T.cruzi lives in blood and tissue of vertebrate, which become the next stage while they live in invertebrate vectors as the temporary host. Triatoma infectans, as TC's vectors, carry the parasite before humans, even have a nick name of "Kiss of Death" (Chagas Disease) and very famous in South America.

In the infectious stage, the parasite will enter the wounded skin that possibly caused by bite wound or scratched skin abrasion.T.cruzi will transmute in its lifecycle after it resides in human from insect. The common forms are trypomastigote, amastigote, sluggish trypomastigote, and epimastigote, which will target their attack into human immune system at the first place. Tryps are 20 micron long and 3 micron wide, and will continue attacking neuron and muscles tissue.

Triatominae (the kissing bug) is the infectant of T.Cruzi to human

Scientific Classification :

Kingdom : Animalia;

Phylum : Arthropoda;

Class : Insecta;

Order : Hemiptera;

Family : Reduviidae;

Subfamily : Triatominae

Trypanosoma Cruzi

Scientific Classification :

Domain : Eukarya
Kingdom: Eucavata;

Phylum : Euglenozoa;

Class : Kinetoplastida;

Order : Trypanosomatida;

Genus : Trypanosoma;

Species : Trypanosoma Cruzi

Many experts of Chagas disease have experimented several crucial processes that occur with cardiomyopathies. At first, is an inflammatory results, and are followed by the cellular rupture or damage, until the last step of body recovering response from the cellular damage, fibrosis begins in the cardiac tissue. There are several clinical manifestations of the body, depends on which side of the cardiac is affected by Chagasic cardiomyopathy, which all lead to heart failure syndrome.

If the right side of heart are damaged, there are tendencies of edema, ascites, hepatomegaly, and pathologic jugular turgor. All of those symptoms are the results of poor of venous blood removal. In the other hand, if the left side of heart are damaged, there are tendencies of pulmonary congestion and low cardiac output. Also appear in heart failure condition, is apical aneurysm and weakened the endocardial-pericardial junction. At certain condition, a chronic Chagas disease will cause autonomic dysfunction, including heart rate abnormalities due to physiological stresses such as orthostatic testing. Thromboembolic syndrome is another cardiomyopathy that we can find almost in all cases of Chronic Chagas. As a "thrombosis", thromboembolism become a clot formation with embolism as its main complication. This may cause blockage to a distal section of a vessel. At the of story, the blockage will be the main cause that contributes the death of a patient by 4 ways:

1. Arrhythmias,
2. Stasis secondary to cardiac dilation,
3. Mural endocarditis,
4. Cardiac fibrosis.

And their collateral organs damages are brain, spleen, and kidney.

Triangular Breathing Technique - To gain more oxygen in your blood

2013-10-10T19:42:00.001+07:00

As a patient of ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (including all other patients who have the heart disease, even stroke), I experience so many time of breathing problems, such as asphyxia, irregular lung stroke or vibrating breath due to lung edema. The result of this typical breathing condition is the lack of absorbed oxygen in our blood stream, which will cause a chain reaction in our metabolism. The brain will have oxygen short, along with the symptoms of sudden tiredness, drowsiness, and more likely lost of consciousness at the end.

All of those complementary damages happens because our bodies are not ready for automatic breath reflex adjustment when we get this kind of heart disease. Then, suddenly i remember that when i was in college, i had tried to learn two simple breathing techniques to stimulated what i used to call as "chi" energy. It was a catholic martial art, developed by the congregation of catholic community in Java Island - Indonesia. Honestly, I only attended to learn the whole program of "Tunggal Hati Seminary" for view years and never elaborate deeper about its historical or its next development. For female the other group called "Tunggal Hati Maria" cover all the same lessons and objectives.

The basic principal

To gain more oxygen in your blood stream.
To slowly adapt your breath reflex into longer and slower inhale and exhale.
To fix your consciousness, self control, and calmness, when sudden irregular lung stroke happens.

I'm sorry if my description in English is not good to understand, but I know for sure, that I have suffered the symptoms I write above from time to time. Try not to spoil yourself with pure oxygen mask from time to time, unless it is very urgent. Trust me it will weak your respiratory muscle, reflex, and also your fighting spirit.

Triangular Breathing Technique

Target: every age, gender, and every heart condition that is still eligible to practice.
Requirement: only use your nose and not with your mouth. Always do it with POSITIVE thinking. Don't do the practice if your mind and heart are full of NEGATIVITY and ANGER.
Place and Timing: in open air will be the place, and do this practice AFTER the Sun fully rise or fully set. Experiencing he transition from dark-to-light or light-to-dark, will disturb your focus and serenity. But if you do it in a close room, just keep the lights on or off.

How to do it:

It is kind of combination of meditation and physical exercise. No need to have a perfect lotus position or whatever it is, but please have a sit with your backbone straight up and never bent (it's not easy)
Prepare your POSITIVE mind with your eyes closed. Think about happy and good things, healing, your love one, your wife, kids, your happy childhood, happy moments, God's love, or whatever it is, and let yourself smile. 1 - 2 minutes is enough. Remember to keep your backbone straight up every 20 seconds. It helps your blood circulation.
Now you are ready. Take your first deep breath very slowly and as deep as you can, meanwhile think any grateful thoughts and peacefulness, and exhale slowly. Just do this once or twice.
Core activity: start with slow inhale for 3 seconds, stop and hold in your chest (not in your stomach) for another 3 seconds, and then exhale for the next 3 seconds. Try to do it in 10 - 30 minutes, 3 times a day, and being constant for at least a week. No rush but consistent. You can add up the interval into 4 to 5 seconds, after that, or as long as it doesn't burden you.
Closing: inhale as deep as you can, and exhale very slowly until your chest feels empty. Imagine that all of the pure oxygen in the air inside your chest is absorbed completely by your lung. And be grateful.
Remember: never do this respiration exercise with empty mind or NEGATIVE thoughts. Consistency is number 1 and no time target to be achieved.
If you feel very relax and fall asleep right after finishing this exercise, just let it be. It means that your blood circulation becomes more organized.

Benefits of Deep Breathing

Instantly relax the whole body.
When you are relax, your blood pressure usually goes to normal range.
Slowing down your heart beat, meaning your heart is taking a break for less effort blood pumping.
Increasing the vital capacity of the lung for more efficient oxygen absorption.
Strengthen the lung muscle for obvious.
Reducing stress, depression, anger, and excessive appetite.

I have told you it is simple and easy. But need a lot of commitment and consistency. Happy trying mate.

You can have any position but keep your backbone straight up

Low Blood Pressure - also becomes the sign of cardiac abnormalities

2013-10-08T11:32:00.000+07:00

Hypotension or Low Blood Pressure is a condition when the blood pressure becomes lower than normal value of 120/80 mmHg. Most of the heart disease patients usually connect their problem with hypertension condition and just neglect the possibility of having hypotension as one of symptoms in the other hand. I have Ischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy and I also have problem with hypotension and not hypertension. Thus, what cause the hypotension ?

1. Dehydration

Dehydration is the most common situation that human can meet in their daily life. Enduring dehydration for quite long time is very dangerous and even can damage your metabolism or internal organs. Nausea which leads to continuous vomiting, and also diarrhea and over sweat, will also trigger dehydration and imbalance of electrolytes in human body. Further more, the delay of liquid replenishment can cause hipotension orthostatic. You will feel very dizzy and then losing consciousness.

2. Massive blood loss

An internal or external bleeding that causes a massive blood loss will also drop the blood pressure. Severe accident and doing a surgery might result a lot of blood loss, so that is why knowing your blood type data will help the hospital and the doctors to prepare a matching blood reserve before any surgery.

3. The weak of cardiac muscle

It is obvious that a weak cardiac muscle will reduce the blood pumping capability, hence resulting a low blood pressure. Since so many articles only mention about the relation between heart disease, stroke, coronary disease, and high blood pressure, now we know that hypotension also becomes the symptom of the other heart problem which is Congestive Heart Failure, especially Ischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

4. Swelling organ

When an organ is getting swollen, liquid will leave the blood vessel and enter the swollen tissue surrounding the organ, therefore the blood in blood vessel will lose some of its liquid.

5. Pregnancy

In the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, Systolic pressure will be reduced 5 - 10 mmHg, while Diastolic pressure will also go down about 10 - 15 mmHg from normal condition. The pressure will all go back to its previous pressure after giving birth.

6. Endocrine Problem

Hypothyroid and Hyperthyroid can cause low blood pressure. Addison disease, hypoglycemia, Diabetes are the other special condition that might cause low blood pressure.

7. Anaphylaxis (Severe Alergic)

Anaphylaxis is a severe alergic reaction that can cause death. It could be triggered by foods, certain medications, insecticides, and latex. The symptoms could appear in the respiratory system (choking and hard to breath), itches skins, swelling face or throat, and also dropping the blood pressure.

8. The lack of Nutrition

Anemia as the result of lack intake of Vitamin B-12 and folic acid in our daily meal, where the body fail to produce enough red blood cells, will also reduce the blood pressure.

Medication that might cause low blood pressure

Alpha Blocker (hypertension medication)
Beta Blocker (most of CHF medication)
Diuretics (Furosemide, Lasix)
Anti-depressant
Parkinson medication
Nitroglycerin

Medication for Low Blood Pressure:

Please be careful if you want to raise up your blood pressure, while you have a heart failure condition, because some of the treatments will oppose and aggravate the CHF or even Dilated Cardiomyopathy condition.

Use more salt. Definitely the sodium will raise up your blood pressure. But as the patient of Congestive Heart Failure, salt will also raise the risk of edema and affecting your kidney performance.
Drink more water. It is also obvious that water will increase your blood volume and prevent dehydration, but just like point.1, it will against the liquid intake restriction for edema patients.
Medication: midodrine (Orvaten) and fludrocortisone are usually prescribed by doctors to treat the orthostatic hypotension. But since the mechanism of both drugs is to prevent the expansion ability of blood vessel, a doctor's approval and monitor are your first priority while taking this medication.

The story of human heart - it is simply the best.

2013-10-06T12:14:00.001+07:00

Once upon a time, in the era of dungeon and dragons, when wonders slides between might and magic, there was King Erathryan, father of all human kingdom. With a burning sword and beastial shield he always won every epic battle with the inhuman dark forces. A true leader with passions to uphold the honor of every living human on earth, he became a living legend among his friends and allies, and gain a great respect from his enemies and villains.

As time goes by, he realizes that age was the only battle he couldn't win. He's getting old now. One will die, and a thousand will rise up, he starts to think to prepare his only son Prince Lothares. Like his father, Prince Lothares is a very strong front line General. Leading an army beast cavalary group he always successfully plundered every enemy wall and defense, left them opened wide to be crushed by the main force of his father’s army.

