Do concussions lead to very high BP and high cholesterol?
My sister and I have been having a texting medical discussion comparing numbers, etc. We’re both in our early 50s. Both heart disease and diabetes run in our family line - both sides.
My numbers are mostly good - only LDL is high. BP (today) was 125/84. Hers has “set off tons of bells and whistles at 193/94.” I mentioned that mine is likely better to choosing a mostly healthy diet from college age on. (Her diet is and has always been cwap - not a veggie to be found really.) She responded by, “Honestly I haven’t cared we have cancer and heart disease on both sides I wasn’t letting that stop me. My problem is the concussions seem to be negatively affecting me.”
So…do concussions lead to very high BP and high cholesterol? Honestly, I’m not even sure she’s really had concussions (when???) and I’m definitely letting the texts die off rather than adding to it, but my curiosity is piqued… AND I can use my data point at school (without naming names - no one here even remotely knows my sister) if a decent diet seems to have made a difference between siblings.
Barring confirmation of her thoughts, I’m feeling pretty good about the choices I’ve made. It doesn’t change everything, of course, esp since I have a brain tumor (benign) and she doesn’t, but I like to think my choices helped out some and wonder about adding it to some lessons when appropriate (with real stats too, not solely one data point, but personal “real” things can certainly add to stats). HOWEVER, if she’s right about what’s raised hers, then I don’t want to falsely “create” even one data point.
A concussion wouldn’t affect cholesterol numbers. A concussion could affect BP if it’s causing stress.
Just adding… as far as I know, there’s no recent concussion. It would have had to have been some years ago when we were less in contact with each other.
Concussions temporarily affect heart rate.
Not what you asked, but I can see how bp might be impacted…but temporarily.
Hmm, the more I think about it, the more I think I’m siding with Bouders, though not with stress due to concussions, but overall stress due to issues in her life and personality. That actually makes far more sense.
My mind is also musing that I will still use it in school lessons when appropriate, but not as a data point about diet, rather as a compelling point about confounding variables, the need for peer review, researcher bias, and similar. It’s a really good example of all of the above, esp with how easy it can be to fall into these traps.
I’d be curious about trying to confirm the concussion history because they really can affect brains long-term. Theoretically concussions might have contributed to her having more issues in her life and impact her personality through cognitive changes.
When my D went to a concussion specialist, we had to answer all kinds of questions about things like that–moods, coping, stress, personality changes, etc. D is definitely more stressed since her concussion but her life is also more stressful. I’m really hoping she’ll return to normal once this school year is over and she commits to a college. My friend’s D got two concussions in a short time and ended up hospitalized due to a suicide risk not that long after. She started having debilitating anxiety attacks. It’s been a couple of years and things seem to have finally settled down.
@MACmiracle In my sister’s case, her changes seemed (to me) to all stem from my parent’s bitter divorce when she was 12. I seem to recall her talking about concussions as an adult, but they came from a couple of car/deer accidents and/or a car/ice accident well into adulthood - in her 30s and later. None of the accidents were bad ones, but concussions could be possible I suppose.
Ironically enough, I’m the one who had a concussion in my youth at either age 7 or 9 (my sister and I dispute the year). I ran a sled into a tree head first. Can’t say I remember that much about it - just coming to very briefly in my aunt/uncle’s car (we had been at their place) and once while they were taking x-rays - then some time later waking up in a hospital and wondering where the heck I was. (I’m not sure it’s a great idea to leave a young kid alone in a hospital, but I suppose it has to happen.)
My only memory from after that was a white haired older doctor telling me when I got older and might want to try illegal drugs to stay away from Heroin no matter what because I was allergic to Morphine and they’re from the same derivative. He told my parents that Codeine wasn’t a good idea either.
Of course, now in my later years I seriously wonder if that allergy is real (I have absolutely no other allergies - not even hay fever) or if it was just his way of telling impressionable kids to stay off drugs. Either way, it worked. I never once cared to try any illegal drug - just in case!
Best wishes to your D and I hope her friend’s progress continues.
You might be right about the root of your sister’s difficulties. I really believe that severe trauma can affect the nervous system and not just the emotions.
Your morphine story is interesting. D18 was on a morphine pump after a major surgery and had terrible side effects. She was screaming the strangest things–she felt like she was in hell–and she got really itchy. There was a team of five pain management doctors trying to figure out how to deal with the situation. I don’t see her getting addicted easily. D20, on the other hand, makes me nervous. She got IV morphine once in the ER as a small child and came home on top of the world. It was freaky to see how she went from agony to elation almost instantly.
