5 ms·

Anecdotally, I am aware that many in my family who developed alzheimer's (it runs on both side of my family) has surgery a few years before the disease started

Anecdotally, I am aware that many in my family who developed alzheimer's (it runs on both side of my family) has surgery a few years before the disease started to present itself. Though the likelihood of there being much of a connection seems far fetched, even with this latest evidence, I have suddenly become much more concerned about going under the knife until this is all worked out. The grafts I get, but that proteins lingering on equipment, which isn't ordinarily removed through standard sterilization, could be a means of transmission... scary.

ceejayoz 11y ago
I'd be cautious about relying on anecdotal data here. This may be a bit like the "my kid got autism after vaccines" confirmation bias issue - as people get older, they're more likely to need surgical interventions.
mc32 11y ago
These cases involved brain tissues. So unless you're having brain surgery done, there are other more mundane complications to worry about.
- Gibbon1 11y ago
  Course there are prion diseases which can be spread by ingesting infected nervous system tissue. Kuru, Mad cow disease and scrapie come to mind.
SixSigma 11y ago
The long term effects of surgery are just coming to light. While, obviously, it is better to have an operation than die, it seems that you don't recover as quickly as your meat heals. Anecdotal I know but I believe it took me 10 years to get over my bowel resection. And then there's the anesthesia : http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hidden-dangers-of-going-under/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hidden-dangers-of-...
- nommm-nommm 11y ago
  The anesthesia is scary - my grandpa-in-law was never the same after he had surgery. He went in totally lucid and came out of surgury totally out of it with dementia-like symptoms. It was permanent and it made him have to go into a home. He didn't even know who I was anymore. The surgery itself was routine and very uneventful but the difference in mental function pre and post op were as dramatic as night and day - and permanent. I mentioned it to my doctor in casual conversation and she says she has seen that happen before when older people have surgery, especially those in not so great health. The article says "researchers hit on two other factors that increased the chances a patient would become dramatically confused after an operation: being older than about 70." He was about 80.
  - scott_s 11y ago
    I wonder if he had a stroke while under anesthesia - but maybe they would have seen that?
  - mgpc 11y ago
    The same thing happened to my grandmother. She went in for a minor hernia operation, and came out a different person. She never recovered. It was very dramatic and very sad.
  - jowiar 11y ago
    Same thing happened to my grandfather as well -- late 70s, was put under to have a small bladder tumor removed, came out of the anesthesia delirious, and was in a nursing home for the rest of his life. Scary, and terrible.
- elfyhat 11y ago
  Wow, thanks for that link about anesthesia! I never thought to look into anesthesia being the culprit of what I'm about to relate.. 5 years ago I underwent major surgery after an incident. I remember one day being fine and normal and then my next memories are of me slowly becoming self-aware, conscious & lucid again in a hospital bed over the course of somewhere between 15-30 days (I'm not sure I can pin-point a specific time I became fully aware of where I was and what had happened). The period of time in between my surgery and when I was fully awake was without a doubt the most terrifying experience of my life. Mentally, I was in a nightmare state for what felt like a large extent of the time that I was 'out of it.' I still have memories and images in my mind today of the dreams I experienced falling in and out of consciousness while slowly 'waking' up over a month.

ceejayoz 11y ago

I'd be cautious about relying on anecdotal data here. This may be a bit like the "my kid got autism after vaccines" confirmation bias issue - as people get older, they're more likely to need surgical interventions.

mc32 11y ago

These cases involved brain tissues. So unless you're having brain surgery done, there are other more mundane complications to worry about.

Gibbon1 11y ago
Course there are prion diseases which can be spread by ingesting infected nervous system tissue. Kuru, Mad cow disease and scrapie come to mind.

SixSigma 11y ago

The long term effects of surgery are just coming to light. While, obviously, it is better to have an operation than die, it seems that you don't recover as quickly as your meat heals. Anecdotal I know but I believe it took me 10 years to get over my bowel resection. And then there's the anesthesia : http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hidden-dangers-of-going-under/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hidden-dangers-of-...

nommm-nommm 11y ago
The anesthesia is scary - my grandpa-in-law was never the same after he had surgery. He went in totally lucid and came out of surgury totally out of it with dementia-like symptoms. It was permanent and it made him have to go into a home. He didn't even know who I was anymore. The surgery itself was routine and very uneventful but the difference in mental function pre and post op were as dramatic as night and day - and permanent. I mentioned it to my doctor in casual conversation and she says she has seen that happen before when older people have surgery, especially those in not so great health. The article says "researchers hit on two other factors that increased the chances a patient would become dramatically confused after an operation: being older than about 70." He was about 80.
- scott_s 11y ago
  I wonder if he had a stroke while under anesthesia - but maybe they would have seen that?
- mgpc 11y ago
  The same thing happened to my grandmother. She went in for a minor hernia operation, and came out a different person. She never recovered. It was very dramatic and very sad.
- jowiar 11y ago
  Same thing happened to my grandfather as well -- late 70s, was put under to have a small bladder tumor removed, came out of the anesthesia delirious, and was in a nursing home for the rest of his life. Scary, and terrible.
elfyhat 11y ago
Wow, thanks for that link about anesthesia! I never thought to look into anesthesia being the culprit of what I'm about to relate.. 5 years ago I underwent major surgery after an incident. I remember one day being fine and normal and then my next memories are of me slowly becoming self-aware, conscious & lucid again in a hospital bed over the course of somewhere between 15-30 days (I'm not sure I can pin-point a specific time I became fully aware of where I was and what had happened). The period of time in between my surgery and when I was fully awake was without a doubt the most terrifying experience of my life. Mentally, I was in a nightmare state for what felt like a large extent of the time that I was 'out of it.' I still have memories and images in my mind today of the dreams I experienced falling in and out of consciousness while slowly 'waking' up over a month.