“I never doubt his power and ability to defeat any kind of monsters on middle earth,” King Erathryan said to his beloved wife, Queen Isabel. “But your face doesn’t show confidence, milord ,” The Queen replied.

“Yeah…. He seems a bit ambitious and he is enjoying fill his mind with a lot of wishful thinking sometimes. You realize that don’t u my Queen?” the King ask. “Well, yes my King… but every son or daughter will never be as perfect as we hope. He has his own strength and weakness.” The Queen wisely speaks.

“Fine then, I will give him a special task. And I hope It is worth for him after the completion,” the King finally gives his decision.

It is the year of Black Dragon Rebirth, month 13^th, and day 7^th. King Erathryan summons Prince Lothares into his private chamber and had a chit chat.

“Father, I’ve heard that black dragon rebirth is near. I wonder if I have the opportunity to pull out his golden heart from his chest and become the next Black Dragon Slayer.” The prince talked enthusiastically.

“Is that your passion, Son? To defeat the mighty Black Dragon?” the King asks. “I just want to become the strongest man after you, Father. That is my true passion. We cannot overcome our enemy or defense our own land, if we are not strong enough. “Lothares explains himself.

“Hmm… you have your point. Sooner or later you will be my successor. If you really confidant to test yourself to the edge, you may bring 12 of my best soldiers to assist you to bring the golden heart home safely.” The king lightly slap his son shoulder and pull up his eyebrows a bit.

“Ah…thank you Father, I will not let you down. I will fight for the best,” Lothares replies happily.

8 Days later, the Prince and 12 super elite soldiers of King Erathryan, depart to Black Rock Mountain where the Dungeon of Black Dragon lies within. It is not a game or race, the stake of human souls is on the table. 12 super soldiers and 1 Prince who will be his father successor.

After 30 days of journey, they finally reach the core of the Black Rock Mountain. The heat of the melting rock is unbearable. Only the best and strong men can survive this condition. And not for long before the small super army meet the black dragon face to face.

The tasks have been settled before they enter the dungeon. While the ten soldiers strap the tail, the wings, the feet, and the head of the Black Dragon, the young Prince will find the precise moment to stab the dragon chest and pull out the golden heart. What a struggle. 12 super soldiers still not match to the black dragon power and acid fire breath. They are crushed and burnt one by one to the cave wall without any chance to even draw their weapons. The Prince was exhausted and desperate.

“Oh Father, how can I win this fight anyway? The mighty black dragon hasn’t sweated yet. And how could I face the soldier’s family that I have just bring them to a slaughtered house like this?” he talked to himself.

Now, only the black dragon and the Prince left one on one. Lothares felt that his time has almost ended. Only the sword left on his right hand. When the dragon began to strike again, he decided to run and run, along the cave, as far as he can to stay alive.   The black dragon screams and starts to chase the prince. Somehow, the winning feel has blinded the dragon for a split second. It moves too fast without seeing a big rounded and hollow rock hanging from the top of the cave to the halfway down. But it was too late until the dragon’s neck stuck inside the hole without any possibility to slide free from there.   The Prince stops running and look back for awhile to make sure that the dragon would not after him anymore.

“The rock is so big that it has pint the black dragon down. I don’t think that he will be able to cut lost the trap. It’s just too strong. Wow. What a miracle for me,” Lothares talked to himself and slowly walked back to the black dragon.

People call it black dragon for a reason. Although the black dragon is trapped, the power is still strong and the breath could still throw a burning fire around it. So that the Prince decided to wait until the black dragon became very weak and exhausted before making any approach to it.   Another 7 days and 7 nights passed, and finally the dragon stop moving and only mumbling.   Lothares doesn’t waste the chance. He jumped and hung around the rock, reaching the chest of the black dragon. He stabbed the black dragon chest deep, grabbed its golden heart, and pulled it out of the body. And the black dragon finally died.

The winning smile and heavy relief, carved on Lothares face. “Thank you for your Pray and faith on me, Father” he prayed spontaneously.

Tired, dirty, lonely, but proud and happy, Lothares finally reached his father castle after days of riding. The whole Kingdom welcomes him home with love and joy. Lothares felt very honored and flattered. King Erathryan smiled and gave him a very warm big hug.

“Son, after your success slaying down your Black Dragon and pull his golden heart out, do you feel stronger now?” the king asks his son. At the first second, hundreds of words were racing down Prince’s head to his mouth to be spoken out. But nothing comes out. The next second, he felt like his mouth was stitched up.

Lothares spoke 30 seconds after that,” On the contrary, Father, I feel tired and weak. The proud can’t stand by me the whole time remembering I gave up 12 of your best soldiers to be killed by the black dragon there”

King Erathryan smiles to Lothares, “Son, I’m very sad losing 12 of my best friends soldier to the black dragon, but for me I hope this is the cost that I have to pay, to slowly open your eyes to comprehend the meaning of being a stronger man.”   The prince starts to get something from his father’s words.

“By the time you ripped off the dragon heart, it was the time after the dragon died by your sword, right? And before you can stab your blade into his chest, the dragon was accidentally trapped too.” The King continues. Lothares just speechless and bowed his head down. He couldn’t agree more with his father but a little bit of shame to admit.

“Father, you are right. In the beginning of the free fight, the mighty black dragon crushed 12 of your best soldiers just in seconds. He could have just wiped me out easily. Not because of my strength that I survived, but because of my….” The prince stopped his sentence.

“Luck… yes my son, you are lucky”

“If only you didn’t fight the black dragon in a hurry, you might save some lives whether you were won or lose. You were being too exciting, so you forget the essence of fighting something. You may have the golden heart of black dragon, but you lose all of your guardian souls back there. And what about their families they left behind now?” the king continues.   Prince Lothares’s body is shaking. He is now realizing the huge mistake he had been doing back there in the dungeon. He was losing best friends just for a golden heart of a dead black dragon.

“My son, the true strength of a man lies on his human heart. It doesn’t matter how many black dragons you can kill with just one swing of your sword, but it really matters how many men you could save with your bare hands or even with your own body and soul. “ Erathryan turn his body and takes a view steps away.

And he continuous ,“Human heart will always be the strongest power on earth, as long as it carries love and care to others.”

The prince Lothares down on his knees and view drops of crystal clear tears fall down his face too. Now he is fully aware that to lead a kingdom, having a lot of allies, and getting an enormous respect by the friends and foes, doesn’t come because of only strength and power, but also require everything that lies in his human heart.

Human Heart could save other lives

Sleep Apnea - is it a symptom or an aggravating factor for cardiovascular disease ?

2013-10-04T14:56:00.001+07:00

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Snoring has been considered as a common effect of deep sleeping by most of people who snore. Maybe not so many of them realize that snoring has two different side of sharped blade at the end. First, snoring has become an indicator about your bad health situation, secondly, snoring has been one major factor of high divorce number in many countries. For example, in Saudi Arabia, nearly 40% of divorce caused by snoring husbands, meanwhile the international rate is 18 - 22%.

As a negative signal to your health condition, snoring which usually comes side by side with Sleep Apnea is divided into 3 types:

Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) - 0.4% of cases
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) - 84% of cases
Complex or Mixed SA - 15% of cases.

In CSA, breathing is obstructed by the minimum effort of respiratory, while in OSA, airflow is blocked by physical of organs in the airway. Beside producing a sound "pollution" in your bed room, OSA in certain level can cause a sudden death. So that it has to be handled accordingly. Occupying the highest number of Sleep Apnea cases, OSA will certainly cause the lack of oxygen supply to your brain while you sleeping (hypoxemia). OSA definitely has a close relation to body weight, smoking habit, and stop drinking alcohol as the muscle relaxant (also avoid sleeping pills, pain killer, and any unnecessary sedative). I had been a light smoker once, and trust me it that smoking will leverage the possibility of OSA.

Complex Sleep Apnea

This is the third type of Sleep Apnea, and has a close connection to Congestive Heart Failure as we discuss in this blog. Complex Sleep Apnea, actually a combination between central and obstructive sleep apnea. People with Congestive Heart Failure especially Ischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy are already have a problem with the respiratory and cardiovascular system. Even without any problem of sleep apnea, the lack of oxygen in their blood stream could be a serious preceding problem.

I do too. When i got an edema attack, I would got sweat from my chest up to my head tip when I was sleeping. My breath became wheezing and my upper body created some kind of mechanism to get more oxygen through my skin's pores, which was caused me sweating. Unfortunately, I get OSA too, and it just makes my oxygen level in my blood stream worse when I am sleeping.

Therapy

For OSA, some therapy including lifestyle corrections, such as losing weight, quite smoking and alcohol drinking, managing an adequate sleeping time, might reduce the sleeping disorder. The other technical ways are by elevating the upper body at about 30-degree higher to prevent the airways collapse when you are sleeping, by sleeping on the side of your body, and by sleeping on your belly. The idea is to keep the airway open when you sleep. So far, using the CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine is very effective, but less comfort and still expensive for some patients. Surgery is also a way to wider the airway but also expensive.

CPAP

Adaptive Servo Ventilation

A little bit therapy adjustment has been settled for Complex Sleep Apnea. Instead of using CPAP, an Adaptive Servo Ventilation (ASV) therapy mode has been chosen to encounter such of sleep apnea. ASV has the capability of counterbalancing the shift between hypoventilation and hyperpnoea by using a variable pressure support to eliminate the ventilator overshoot.

Due to a study of hypoxia in 2012, a conclusion had been made that the lack of oxygen supply to human blood stream, brain, and nerve system will increase cardiovascular damage, causing stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and speed up tumor growth, with 5 times elevated risk of deadly cancer awaits. I my stage of hypoxia due to my Complex Sleep Apnea, the decrement of consciousness, confusion, and mood depression have affected my daily condition. So that, the conclusion is that sleep apnea will aggravate more to any of cardiovascular disease.

Sugar - Too much of it will kill you

2013-10-02T15:45:00.001+07:00

Hello, today I will try to elaborate some bad characteristics of sugar out of human body aspects, to give us wider and deeper perspective about it. For a typical amount, sugar obviously has its benefit as an energy source to human body. But in real daily life, it is not easy to calculate the adequate sugar consumption to the body, since the other type and structure of sugar also exist in other kind of meal. You need a precise calculation from nutrition expert anyway.

The most simple molecular structure of Sugar is called Glucose or monosaccharides (C6H12O6). Some others are: disaccharides and oligosaccharides. Mostly all kind of sugars are easily crystallized in room temperature. Literally, "crystallized" means being as hard as crystal or rock. So hard that it can scratch iron or steel. Please remember, under my circumstances as a diabetic type 2 patient, i means a lot to my internal organ, blood vessels, and cardiovascular system as well. Because my insulin fails to change the glucose into energy or fat.