The difference in my sister pre/post divorce is interesting in a very sad way - at least - what I remember of her pre-divorce (being 11 and younger myself at the time). She was the young lass everyone loved - terrific at school - terrific with other people. I was the rebel who almost failed first grade because I never learned to play nicely with others and was super bored in school, often purposely getting worksheets wrong, etc, because they bored me. She even got the better parent to live with post separation (mom). I lived with my dad - whose issues (plural) I never realized until I took an Abnormal Psych class in college and more or less saw his story written out in the text. Folks who knew us then/now can’t believe how we turned out and sometimes still ask how/why. I can’t answer it. I have no idea. I just wish I had a magic wand to turn her back into the young lass I loved playing with in our youth. (sigh) Several folks have tried to help her out (family, churches, kind people she happens to meet). Nothing has worked. As with my dad, I stay in contact and listen. They’re still family and that’s really all I can do. (All just a morning wistfulness vent as I recall the past and present.)
With regards to morphine, every doctor I’ve been to in my adult years has asked what reaction I had. I have no idea. I know it required my staying in the hospital one extra day (cause I wanted to go home and was told I couldn’t - I have that memory) and that’s it. I’ve also been told they shouldn’t have used it on a head injury - that could have caused the problem itself. I’m not at all positive I’m allergic. I just still have a twinge of fear testing it out - that doc’s spiel was rather effective to my young brain - possibly too effective. I had two carpal tunnel surgeries (not major, but still painful for a little bit afterward) and refused to take anything for the pain post surgery. I still have the meds upstairs in my bedroom - not quite sure what to do with them. The most I’ll ever actually take is Ibuprofen for headaches.
Regardless of the cause/origin, I hope she is seeing a doctor about her BP. Those numbers are in the dangerous range.
I believe one should start by looking for the obvious. How various factors interplay in any one person varies even among those with family history. But diet, sedentary life style (?), weight(?), family history, perhaps stress (eg job, marital life, kids, money etc) are usual suspects. I guess things like parents’ divorce affect people differently, but here, being almost 40 years ago, it seems rather remote. I’ll guess sister didn’t play football (CTE) and car accidents seem remote as well. But to me any further discussion about specific history, symptoms is pointless and could only serve as an anxiety fuel to sister and get her thoughts needlessly spinning. Although her BP is very high and she’s at risk for a heart attack and stroke (I wouldn’t use those words). I’d just tell your sister you love her, but she needs to see MD.
I can’t speak to any link with concussions, but I can say that having the same parents doesn’t mean you have the same genetics and health issues. I have three sisters and we joke about how we are actually in pairs as far as health/genetics goes. Two of us started turning gray in our 20s. THe other two still don’t have gray hair. Two of us have our father’s low cholesterol without any regard to diet. it’s kinda funny how it has worked out.
If the concussion was a long time ago, it’s long enough to have caused long term stress which can lead to self-medication with food. I’m an expert in that. 
That could lead to high cholesterol.
As someone who experienced a major life trauma which no one else in my family had experienced or understood, thank you for being there for your sister and listening. Trying to “fix” her or tell her it’s “all in her head” or that it’s “too long ago to matter” can make it worse.
It’s not her poor numbers that started with our parent’s divorce. It’s her change in personality that seemed to stem from it and never switch back - something in her brain. Everything afterward has seemed to be stress for her - even things that should be good and relaxing. It’s like she can’t let herself relax.
I definitely just listen at this stage. Any recommendation I make is “never right” anyway. She might go see a doctor, but paying for health insurance has never been a priority for her (even when her work offers coverage she doesn’t want to pay her share), so affording it is a major issue - she has quite a few bills and other “needs” (like all sorts of lottery tickets). Having a reasonable budget and paying for needs beyond junk food isn’t something she does. Plenty of people have tried to help her with that. None have been successful.
@bouders Working in a public school the past 19 years has introduced me to so many things in life and in students’ (and their parents) lives. It’s made me far more understanding and compassionate as to why others sometimes end up the way they are - that and the understanding of the different workings of our human bodies/brains. I also realize that absolutely none of us are perfect even if we strive to be. My middle aged self has lowered the bar considerably and learned to accept others the way they are - knowing others accept me too (and probably talk about me somewhere - but hey - as long as I don’t know about it…). There are years I had very little contact with my dad and sister, but now we converse regularly and I try to be there for them as I can.
That said, a large part of me still wishes I could fix things that are wrong and continues to try, albeit, in ways that I think might work vs ways that I know won’t. I take some solace knowing I’ve been able to touch many in the next generation - sharing life lessons with them as well as academic ones (everything from living a healthier life to accepting others where they are - and then math/science). One reason I absolutely love working with teens is due to their open minds. Discussions give me so many of my high points, esp when lights click on.