Crystal form of sugar is hard and very abrasive

Sugar erodes metals

Once upon a time, i was selling USA brand of industrial pumps and mechanical seals. You may consider them as the best products in their level and class. One of the usage is to pump a typical liquid form of sugar from 1 point to another process in refinery. Heater jacket must be installed on the running pump to make sure that required temperature will be stable. The best mechanical seal of alloy material had been equipped to prevent any leakage. But every process has its own age, no matter what kind of pump material and type (rotary lobe, centrifugal, screw pump, or vane pump) will always be broken due to the debris remains of crystallized sugar as the time goes by or even by a viscosity change. Once the first shear reduces the vacuum in the pumping chamber (example: using rotary lobe pump), more erosion of the steel/iron/stainless steel will happen very rapidly in view hours, or even minutes in high rpm. A complete set of pump and its mechanical seal can cost you around US$ 30.000 - 50.000 and just lost in a blink of an eye. It's kind of funny for me, since the opposite taste of sugar would bring the same damage to pump and mechanical seals, which is Brine water (using centrifugal stainless steel pump).

The debris of crystallized sugar which spread all over the pump shaft and body due to imperfect pumping process or heating, I called it as blood glucose level in my blood stream. I couldn't imagine how a living tissue that so soft and tender could survive that erosion compared to the very hard metal as the pump shaft. So that, I agree with most of the blog or web or fan page that, in order to avoid any cardiovascular damage, we have to keep our blood glucose level always in normal range first. The impact of sugar or glucose debris to the blood vessel is very severe. You will not feel anything hurt, until the collateral damage is done.

Sugar is not bad, it is natural but has to be balanced

Sugar is not bad. It is actually natural. Almost every plant on earth produce glucose through photosynthesis process, and convert it into starch which is the carbohydrate form, or as sucrose (C12H22O11). Starch itself has 2 different forms of glucose polymer, which are cellulose and chemical energy in cells. The other significant role of glucose is as the former of DNA and RNA in human body. Ribose (C5H10O5), Deoxyribose (C5H10O4), and monosaccharides are glucose forms which build both DNA and RNA.

In summary, I would like to pin point the existence of exceeding glucose level our blood vessel, that will create a massive damage of our blood vessel, cardiovascular system, and the other internal organs, if happens in long period of time with poor control and inconsistent medication. Remember: Sugar is very abrasive material.

If you need to know what kind of Diabetics Safe Desserts to fill up your daily menu, Click Here!

Taurine - Not from bulls but really no bulls

2013-09-27T22:59:00.001+07:00

Make your heart stronger like bulls but not with caffeine

Just like aspartame and sucralose, I recognized taurine from the ingredient list of energy drink. Taurine or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid is a conditional amino acid, and not an essential one. It means that taurine is produced by human or animal body and mostly found in heart and brain. It has a very important roles to cardiovascular system, retina and central nerve system function, and skeletal muscle development.

Unlike the origin of the name, taurine is not made from bulls testicles. However, it can be found in bulls and female cows's bile, and also in fishes. Meanwhile, taurine that we find in supplement and energy drink is a synthetic product. Some health conditions that might need taurine as a medication:

Congestive Heart Failure including Cardiomyopathy
Hepatic disease
High cholesterol
High blood pressure
Cystic fibrosis
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)

Regarding the energy drink content, some articles say that the duo-combination between taurine and caffeine could result the opposite effect of the stand-alone taurine to all the cardiovascular patients. So that, please pay close attention to any drinks or foods that contain caffeine, unless you are quite healthy to experience the side effects. Of course, further research need to be done, but precautions are more important. Just drink and eat safe.

Other advantages of Taurine

Taurine has a function as an anti oxidant to prevent human body cells from the damage caused by oxidation.
Taurine helps muscles and nerve system to transport more oxygen to entire body especially brain, so that will increase the power and endurance of any physical activity.
Taurine helps to prevent arteriosclerosis, hypertension, and high blood pressure, by reducing the plaque along the arteries.
Taurine also helps diabetic patients from hyperglycemia and insulin resistant.

Taurine has a function to keep the balance of sodium and also maintain the content of magnesium and potassium inside cells. It has also been functioned as a dietary supplement for epileptic patients.

Notes

Taurine is not a toxic substance. It can be excreted from kidney, along with urine. However, a moderate consumption pattern must be applied for consuming the pure taurine. 1 to 3 grams per day or even per week will give you a good benefit without any harmful effects. Please remember, that synthetic taurine that we find in energy drink is different from the natural taurine from foods, in terms of its purity. But still it helps to maintain your health as long as being consumed accordingly.

Sucralose - My Second Artificial Sweetener. Expecting the best

2013-09-24T13:04:00.000+07:00

Sucralose Structure (by wikipedia.en)

It has been a complication for elaborating about artificial sweetener like aspartame and sucralose, since a lot of rejection and deviation in further experiment and study against this two substances by newly emerging expertise. So that, i decide to hang on to a legitimate study or journal released by neutral and non-profit body.

Tate and Lyle registered their patent of sucralose in 1976 and followed by its approval in Canada (1991), Australia (1993), New Zealand (1996), USA (1998), and Europe (2004). After that, 80 countries have been followed to approve sucralose until 2008. Jurong - Singapore and McIntosh - Alabama are where Tate & Lyle produce sucralose nowadays.

Three times sweeter than aspartame, sucralose is a very stable against heat, so that it is fit to replace sugar/sucrose in a cuisine. Sucralose is also known as zero calorie sweetener, zero cavity developer on your teeth, and safe for diabetic patients. MacDonald and Starbucks are two fast food restaurant and cafe (in USA and Canada) that already have start using the mixture of sucralose and dextrose, to replace the high calorie stand alone corn syrup sweetener.

Sucralose has been recognized and accepted by several international body of food safety, including:

FDA
The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee Report on Food Additives
FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand)
European Union Scientific Committee on Food
Health Protection Branch of Health & Welfare - Canada

Dosage for daily use

1.1 - 11 mg/kg of body weight per day is a very safe amount for lifetime consuming by diabetic patients, while the highest limit number is 1500 mg/kg/day. It is a very safety margin, because the margin is very wide. In human digestion system, only 11 - 27 % of sucralose is absorbed into blood stream, while the rest is excreted along with the feces. From the amount of sucralose absorbed, only 20 - 30 % is being metabolized completely.

Controversy

There are so many articles or unrecognized researches by the higher legitimate authority, that have been published in the internet as a free source of information to public. One of them is a research by Ramazzini Institute that hasn't been officially published yet. As a director of the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna, Italy, Dr. Morando Soffritti lead a team who fed 843 mice with variant doses of sucralose from the day they were born until the day they died. He draw a conclusion from the post mortems reports, that sucralose increases the risk of getting leukemia. He also said that children and pregnant women should avoid any of artificial sweetener, until a descent research clearly shows that it will not develop any risk of cancers.

It's quite an absurd methodology of thinking as a researcher, who set up the results first in order to start a research. Regardless any other equal researches by scientists, there are still no adequate evidence to judge the bad effect of sucralose. It is obviously revealed that some protocols have been deviated in the research process. That is also why the 5 biggest bodies in the world don't have any revision of what they have been approved about sucralose. Logically, they have the biggest responsibility of 6 billions of human in their hands, while cancers is not a simple disease to be neglected for any of further study.

It is also very unfortunate, that Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), has already mentioned that artificial sweeteners will be down-graded as follows:

Splenda (sucralose mixed with dextrose) = Caution
Saccharin = avoid
Aspartame = avoid
Acesulfame potassium = avoid
Rebiana = safe

I wonder why stevia is off the table. For healthy people, perhaps natural sweeteners like sugar cane or corn syrups could be one of energy source for human body, but in my article, the concern is more to Diabetics Patients. As a diabetic type 2 patient, I definitely need sweetener that is not affecting my blood sugar level or insulin sensitivity. That is why i become so curious about the final result of this sucralose and aspartame controversy. I hope sucralose is truly good with no bad side effect, so that one problem of my condition might be solved in high satisfaction.
Sometimes it crosses my mind, that if these arguments are only the ice berg of Industrial war. The regular sugar producers might feel threatened by the developed artificial sweetener industry or whatever. Cane and Corn farmer may get the impact as well. It is understandable because sugar industries have a huge number of customers all around the globe, billions of people.

Well, lets think the positive way only.

Aspartame - My First Artificial Sweetener

2013-09-22T23:05:00.003+07:00

Why somebody have ever dislike Aspartame ?

J. M. Schlatter, a chemist who discovered Aspartame in 1965 was never expect that he was about to faced one of the most complicated controversy in world history about setting aspartame as a safe sweetener replacement. FDA first approval in 1974 has experience so many resistance even hoax conspiracy.

There are so many journal and research regarding the side effects of Aspartame which has been cancelled due the lack of methodology and evidence of its carcinogenicity. Therefore, we are not circling around that debate anymore.

Referring to Joint Expert Committee on Food and Additives (JECFA) of WHO and FAO, the ADI (Acceptable Daily Intake) of aspartame that has been determined by body weight base is 40 mg/kg, while FDA was setting the ADI number of 50 mg/kg. Getting reference from 1,5 liter of a particular diet soda distributed in my country, which contain 42 mg x 6 serving number = 225 mg/bottle, a 50 kg person could take 9 to 11 bottle or swallow 13.5 to 16.5 liter of zero sugar soda per day. Of course, we are not talking about the caffeine content and effects in the soda, and we don't elaborate any danger of such amount of soda that someone ever take in a day. It is just emphasizing that safety limit of consuming aspartame is quite wide.

Absorption characteristic

Although this non-saccharides sweetener is rapidly absorbed in our small intestine, no trace will be found in our blood stream. Aspartame breaks down very rapidly into substances, which are: methanol, phenylalanine, and aspartic acid. Please not to worry about the content of methanol, because even in some fruit juices, we can find higher methanol concentrations, rather than the quantity resulted from aspartame in any served beverages.

So far, only 1 circumstance need to be reminded to all the aspartame takers, which is the danger of phenylalanine content to those who have phenylketonuria (PKU) disease. However, the PKU syndrome usually happen since new born baby stage and is inherited from one generation to another. That is why the products that contain aspartame as one of its ingredients, will state a warning about the existence of phenylalanine in their product label.

The other phobias regarding aspartame

I recognize at least 3 major points that have been disputed for a very tiring debate and resulted no concern to be needed, which are:

triggering cancer,
Neurological symptoms,
weight gaining and obesity

The answers are no. Aspartame doesn't trigger any cancer, but sugar cane in certain dosage could develop an early stage of cancer into its next level. Aspartame doesn't cause hallucination, mood swings, headache, or seizures. Aspartame doesn't increase your appetite or create any starvation that lead you to obesity. But aspartame does keep your blood glucose level and at the end will keep you away from weight gain, arteriosclerosis, diabetic retinopathy, protein leakage from kidney, etc. So that in other words, aspartame would have indirect but significant effect of maintaining our cardiovascular healthier, rather than using saccharides sweetener like sugar cane. Controlling sugar and carbohydrate consumption are the same as balancing the energy that enter our body. A long over-supply of energy could burn your internal system and organ, while the lack of it will damage the circulation as well but just in the different way. The weakness of aspartame is that it doesn't have a good heat resistant.

Another well known artificial sweetener I will talk about later is sucralose. It is more advanced than aspartame with some minor effects.

Coconut Water - How is the potassium doing there ?

2013-09-21T06:12:00.001+07:00

I want it that way.......

Introducing magic water, I am about to reveal the greater effects of coconut water rather than only just a thirst reliever. It becomes a famous tropical drink along the equator and some sub tropical countries such as Indonesia, Brazil, India, Hawaii (USA), Thailand, and Caribbean. Due to its sterility, coconut water can be used as an infusion liquid for human intravenous in emergency situation. What really interest me from the beginning are actually these following things: high potassium and antioxidants contents in coconut water. Cytokinin, L-Arginine, Magnesium, and Ascorbic Acid also become compliments of valuable substances in coconut water.

Its name is also Kalium (-K)

Potassium plays a very important rule for Congestive Heart Failure patients, especially when the symptoms of edema are being active and a tight fluid intake restriction has been applied. Diuretics medication might withdraw too much electrolytes out of your body. However we have to balance the adequate number of electrolytes inside by doing a routine Laboratory check (K, Na, and Cl in 24 hours) and consuming electrolytes replacement drug such as KSR potassium. Kalium or Potassium is the most important electrolyte to control muscles in human body, including heart muscles. Losing to much Potassium will result Hypokalemia. The symptoms of Hypokalemia are:

Sudden muscle weakening
Power Loss
Heart beat increases rapidly
Blood pressure is rising
Muscle cramp
Vomiting
Depression
Hallucination
Abnormalities in glucose tolerance and protein metabolism
Some people will experience polyuria and nocturia.

So that is the relation between coconut water and Dilated Cardiomyopathy patients like me. It is refreshingly cool for a health drink. You might add a little bit of sugar or brown sugar with Ice into the newly opened coconut shell and enjoy the breeze at the beach, or lying down the hospital bed with lasix and NTG infusion needle stick inside your arm while you are taking a 600mg KSR pill. Just don't lose your balance.

A deficiency of potassium is a very rare case for a healthy individual. We can source potassium from general food such as: banana, avocado, soybean, bamboo shoots (rebung), almond, apricot, chocolate, parsley, and potatoes. Some Italian researchers had reported that consuming more than 1.65 gr of potassium per day, will lower about 20% of hypertension and stroke attack risks. I am not interested to dig more about debates regarding what is the best quantity of potassium to be consumed by human per day, as we can find in some articles or posts, because I believe it depends to too many variables of human conditions. So I just pick the simple and easy-to-understand materials to write.

Patients of kidney disease may experienced a twisted health effects after consuming potassium in large amount. Meanwhile, at the edge of kidney failure stage which is followed by renal dialysis, potassium intake must be strictly limited, since the exceeding potassium excretion managed by the damaged kidney will rise up its concentration in blood stream resulting Hyperkalemia. Too little or too much is never be the best, because Hyperkalemia it self will result a severe cardiac arrhythmia.

Do you have this in your hometown ?

From Water to Fiber

Fermented coconut water will produce a chewy translucent jelly which is called Nata de Coco. Acetobacter Xylium is responsible as a fermentation actor that results jelly as a microbiological cellulose. Nata de coco was firstly developed in Philippines. They usually use it as a sweetened desert, in ice cream or pudding or bubble tea mixtures, and sometimes in non alcoholic cocktail fruit. Nata de coco is good for human cardiovascular and digestion system since it has zero cholesterol, very low fat content, but high fiber for your dietary program. However, please be careful of its sugar content because it is sweetened. People may not use the sweetened water of Nata de Coco, instead of using the jelly only for direct consumption or as a mixture. Anyway, trust me this: it is delicious and healthy too! Happy hunting!

Original Nata de Coco

Nata de Coco in Chocolate Iceblend

Nata de Coco with Fruit Mix and Ice with sweetened condensed milk

My First Catheterization

2013-09-18T13:04:00.002+07:00

My heart that belongs to me - a movie of my own coronary angiogram

After my first symptom of getting Dilated Cardiomyopathy 2 and 1/2 years ago, I had never done any further diagnostic until February 2013. I was late to realize that my Congestive Heart Failure had become Ischemic at the end. Previously, I was just surviving from one edema to another edema at that time. Being hospitalized for 5 or 6 time in two years has a very bad impact to my career and finally I loose my job. My sloppy mistake was letting my last edema for 3 months without any treatment, from October to December 2012. A huge desperation haunted me all the time. A lot of time and money had been spent for me alone but not getting me out of nowhere. Well, social and health insurance are not yet being fully develop by my state government. So that in real situation as a minority, I am trapped in a twilight zone, for not being poor enough to get a social and health support by the state, and not being rich enough to sustain my medication and keep supporting my own family. This illness really sucks man.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging <My Redemption Inside>

Finally, I moved to the center of cardiovascular hospital in Jakarta, having a first week without seeing my main doctor, my patience had reach it limits. I realize that the Hospital is very hectic. It has more than 60 doctors, specializing in cardiovascular and any related heart disease. Even it can do more than a hundred catheterization per day but still not enough because it handle patients from all over Indonesia. Since my senior doctor never had time to look in to my toes or face, I switch to another senior doctor who had time to see my toes and face every morning for at least a week. Thank God for that. For total of 2 weeks i was curing my edema again, then my first MRI was on. The first preparation of getting scanned by MRI device was injecting a contrast liquid into my blood stream. Since I had a very low blood pressure and a bit fatty skin, nobody was able to find my venous blood vessel after 16 times stabbing me with syringe needle by 3 different nurses and a doctor. Finally they did find it. OMG. For your information, those stabs were excluded the other stabs for changing infusion needle every 3 days in two weeks, feeding me up with lasix and nitroglycerin. I am a person who are not afraid of getting shoot by syringe or infusion needle, but going back that moment shall change me a lot.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (its not me in there. It is just a sample picture)

MRI was looked fun, wasn't it ? I was being inside the scanner for about 45 minutes. And hell yeah, it was fun for the first 20 minutes. The physician gave me a headphone and played Kenny Songs. Why ? in order to make me relax and not being phobia for the other 25 minutes !! It really took my Chi away to calm my self down. Ha ha ha. As a newly recover patient from edema, breathing is really a big issue for me. In addition, getting into a small chamber wrapping up my body, with 10 - 15 cm distance of the wall to your eyes that I even couldn't focus my eyes to it, really scary me at the end. My heart beat was getting faster, cold sweating, and I was knocking twice to get out of it for awhile, for a cooling down. But finally it was all over, leaving me a pray not to go to that donut anymore.

My first Catheterization

Having 26% Ejection Fraction (EF) as the result of the MRI, my doctor scheduled me for another procedure called catheterization. This procedure are usually used by patients who have clogging arteries and required stent implants. For a 100% clogging, bypass operation has to be done immediately. Catheterization itself has a meaning of inserting a tube that is made of medical grade plastic or metal or other material, for the purpose of surgery. It was kind of coincident that a day before my D-day, i made a friend with 15 years older man who was considered eligible to get a full health insurance from government, had a cardiovascular abnormalities, had being catheterized for 12 times (maybe more), 6 or 8 times of the process was stents implantation, 2 times bypass using his own leg muscle, and still able to laughing and joking with me like a normal person in the room. Ah by the way, with me at the same room at that time, he was about to have another catheterization that only him, his wife, his doctor, and God knows what is that for.

Angioplasty Technique

There are 2 places that commonly used to start the catheterization procedure. One from your wrist (usually the right one) and the other one is thigh base. Normally, the surgeon will examine and choose to start the procedure from your right wrist, when your pulse is readable clearly. If your pulse is too smooth or even felt empty, he/she will do it from your thigh base. It is much more easier to surge and recover the wrist rather than the thigh base, because the size of the vessel in human thigh is bigger and harder to make it stand still rather than your wrist or hand. I was afraid that my procedure would take place at my thigh base because my pulse was barely readable. Luckily, at the catheterization room, one surgeon were detecting my pulse at my wrist and confidence that no need to do the operation on my thigh base. 50% of my stress was gone instantly, but still far from over. I kept comforting my self by remembering that old man who had done those 16 catheterization with no pain as he told me. So that, i was joking with my surgeons and doctor too in that chamber, until the catheter went inside my wrist 1/10 way up to my artery. 8/10 way after that is my own scream (damn it hurts ! Because my artery is small ? I don't know), and the last 1/10 way is cool and relieving feeling when finally it reach my coronary arteries and spraying the contrast liquid. Anybody who are afraid of looking at squirting blood, please do not start to joke with the physicians with your eyes open at the beginning of the surgery. Just in case.

My wife and parents waiting outside the surgery room and had approved if there were any clogging on my coronary arteries, drug eluted stents will be our choice to implant on me. It also means that stents will solve a lot of collateral health issues on me ! But it was an irony. The result was no clogging at all. It means that it was definitely caused by a weak cardiac pumping action. Yes, the problem was more complicated and costly. And at my first control to the doctor, 2 weeks after catheterization, he finally said that in my case, it was irreversible. Well, I am on a waiting list now Ha ha ha.

Alcohol - Even a healthy heart could lose

2013-09-17T12:21:00.000+07:00

I did some article research all over the places about alcohol as beverage; unfortunately I barely discover any of its advantages. I am an Indonesian who doesn't have any drinking background in my family. Therefore, 2 glass of beer are just enough to turn my skin red and very itchy. Not cool yeah? But now it becomes a bless for me, because I don't bother missing smoking and drinking alcohol after having my Ischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy or Congestive Heart Failure condition.

However, ethanol base liquors have been consumed since millions years ago by human. Having fun or get drunk was not the original reason why they use alcohol, instead of hygienic purpose, ceremonial usage, or dietary reasons. There are 3 stage of alcohols, which is primary, secondary, and tertiary. The secondary and tertiary alcohols are less harmless and used widely in beverages. But anyway regardless the stage or the name of the alcohols, they are poison to our internal organ especially liver, brain, and heart. Besides alcohol addiction which will disturb your brain and nerve system, long term alcohol consumption will increase the risk of getting a cirrhotic liver or Hepatitis C or liver cancer in your old age.

Don't give up my friend

Is it the warmth Sensation ?

Many people are mislead by the ancient and shallow thought about how alcoholic beverage will warm up the body in cold environment. It is true to say that alcohol will enlarged the blood vessel and quickly absorb energy from our fat reserve all over the body. In the mean time, our body needs the fat reserve to keep out from experiencing a rapid heat loss. In other words, alcoholic beverages only give you the "sensation" of being warmer, but on the contrary it will make you feel colder after losing its warmth sensation. A healthy body doesn't really notice this circumstance, because the body shall have a good adaptation even after the alcohol effect is out. However, here is the analogy: when you eat a hot chili, and drink cold water after that, it will suddenly eliminate the hot sensation in your mouth. But what will you fill 10 seconds after that? The burn is aggravating even more.

So that, I rather suggest to warm your body up by moving all of your body parts, instead of drinking and drinking until you get drunk. Especially to all patients of dilated cardiomyopathy like me, if you are cold somewhere, don't be tempted to poison your body with alcoholic beverages. We are different dude. The other escalating risks could be heart attack (stroke), high blood pressure, and worse arrhythmia.

Caffeine Effect to Congestive Heart Failure

2013-09-14T18:31:00.002+07:00

Indonesia is a big market for artificial energy drinks. Sometimes I also drank one. It is kind of supplement that can give you additional endurance to exercise your body or keeping you awake and feel more power for a while. The reason why i drink it anyway in my condition, is quite frivolous. I fall in love with the Taurine content. Taurine is good for fat metabolism. It can lower the blood sugar level, prevent the muscle fatigue, and even help fixing lever damage due to alcohol consumption in certain level. Other than Taurine, Aspartame is another good ingredient for my diabetes as an artificial sweetener approved by FDA and WHO, that I can find in the powder energy drink. Anyway, I forgot one bad thing, the caffeine.

More endurance is not all good in CHF condition

What is caffeine ?

Caffeine is a bitter crystal form of Xanthine alkaloid. Due its function as a stimulant, some producers disguise the name with its original chemical/molecule name: 1,3,7- Trimethylxanthine. It seems to appear safe to consume 50 mg of caffeine from each sachet of energy drink as I usually did. The producers have also mentioned that people with hypertension, phenylketonuria, high level of phenylalanine, children and breastfeeding mothers, are not supposed to drink it. Somehow they don't mentioned about its effect to Congestive Heart Failure or Dilated Cardiomyopathy patients.

Caffeine is usually found in beverages such as: coffee, tea, kola nut soft drinks, and energy drinks. Hundreds of million coffee, tea, and soft drinks drinkers are world widely spread nowadays. Above 90% of adults in America drink coffee or tea everyday, some have become caffeine addicts. Caffeine will be toxic for a dose more than 1000 mg to a normal adults, whereas the typical daily dose used in daily life is around 500 mg at maximum. That is why FDA still marking it as a safe substance.

Good things and Bad things of Caffeine

There are good effects in consuming caffeine in adequate dose, which are:

Reducing the risk of Parkinson disease
Has a protective effect against some cancer
mild diuretic capability to some illness that not related with cardiovascular disease.

For pregnant women, consuming caffeine more than 200 mg per day could disturb her health and fetus. The other negative effects are:

Accelerating your heart rate
Increasing your blood pressure by inhibiting the Adenosine hormone activity
Causing cardiac arrhythmia
Disturbing psycho motor stability
Increasing uric acid that can result a kidney stone.

I believe all the negative effects are closely related to my heart failure condition. The second 50 mg in the second day of caffeine had already made me feel my left chest very annoying, increasing pain and heart rate, which finally made me sleepless and tired. The collateral effect that I barely resist was the problem of breathing. I felt my lungs were failed to expand naturally, so that I needed to do it "manually" using my conscious muscle power or they just stopped acting. I didn't know whether I finally slept or just fell unconscious at dawn, because my body was exhausted. Thank God for waking me up again the next day. The bad effect was fading out in the next 4-6 hours later, leaving me a good lesson of consuming caffeine that my body cannot tolerate for such illness. For your information, in my normal condition I also don't have a good tolerance for black coffee, except of tea. Perhaps another patients of CHF would have a better tolerance of small amount of caffeine that I took. As my EF is 26%, I suggest those who has lower EF to avoid caffeine in all the way.

Roasted Coffee

Exercise for Dilated Cardiomyopathy Patient

2013-09-12T08:13:00.005+07:00

The best exercise

Once I had attended a recovery program in the hospital after view weeks lying down the bed for another edema and catheterization process. View things that I have to remember before doing an exercise are:

My cardiac muscle is very weak (26% fraction of ejection)
My blood sugar level need to be stabilized.
My medication is slowing down my heart beat rate and also lowers the blood pressure.

Those 3 things collide to each other, because I can't rise up my physic to be strong enough to do exercise due to my medication. If I try too hard, pushing myself to do a bit long exercise, it may cause another damage to my heart muscle. And in the other hand, if I don't do any exercise, it will increase my blood sugar level. So that, my therapist had to carefully monitor my physical sign and condition while I was exercising. In general there are 3 kind of soft exercises I did:

Warming Up: by walking in 5 minutes. Speed of walking is not a mandatory target. Please do not run or having any movement that could shake your body recklessly even for a shorter time. For newly recovered patients, shaking up your body might result bumps to your Heart and far more can disturb your heart beat rhythm. I quite dangerous to patient that also has cardiac arrhythmia.
Slow and Soft Aerobic: do a steady movement with your body from arm to your leg using most of your muscle. A continuous stretching and riding a static bike are adequate to this stage. The main point is to exercise your lung and cardiac to absorb oxygen more efficiently.
Strengthened the muscle: is the advance level after several repetition of stage 1 and 2, and has to approved by your therapist or doctor after reviewing your latest condition. The main idea of this stage is to gradually rise up your muscle contraction until it gets tired. Please remember that each patient of Dilated Cardiomyopathy has to do this very carefully, since overloading your body muscle with excessive load and exercising time, will surely cause another dilation or heart remodeling. A "hard" defecation can also cause severe damage to your heart muscle as well.

There are also non-medical exercises that i am sure will be good to try at home:

Respiratory and mind meditation
Tai Chi or Chi Kong if you know the movement
Light Yoga

In common, to reach an optimum results from the exercise, you have to do it gradually from point to point. Start from 5 minutes per day, 5 days a week, double it in the second week, become 20 minutes in the next week, and then keep it in total 30 minutes per day in two weeks. And don't you forget to monitor your heart once a month until it is gradually recovered.

After two or three months of a consistent basic exercise, and also with the permission of your physicist, you can add up your exercising time up to 45 minutes. Warming up and cooling down time could be set in 5 minutes each, while the rest of it will be the calories burning time. But still, please don't shake up your body or pushing its limit too much.

It is cheap, but most effective (walk, walk, walk)

Guidelines for your routine exercise

I feel so lazy doing exercise like aerobic, tai chi, meditation, etc. My biggest enemy is myself. I would rather playing badminton, basketball, table tennis, tennis or any of game sports, which I should not. It is not fun anymore, is it ? So that the objectives of doing such exercises will have to start by defeating yourself first. You must enjoy yourself for accepting your own condition. Think like this: "How can I play badminton and teaching my son, if I have not full recovered yet ?". Resolve this first, because the next guidelines will be so bored and stressful if you fail the first step.

Eat before you do the exercise and give it at least 2 hours space in between. Empty stomach will give you no power and even gastric inflammation sometimes.
Remember: to have fun fun fun. Do it with your full interest and happiness. It will stimulate your endorphin instead of cortisol and norepinephrine, the two "bad" hormones that cause you depression and hypertension.
Never forget to start your aerobic with warming up and ended with cooling down for 5 minutes each. These 2 sessions will avoid you from any muscle cramps or shocks.
Dress up properly and adapt the climate. A body with a Congestive Heart Failure might have a narrow tolerance to the temperature change. Don't let your body tremble because of the cold weather or too sweaty because it is too hot and humid. And certainly don't be wet in the rain. Wearing a wet and cold cloth will lead your body into a shock condition.
Be careful not to drink too much after the exercise, because you will still be in drinking restriction. Usually patients will feel so thirsty and pardon him/her self to drink more than it should be. I did it too. But it is not a good decision to make. I would estimate that a light aerobic perhaps only results 150 - 250 cc of sweat which is the additional water I will take to avoid dehydration. It is only a glass of water. My point is to give you an illustration about how much water you may take as an additional drink.
Try to find some creativity when you do the aerobic to avoid boredom, and always start at same time, for example: at 08.00 in the morning.
The seventh stage will be making it your habit and lifestyle, so that no burden is on your shoulder anymore, because it has become your daily need. And the last one but not the least, keep recording your activity and progress. You might need it to consult with your doctor regularly.

Fruits for Diabetic - The Keeper

2013-09-08T11:00:00.003+07:00

Congestive Heart Failure disease, especially Dilated Cardiomyopathy, can be resulted by so many causes whether are known or even unknown. In my case, the strongest allegation is because of my high or uncontrolled blood sugar level as a diabetic patient. Since type-2 diabetes is more about controlling our intake and life style pattern, choosing the right and proper fruits will become crucial and a bit complicated. Fruits are enriched with vitamins, fibers, minerals and calories. All of the substances are important to human body, but we need to control more to its calorie and glucose content.

When choosing fruits for diabetic patients, you have to deeply consider and be sure that the fruits contain LOW Glycemic and Fructose kind of sugar. Fructose has an advantage of being easier to be absorbed into the body without drastically rise up the blood sugar level. It also doesn't need insulin in the absorption process into the blood cells. Those two things should be your basic knowledge of managing fruits consumption for diabetic patients daily. Herewith, I try to summarize you some fruits those are quite safe for diabetes :

Watermelon
Pear
Strawbery
Plum
Papaya
Guava
Kiwifruit
Lemonade
Apple
Orange

Of course, all fruits have to be fresh without any additional sweetener when you eat them. On the other hand, there are also "bad" fruits for diabetic patients such as : Manggo, Banana, Durian, Peach, and most of the time I avoid grapes too. Please take a note about Durian, because not only contain high glucose, it sometimes contain alcohol as well and I strongly suggest that CHF/DCM patients should not eat Durian. In Indonesia there are also some fermented food like : Tape, Tape Uli, and also Yoghurt, which have a high sugar and a bit of alcohol (especially Tape and Tape Uli) that I avoid too. Plain Yoghurt with fresh fructose fruit will be find.

The other factor beside glucose level in fruits, is fiber that help slowing down digestion prosess as well as reducing the glucose absorption into the blood stream. So that, due to its importance, such fruits might be considered to be on your food list too :

Apricot
Blueberry
Pomegranate
Raspberry
Avocado
Apel
Kiwifruit
Strawberry

Apricot

Avocado

Blueberry

Durian (bad)

Guava

Kiwifruit

Mango (bad)

Peach (bad)

Pear

Watermelon

Raspberry

Pomegranate

Sardine - Fish for your heart

2013-08-31T22:32:00.000+07:00

Sardines swarming

Sardines after life

Sardine Enrichment

Now we know how easy it would be to find a high quality food like Sardines. Plenty of vitamins and minerals we could get from just a small portion once a day will give you above 12 percent of vitamin B2, B12, and niacin. B vitamin is important to keep our nerve system healthy, and also as a catalyst to convert food into energy. Minerals such as calcium, potassium, iron, selenium, and phosphorus, are dominant content that we can discover within it.

As the ingredient that produce fish oil, the contain of omega-3 fatty acid will certainly be a benefit for human cardiovascular system and also can lower blood sugar level. Meanwhile the B vitamin reduces the risk of getting Alzheimer disease. Due its low position in food chain, sardines have a low contamination of harmful metal, such as mercury, compared to other fishes usually consume by people.

Sardine or Pilchard ?

Authority of Sea Fish Industry in England has defined that such fishes shorter than 6 inches are Sardines, while the other one called Pilchards. Scientists recognized not less than 13 types or Pilchards including Sardines. Their commercial name usually get along with the original area where they gather the most, such as: Bali, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, California, India, and also South America. View of them are named on behalf their physical appearance such as: Goldstripe, Madeiras, Round, and Rainbow Sardines or Sardinella.

Sardine Processing

The famous Sardines processing industry established in Cornwall - UK in the middle of 18th century and endure to 150 years ahead. Preserving Sardines in can is the most well known procedure in the world, while other ways such as: smoking, grilling, salting, and drying Sardines are the options. Canning Sardines has the most advantages of preserving it, because it is airtight, has minimum air and sunlight contact, and keeping the texture from getting shattered or bumped. So that, canning process also means reducing the development of bacteria and certain fungi, lower the contamination risk during transport and stocking, and automatically lengthened the expiration date. It helps a lot of soldiers in the battlefield to keep their nutrition good for a quite long time.

Sardines in the can

Sardines in the plate

Sardines ready to be eaten

Sardines in the Basket

Omega-3 - From Fish Oil with Love to Your Heart

2013-08-31T18:06:00.000+07:00

Fish oil with Omega 3

It is so important that the Authority of Heart Association in America issued a recommendation for every American Citizen to eat fish at least 2 - 3 times a week. The suggested kind of fishes are those which contain a lot of omega 3 fatty acid, such as trout, herring, sardines, tuna, salmon, and mackerel. Why should they ? Because such habit will help people to reduce the risk of stroke up to 50%.

Heart Disease (HD) Risk Reducer

The focus of avoiding heart diseases is to eat more mono-saturated and poly-unsaturated fats, including omega 3. There are 2 kinds of omega 3 that responsible on reducing the risk factor of HD, high blood Pressure, and high cholesterol, which are Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) and Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA). Another situation that omega 3 takes care off, are triglycerides level, stroke, cardiac arrhythmia, atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries walls) by suppressing the growth of fatty plaque that will clog artery and causing stroke to sudden death.

Diabetes

Since Omega 3 is proven to lower triglycerides and apoprotein (the marker of diabetes), and also increase HDL level, it has been credible to help people with diabetes. Please take a note that there is 1 type of omega 3 fatty acid that has become a disadvantages to particular diabetes patients, because it cannot efficiently transform to the substance that human body can use. It is called ALA (Alpha Linolenic Acid). ALA is usually found in omega 3 fatty acid that produced from plants such as berry oils, flaxseed oil, echium oil, sacha oil, and hemp oil.

Minus Point of Omega 3

A handful of curing functions, does not make Omega 3 such a perfect substance we find in fish oil. It turns out that high dosage of omega 3 per day, will increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke that definitely fatal kind of stroke. In hemorrhagic stroke, blood vessel in brain will leaks or shattered instantly because of high blood pressure combined with the impairment of blood vessel wall and the drop of blood viscosity. Scientist suggest that the consumption of omega 3 fatty acid should not exceed 3 grams or equal to 3 serving of fish per day

Other Condition that require omega 3

Rheumatoid arthritis
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Osteoporosis
Depression
Bipolar Disorder
Schizophrenia
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Cognitive Decline
Skin Disorder
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Asthma
Cancers (Prostate, Breast, and Colon)
Macular Degeneration

Source:

Omega-3 fatty acids | University of Maryland Medical Center http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/omega3-fatty-acids#ixzz2dcdoBALU
Wikipedia/en

Rebung / Bamboo Shoots - Enriched with Fiber, Lower the Cholesterol

2013-08-29T22:29:00.001+07:00

Shoots or in Java language called "Rebung" is young bamboo shoots that grow from the roots of bamboo with soft texture. Shoots are most often made into vegetable cuisine, either stir-fried or cooked with coconut milk. Usually only shoots with age less then 2 months that can be cooked, unless the texture will be quite hard to eat.

In one cup of shoots slices averagely contain 14 calories, one third of fat, and 1,2 gr fiber (equal to half a portion of red rice). Human body needs fiber to expedite digestion system in order to prevent any of Cardiovascular disease at the end. Fiber inhibit fat absorption in intestine which will finally reduce the cholesterol and LDL level in blood stream, then lower the risk of having hypertension and coronary heart disease. Shoots also contains 640 mg potassium which is 50% more than potassium in banana. Potassium is a mineral with a function of moving the muscle, keeping the blood pressure normal, and maintaining the liquid balance in the body. A Simple physical sign of the lack of potassium in our body is muscle and joint pain. Shoots is also enriched with other mineral such as : Calcium, manganese, zinc, chromium, and iron, Vitamin A, B6, and E, 17 amino acids that form protein. Due to those substance, Shoots also behave as a antioxidant and free radical arrester.

How to cook Shoots and fix its aroma ?

Shoots special character is having stinky aroma (like urine), and it will get worse after you stew them. To avoid that unpleasant smell, shoots must be washed up with clean flowing water before you heat them up. Cut its hard root, stew in boiling water, drain and stew or boil it again with coconut water until the texture getting soft. Drain it again, and keep it in a closed container in a refrigerator. The coconut water is important to prepare shoots before cooking, to reduce the acid/stinky smell and give a good savory taste at the end.

Nevertheless, still not many Indonesian chef can prepare and cook Shoots very nicely without any smell at all. But anyway, Shoots has become one of the best traditional food's ingredient,called "LUMPIA" originated from Semarang - Central Java. I'm crazy about Lumpia (not fried is better to avoid excessive triglycerides) . We can choose whether we want it to be fried or not. The best brand of Lumpia for me is Lumpia Gang Lombok. So if you have opportunity to visit Semarang, eating Lumpia Gang Lombok is a mandatory. It also the most expensive Lumpia in Indonesia, and perhaps world wide.

Thus, who said that the patient of IDCM/DCM/CHF/Diabetic cannot have a delicious and healthy food ?

Olive Oil - for your cardiovascular health

2013-08-27T22:47:00.000+07:00

It is not liquor, It is liquid gold

The Liquid Gold, some people name it because of many reasons. For a very long time, Olive oil is recognized as a health keeper, especially human heart. But still nobody knows the exact amount required to optimize our health condition. By the latest discovery, it is believed that consuming 2 table spoon of olive oil daily for a long time range, will at least cut the mortality risk caused by Heart Diseases into 50%, while consuming only 1 table spoon will reduce the risk up to 28%.

Olive Fruits

Olive oil actually is a fat substance obtained from olive fruit (Fruit of Olea europaea, Family: Oleaceae), a traditional and ancient tree of the Mediterranean Basin. It is produced by pressing the olive fruit. Its general usage is quite simple, such as in cooking, cosmetics, medication, soaps, fuel for oil lamps, etc. Olive oil is also used throughout the world, but the most is in Mediterranean countries, particularly in Greece.

OO is composed mainly of mixed triglyceride esters of oleic acid, Linoleic acid, α-Linolenic acid, palmitic acid and of other fatty acids, along with traces of squalene (up to 0.7%) and sterols (0.2% phytosterol and tocosterols). The composition varies by cultivar, region, altitude, time of harvest, and extraction process. There are many more substance attached to Olive oil composition, but the other one, Oleochantal has been suggested for a long term consumption, because it has responsibility to lower the incidence of heart disease associated with a Mediterranean Diet.-- source : wikipedia.

Potential Heath effects

Preliminary clinical research shows that consumption of olive oil may lower risk of heart disease risk factors such as to lower cholesterol in blood stream, reducing LDL cholesterol, and also possibly influencing inflammatory, thrombotic, hypertensive, and vasodilatory mechanism. Anyway scientists need more scientific evidence, that higher portion of mono-unsaturated fats in the diet program will reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

Information : In USA, olive oil manufacturers may place the a restricted health claim on their product labels, which mentioned about a suggestion of consuming 2 tablespoon of olive oil (approximately 23 grams) daily, will reduce the risk of any coronary heart illness. It is caused by the content of mono-saturated fat in it. So that, replacing the same amount of saturated fat with olive oil and maintaining the same number of total calories we eat everyday, or even reducing it, will gradually lower the risk significantly.

Anyway, this label was announced in November 1, 2004 by the FDA after application was made by producers of Olive oil. Further more, the similar label are permitted for foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

Finally among all of the confusing terms and substances we hardly remember, I underline the main contain and usage of olive oil, such as mono-unsaturated fatty acid (oleic and linoleic acid, oleochantal, palmitic acid, vitamin E, and oleuropein) as a determinant factor to reduce LDL particle and total cholesterol, thus it will automatically reduce the clogging in artery system or even repair the damage that caused by cardiovascular disease. And the other illness that might be affected by a long term consumption are diabetes, gastric cancer, peptic ulcer, some cancers, and Alzheimer disease. It is to simple to avoid, just 2 tablespoon of olive oil per day, controlling your diet/food consumption, and be patient and be consistent, then perhaps you have just started with the man in the mirror to change for a brighter day. :)

Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy - The Latest Edition

2013-08-26T19:17:00.001+07:00

Illustration of takotsubo cardiomyopathy (picture A) compared to the a normal heart (picture B).

For me, this kind of new encounter of cardiomyopathy. I really have never heard or even learn it before, until lately i found it from the web. Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy (TCM) is a cardiomyopathy caused by stress, broken heart, and also known as an apical ballooning syndrome. It is reversible and not permanent condition, when suddenly your heart muscle become weak or stunned, and the left ventricle changes shape.

The first attack was reported in Japan, which the meaning of "Takotsubo" is "Octopus Pot", as the left ventricle of the heart chamber, getting bigger - developing a narrow neck and a round bottom. Once has reported, that this kind of CHF affects more than 2,400 people a year in England.

The Symptoms and how to Diagnose

Chest pain and breathlessness are the main symptoms. Remember what i mentioned in my previous blog or page, Electro Cardio Grams and Blood test is only a standard test that perhaps don't show you any sign of CHF or other heart disease at the beginning. But in this case, even the Echo Cardio Grams or MRI would be less effective to detect TCM anyway. It will be well detected with angiogram test (catheterization procedure). If you have TCM, the angiogram won't find any blockage in your coronary blood vessel, but it will show that your left ventricle has change shape. Same with what i had been experienced before, no blockades of fat or cholesterol (yet) - after catheterization, but my left ventricle was getting bigger than normal. But mine, is not called TCM because of my diabetes precondition, and also irreversible as the doctor said.

The Cause

About three quarters of people diagnosed with TCM have experienced significant emotional or physical stress prior to becoming unwell. Me too, even after my first diagnose of DCM, my condition was getting worse and I had experienced 11 months 24/7 barely sleep in the night. Only 2-3 hour sleep made my body over-exhausted because every time I tried to sleep, i feel my heart and breath stop, so like avoiding nightmare in elm street, I force my body not to fall asleep even i wanted it so badly. In climax, I lost consciousness and suddenly sleep and awake in several hours, to get to work. My body clock was a ruin in 11 months.

Some examples include bereavement, major surgery or being involved in a disaster such as an earthquake and there is some evidence that the excessive release of hormones, in particular adrenaline, during these periods of stress causes the stunning of the heart muscle.

The good news is that the condition is temporary and reversible – and it’s unusual for it happen again. This make a huge different from what i have been suffering right now. Another good news is TCM cannot be inherited like other types of cardiomyopathy.

Adiponectin as one form of Amino Acids - For better Metabolism

2013-08-25T13:46:00.001+07:00

Amino Acids (AA) is the oldest signature of the existence of the first living creature on earth. Some other people even believe that AA will not only find on earth but also in other planets that contain living tissue. So AA are biologically vital organics compounds created from carboxylic acid (-COOH) and amine (-NH2), together with the side-chain unique to each AA. Until now, there are more than 450 amino acids be named and recognized in many ways. As proteins, Amino Acids cover the second major component in human cells, muscles, and other tissues. Outside proteins, amino acids conduct a critical function in process such as neurotransmitter system and bio-synthesis.(source : wikipedia/amino acids)

Adiponectin

is a 244-Amino-Acid-long polypeptide. So Adiponectin is also one of AA family. It is a protein hormone that modulates a number of metabolic process, including glucose regulation and fatty acid oxidation. Adiponectin is exclusively secreted from adipose tissue (and also from the placenta in pregnancy) into the blood stream and is very abundant in plasma relative to many hormones. Levels of the hormone are inversely correlated with body fat percentage in adults, while the association in infants and young children is less clear. Transgenic mice with increased adiponectin show impaired adipocyte differentiation and increased energy expenditure associated with protein uncoupling. The hormone plays a role in the suppression of the metabolic derangement that may result in type 2 Diabetes, obesity, atherosclerosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and an independent risk factor for metabolic syndrome. Adiponectin in combination with leptin has been shown to completely reverse insulin resistance in mice. I admit that i kind of rewrite all of the above paragraph from wikipedia, because it is all important and summarized already, but finally just to underline the key connection between this AA with Diabetics type-2, in order to make things clearer for you.

Not only for diabetic especially, High-molecular-weight adiponectin was further found to be associated positively with coronary artery disease. Adiponectin also exerts some of its weight reduction effects via the brain. With Leptin, the combination of complementary action of them can have a good synergistic effects.

Adiponectin effects

Glucose flux : the decreased of gluconeogenesis and the increased of glucose uptake (as an energy)
Lipid Catabolism : for Beta-Oxidation and Triglyceride clearance
Protection from endothelial dysfunction (important facet of atherosclerotic formation).
Gain more insulin sensitivity.
Weight loss (obesity is associated with the decreased of adiponectin)
Control of energy metabolism
up-regulation of uncoupled proteins.

Hypoadiponectinemia

A low level adiponectin is also an independent risk factor for developing :

Metabolic syndrome
Diabetes

Food with adiponectin : Fish, Egg, Fruit, Grains, Nuts, Green Veg.

Coenzyme Q10 - Heart Regenerator

2013-08-20T18:31:00.000+07:00

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) as I mentioned in my previous post, is a substance that we can find in mitochondria where cells get its energy from. Also known as ubiquinone, ubidecarenone, or coenzyme Q. CoQ10 involves in the making of Adenosine Triphospate (ATP) molecule. ATP has the function to control a biological process including muscle contraction and protein production.

Naturally, CoQ10 is found in every cell of human body. It carries message in a unit called mitochondria, where oxidation of food element happens and produce energy. Since it has

a very important communication roles between cells, It also has a significant function to fix up broken cells. CoQ_{10 has been proposed as a treatment of some conditions, but its medical use remains controversial because has not been approved by the FDA, although it has been agreed for further research(as solubilized ubiquinol) as an orphan product in the treatment of Huntington's Disease and pediatric CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE (CHF).}

_{Heart Disease}

_{Patient of CHF have low plasma concentrations of CoQ10, which is also associated with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In a research of 236 patients with CHF, CoQ10 was an independent predictor of mortality. It available as medicine and food supplement in several European countries. Scientists also discover that dietary supplements with CoQ10 reduced oxidation of low-density lipoprotein. Even results have not been published yet, investigators reported at the HEART FAILURE 2013 Congress that after 2 years, patients in the CoQ10 group had half the rate of mortality as patients in the placebo group. Other cardiologists said this study was consider as a breakthrough, but a bit premature and required further research. It is a bit disappointed since the price of supplement of CoQ10 is still expensive for middle-low society, although it has no such bad side effect. I vote : it worth trying.}

_{Migraine Headaches}

_{It is certain, that supplementation of CoQ10 has been found to have a beneficial effect on the condition of some sufferers of Migraine Headaches. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial found Statistically significant results with a small sample size of 42 patients. Dosages were 150 to 300 mg/day. It has been used effectively in the prophylaxis of migraines, especially in combination with a daily supplement of magnesium citrate 500 mg and riboflavin (vitamin B2) 400 mg.}

_Cancer

CoQ10 is also being investigated as a relief from cancer treatment side-effects..

Cardiac Arrest

The latest study mentioned that consuming CoQ10 supplement in 3 consecutive days after the heart attack, will significantly reduce the risk of getting the second attack.

Inhibiting High Blood Pressure

The lack of CoQ10 in body cells will be the determinant of losing heart-muscle elasticity which will lead to the hardening of blood vessel and cause a high-blood pressure condition. So that, it has a definite co-relation between the benefit of CoQ10 existence with the health of heart and cardiovascular system.

Relieving Breast Cancer

A breakthrough research has been done to patients of breast cancer that consuming CoQ10 supplement. It seems that this substance somehow help to reduce the pain and shrink the size of the cancer of some patients. Additional anti-oxidant is suggested to be a compliment of CoQ10, such as selenium, vitamin C, and E.

Prevent gingivitis

Clinical study results that patients with gingivitis usually have a low CoQ10 level in their body. Since the enzyme helps cells to fix up the damage that occur, it helps the healing to happen faster. That is why some mouthwash contain CoQ10 in order to overcome mouth and gum problems.

CoQ10 concentration in food

You will find more complete list in some source like wikipedia, where i also quote a lot of knowledge from. But I rather make some summary which I consider is the best food contains CoQ10 :

Red Flesh Fish (sardines is the most recommended)
Soybean
Olive oil
Peanuts
Parsley
Avocado

There are higher contents of CoQ10 in heart of Beef, Pork, and Chicken, above 50 mg/kg, but since i position myself as the person who already have a CHF condition, i suppose that the other substance in them could be harmful to our health, like cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL etc, so i keep them aside for becoming priority. In normal condition, it is suggested that we should consume 3 - 6 mg of CoQ10 daily, derived primarily from meat.

Note : Cooking by FRYING food/meat will definitely reduce CoQ10 content by 14 - 32 %, besides FRIED food will also contain higher Triglyceride and LDL too. So choose wisely mate.

The Takers

Children and Teenagers

Children under 18 years old are not subjected to take CoQ10 without any supervision of a doctor or health care expert.

Adult

The suggested dose of CoQ10 for adults above 19 years old is between 30 - 200 mg per day. For a special condition, higher dose will be recommended . Soft gels are usually chosen to wrap up this supplement rather than capsule or other. Any of CoQ10 supplement should be eaten with meal containing a bit of fat, because CoQ10 is fat-soluble. The best time to consume it, is at night before you sleep to get optimum absorption.

In general, CoQ10 seems to have no major side effects, but a typical stomach upset. But unfortunately, scientists have not done any studies regarding the safety of CoQ10 to be taken by pregnant or breastfeeding mother. All diabetic patients should consult their health care expert before taking CoQ10 because it has the capability to lower blood sugar level. So that it will avoid the hypoglycemic situation.

Possible Interactions

People with the medications below, should not take CoQ10 without any approval and monitor from your physician:

Chemotherapy medications -- there is possibility that CoQ10 antioxidant could result chemotherapy medication become less effective. Oncologist might give you a precise suggestion about taking any antioxidant supplement during chemotherapy section.

Daunorubicin and doxorubicin -- CoQ10 will lower the toxic effects on the heart caused by daunorubicin (Cerubidin) and doxorubicin (Adriamycin). Several kind of cancers are treated by those chemotherapy medication.

Abnormal Blood pressure treatments -- CoQ10 will fit medications to lower blood pressure. Adding CoQ10 supplements allows the high blood pressure patient to lower their dose of these medications. Although further researches are still needed, please consult your physician for taking this supplement and don't stop the main medication.

Blood-thinning treatments -- There are some conclusions that CoQ10 could make medicines such as warfarin (Coumadin) or clopidogrel (Plavix) losing its effectiveness at thinning the blood. If you take blood thinners, also consult your doctor first before taking CoQ10.

Betaxolol (Betoptic) -- CoQ10 could also reduce the heart-related side effects of betaxolol drops (Betoptic), as a beta-blocker medication used to treat glaucoma, without reducing the effectiveness of the medication itself.

Other -- Medications that can reduce the levels of CoQ10 in the body:

Statin (medication for cholesterol), including lovastatin (mevacor), pravastatin (pravachol), atorvastatin (lipitor), and simvastatin (zocor).
Fibric acid derivatives for cholesterol, including gemfibrozil (lopid)
Beta-blockers for Congestive Heart Failure, including metoprolol (lopressor or toprol), atenolol (tenormin), labetolol (normodyne), and propranolol (Inderal).
Tricyclic for antidepressant medicines, including amitriptyline (elavil), imipramine (tofranil), and doxepin (sinequan).

Source:

Coenzyme Q10 | University of Maryland Medical Center http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/supplement/coenzyme-q10#ixzz2cz04yFL7 University of Maryland Medical Center
Wikipedia/CoQ10

(Ischemic) Dilated Cardio Myopathy (IDCM)

2013-08-17T17:54:00.004+07:00


X-ray can visually detect Dilated Cardiomyopathy

In general, Dilated Cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the heart becomes weak, dilated, and losing its capability to pump blood through the blood vessel efficiently. It will definitely affect the organs system such as lungs, liver, kidney, etc.

DCM is just one of the cardiomyopathies, a kind of diseases that attack myocardium/heart muscle. In DCM, a part of myocardium is enlarged, and in some cases it happens without any obvious cause (Ischemic). Mostly left rather than right ventricular systolic pump function of the heart is broken; leading to progressive cardiac enlargement including hypertrophy, the process is called ventricle remodeling.

Ischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy is less common than DCM itself. It also occurs more frequent in male than female, in age between 20-60 years. Averagely one in three cases of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is due to DCM, and in some case is found in children as well.

What does cause it?

What really interests me is that the silent killer usually has no appearance at all. The damaged myocardium might be the result of exposure to a variety of toxic, metabolic, or infectious agents. It may also be due to fibrous change of the myocardium from a previous myocardial infarction. Or, it may be the late sequel of acute viral myocarditis, such as Coxsackie’s B virus and other viruses, possibly mediated through an immunologic mechanism.

Other causes include:

It is known as Chagas disease, caused by trypanosoma cruzi, is the most common infectious that cause dilated cardiomyopathy in South America.
Pregnancy. Dilated cardiomyopathy happens several weeks to months postpartum as a peripartum cardiomyopathy. The good thing is that it usually reversible.
Alcohol bad effect (Alcoholic cardiomyopathy).
Thyroid abnormalities or disease.

Sign and Symptoms

Dilated cardiomyopathy may not cause symptoms significant enough to impact on quality of life. A minority of patients can experience significant symptoms. These might include:

Breathlessness
Edema (from your stomach to the feet)
Loss of consciousness or Syncope
angina, but only in the presence of ischemic heart disease
Coughing like bronchitis (some patient will react this way when taking Captopril)

A patient suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy may have an enlarged heart, with lung edema and an elevated jugular venous pressure and a low pulse of blood pressure. Signs of mitral and tricuspid regurgitation may exist and also a steady tachycardia during the respiration cycle.

Easy Diagnosis

In my case Electro Cardio Gram hardly detect the problem, but simply have the thorax X-ray would reveal enough. For more detail I suggest you ask the doctor to immediately use Echo Cardio Gram or even MRI scanning for more accuracy. We need to know the fraction ejection number of the heart, in order to get a precise medication and other necessary treatment. My number is 26% left. It is perhaps too late to save, regardless how much money you have to replace the old heart for the new and healthy one. Most of the case, Congestive Heart Failure can leads to a sudden death within minutes. Faster than the time we usually spend to wait our turn to see the doctor. So that, a quick and more accurate test might safe life accordingly.

Treatment in General

Drug therapy can slow down the progression and in some cases even improve the heart condition. Once again in some country like Indonesia, where social/health security has not been equally applied to all citizens, financial capability to pay the doctor and medicine could become another deadly dead end. In my case, I'm not covered by social/health security. So I have to choose wisely to spend my budget for my medication or for the future of my family, because with my condition having a job or another income is a big issue to solve.

Standard therapy may include:

Salt restriction,
Water/drink restriction between 1000 - 2000 ml per day depends on the condition.
ACE Inhibitor, (Alpha blocker or Beta-Blocker - please be noted that Beta Blocker could rise up your Blood Sugar Level. It is a dilemma for me)
Diuretics,
Digitalis
Anticoagulants.

Strictly avoid ALCOHOL since it will disturb the heart pumping action rapidly. Smoking? I don't want to suggest.

There is a fact for the advantages of Coenzyme Q10 in treating heart failure. Other supplements may provide D-Ribose, L-Carnitine, and Taurine. Please learn carefully about taurine, because improper usage of it could harm other organs such as kidney. I will try to elaborate more about Coenzyme Q10 later, but for now I just give you a summary clue : consume soybean could help your heart to recover.

Advance Treatment

Artificial pacemakers may be used in patients with intraventricular conduction delay, and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in those at risk of arrhythmia. These forms of treatment have been shown to improve symptoms and reduce hospitalization.

Patients with advanced disease who are refractory to medical therapy, heart transplantation should be considered. Hopefully no another dead end.

Reverse Modeling

This refers to reversing the remodeling back to at least near normal condition. Therapies that eligible to reverse remodeling have been studied, and this may suggest a new approach to the prognosis of cardiomyopathies.

Red Betel (Sirih Merah / Piper Ornatum)

2013-08-15T20:21:00.001+07:00

Botanical Classification
Kingdom      : Plantae
Division : Angiosperms
Class           : Magnoliids
Order          : Piperales
Family         : Piperaceae
Genus          : Piper
Species        : Piper Ornatum

Red Betel (RB) has been used for centuries ago by the native tribes in Java Island. Not only for medicine but also in the traditional ceremony in several areas in Indonesia. People call it "Uborampe". Some traditional women used it as the natural cosmetics.

Anti-Septic Substance

At 600BC, RB was first found in India, Ceylon, and Malaysia, and being used to neutralize bad body smell, sprue, nosebleed, scab, and ulceration. It contains anti-septic substance that could kill bacteria easily. Phenol substance in it, is 5 times more effective than artificial phenol. Even in Chinese pharmacology, RB is recognized as a plant that has a warm and spicy characteristic.

Chemical Substance

Flavonoid, Poly-phenol, Alkaloid, Tannin, essence oil, Saphonine, Hydroxycaficol, Caficol, Cavibetol, Allyprokatekol, Carvocrol, Eugenol, Pecymene, Cineole, Coryophelen, Cadimen, Extragol, Terpenana, and Phenilpropoda. (Please refer to dictionary to the correct spell of each ingredient)

Benefit and Property of RB

Flavonoid and Poly-phenol act as anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, cancer suppressor, anti-septic, and anti-inflammatory.
The alkaloid substance also inhibit the growth of cancer cell.
In a research, it has been proven that routine consumption of RB's stewed water which is given to a diabetic white mouse can lower its blood-sugar level and maintain the appropriate level in long term.
Other condition that can be treat with RB are : Hypertension, Hepatitis A, Prostate inflammation, ophthalmic (red eye) , cervical cancer, artery coroner, Tuberculosis, kidney disease, arthritis, and hemorrhoids.
Arecoline is all over it too. and it functions as stimulate the center nerves system, brain activity, and peristaltic movement, including suppress the snore when we sleep. Eugenol in RB leaves could kill Candida Albicans Fungi, and has the analgesic characteristic. And don't forget the tannin, could protect your digestive system and lever, from bad bacterial.
Rinse out your mouth with RB's stewed water, and you will have your mouth clean from most of bad bacteria. Thanks to Carvacol substance as a disinfectant and anti fungi.
Milky disease could also cured by RB's leaves. Even the success rate is higher than placebo, due to research in one of trusted institution in Indonesia.

Traditional Herb of RB

Stewing RB Leaves. Take 3-5 fresh leaves from the 4-5 months age of plant. Wash them with water, stew with 2 glass of water with small fire, until 1 glass of stewed water remains. Drink it after getting cool, 1 hour before meal time 3 x per day. If you can't stand the bitter taste, u can add some honey in it. Do it continuously at least within a month to see the progress.
Some people use RB's leaves as a mix substance with a tea. Find some old leaves of RB, wash and slice them into small pieces, dry it into the sunlight. After totally dried, crush it and mix with green tea and dried jasmine. Put it into a tea bag, then brew it as an afternoon tea for you and your family.

How to cultivate

RB has a high economical value, because 4-5 leaves have an average price around US$ 1. Some consider it as endangered species nowadays. RB usually prefers a shady place with no direct sunlight exposure. It only need 60-75% sunlight and cool environment. It doesn't need intense watery since will cause the root from being rotten. The main natural enemies of RB are snail, mouse, and ant. Also never use pesticide, because the leaves will become human consumption as a remedy. And please use clean water to the plant.

Diabetic - Basic

2013-08-13T20:13:00.002+07:00

There are 2 types of Diabetics :

1. Diabetics with insulin dependency (type-1)

2. Diabetics without insulin dependency (type-2)

Diabetics type-1 is mostly caused by genetic impairment of pancreatic function which descend from our parents or grand parents. Meanwhile, diabetics type-2 is mostly caused by our living pattern and food consumption that leads you to obesity. Beside pancreas, please be ware of other organs such as : Liver (produce glucose), Heart/Cardiac + Vascular system, Kidney, Eyes, and foot area, which can be another collateral damage happen due to this silent killer disease.

Blood Sugar Level : (different doctor/country perhaps has its own standard of measurement to describe below condition - so please consult your doctor first before taking any action forward)

Normal = Blood Sugar 80 - 100 mg/dl (lower than 80 is called Hypoglycemic - Dangerous)
Pre Diabetic = BS 100-125 mg/dl
Diabetic = BS > 125 mg/dl

There are 3 phases in diabetics :

1. Compensation phase : always feel hungry, thirsty, and frequent urinary.

2. De-Compensation phase : phase 1 + rapid drop of body weight.

3. Chronic phase : Phase 1 + Phase 2 + impotency, muscular weakness, Diabetic
Retinopathy, uncured-wounds.

Always remember, there is no such remedy for diabetic in any type. Some remedy whether natural or chemical, only helps you to keep it in good range. Nevertheless your life pattern decide the most result of your blood sugar level. First thing first, control your carbohydrate consumption. It doesn't mean to make you hungry, but only to replace the simple carbo into more complex carbo. e.g. Whole milk bread to Wheat bread, white rice to red or black rice or baked potatoes, reduce sugar cane a lot and put a bit diabetics sugar or a bit of rock sugar. Eat more salad/gado2 and fresh (but not too sweet) fruit, rather than fresh meat.

For best result please avoid : simple-carbo such as noodle, cake, sweet chocolate, white wheat flour, alcohol, cigar, durian, (sweet) mango, banana, sugar cane, corn syrup, soda, lactose in milk, fructose in fruit juice.

Eating for diabetics patient better be :

5 times per day (small amount but often)

total of 1500-2500 calorie in max per day including the calorie from the drink (consult a nutritionist for more detail and accuracy)