Dear Don,

Your message of testimonial has come at just exactly the right time.

I've published this response to your letter on this page. Your incoming message is HERE and the original article about your testimonial is HERE. This page is also the link page from my Newsletter, the Wednesday Letter dated January 10, 2007. Click here for a list of background articles and pages.

Starting with January 16, 2007, further publications by Karl Loren on the subject of strokes will be on a different web site: www.karllorenpremium.com. The specific start page for stroke information and on the access to this premium web content on that web site is HERE.

I've decided to write a very major item and publish it FIRST on your page in acknowledgment of your personal success. The initial article is here, but there will be much more published on this subject at www.karllorenpremium.com

Your success with your heart is somewhat related to my formula, but probably more to your personal attitude.

Here is the story I share with you before publishing it for anyone else::

Some time during the Holidays I had a stroke probably Christmas Day.

Just as when my mother died of a "heart problem" called an "Aneurysm." I had no idea what that was, but I learned and also learned how to prevent that problem easily. I have been driven to understand this thing called "stroke" very quickly.

An aneurysm is the dilation, bulging, or ballooning out of part of the wall of a vein or artery .  Aneurysms can occur at any age, although they are more common in adults than in children and are slightly more common in women than in men. The result is internal bleeding -- the person bleeds to death unless found in time. My mother lay for some six hours bleeding before someone called for her -I spent some hours with her before she died and was too much in shock to learn what had happened. When she died and I asked the doctor , "what causes heart disease," I got the answer (in 1981 "nobody knows").

At the time I accepted that but soon I was looking for books that explained it all. That was my entrance into the arcane world of false data and barbaric remedies for the common causes of death in our society -- You could say that I "stumbled into the career that has continued -- up to even now. I found that it was relatively easy for me to learn the truth about heart disease, but it was not easy to change the fixed ideas of the medical establishment. Thus, for these 30 years I have been researching and publishing truth in a field full of lies.

When I had "my stroke" in late December 2006 one of my first questions was, "what is a stroke, " or "how do you define a stroke?" That is not a hard question to answer.

Like with much of my research and writing, I had the understanding, including the method of prevention for any future stroke -- had those within hours of the event, but also like much of my research and writing, I can see very clearly into the future with certainty without seeing the details of how to get there.

I knew, for instance what substance I should start taking, immediately, to avoid another stroke and to avoid the various drugs which the MD's put you on when you have a stroke. I had actually written about this substance some six years ago, but felt it was too expensive for me to buy for myself to use. That was a mistake, but I've now learned that lesson and am taking it -- soon will be offering it for sale on my web.

I did NOT know that there is a standard medical treatment for strokes (usually those which are very severe) when the person can be treated in three hours or less of the stroke. Click here for data on that.

I also knew the METHOD by which I expected to research the remainder of the subject. Click here.

I also knew, right away that there would be a "rehab program" and that exercise would be an important part of that rehab. My first NEW exercise activity is HERE.

I also knew, immediately, that any competent MD and also me, would want an MRI exam. Click here for images of me at the MRI center. For simple information about what the MRI is for, click here.

I knew what my symptoms had been and will be writing about those below, but it took me some time to grapple with the special terminology the doctors use before I could publish. I actually started publishing these pages within a few days of the stroke.

I found there was something called a "transient ischemic attack" or a TIA prominently used in medical circles. "Transient" means "fleeting" or "of short duration." "Ischemic" means "related to the heart." and "attack" is usually used as in the term "heart attack" there is some activity which might have caused damage to the heart.

In medicine, ischimia (Greek ισχαιμία, isch- is restriction, hema or haema is blood) is a restriction in blood supply, generally due to factors in the blood vessels, with resultant damage or dysfunction of tissue. It may also be spelled ischaemia or ischæmia.

A "heart attack" is actual damage to the heart muscle itself, typically because of a shortage of blood or oxygen to that muscle. A quick understanding comes from: "A Heart attack is an attack on the heart muscle. A Stroke is an attack on the brain."

Finally I found that a "stroke" was the same as a TIA but it "lasted longer. It may seem an arbitrary, and it is, but it simplifies the terms if not the cause.

My symptoms lasted longer than 24 hours so they qualify as a "stroke." The most definitive proof of a stroke is the MRI which will reveal dead brain tissue -- dead because some amount of brain tissue was deprived of oxygen and blood for a short time (a "few minutes") by the stroke.

I did not know the full technical definition of "stroke" until a few minutes before writing these words:

Whether a person has a "stroke" or a "TIA" is a matter of more than 24 hours or less than 24 hours of symptoms. My symptoms lasted more than 24 hours and continued, in reduced effect, many days after two different "events."

During the several holiday days I decided to spend some time on a specific writing task. I knew what I wanted to write and knew that I would satisfy myself with my work. I had a completely clear mind on what I would write.

Symptoms

I started writing I did as I usually do. I use "touch typing and virtually never look at the keyboard. When I practice a bit I can reach 100 words per minute in a typing test. I usually DO look at the screen when I type -- as I can then see mistakes, immediately back space and correct. My first observation was that the words which I had in my mind and which I thought I was typing and putting on the screen WERE NOT THERE. I was looking at the screen, confident that my fingers were putting the correct letters on the screen, but those letters and words were not appearing on the screen. At first I just thought the words MUST be there and kept on typing, but when I concentrated, even "stared" at the screen, I did not see the words I had just typed!

Typical toolbar

Notice the items NOT on the above bar:

If you were looking fora familiar part of that bar you could look at the second example and be confused because that familiar part was missing.

About the same time I observed that there were items missing from the screen that should have been there. Any person who uses a computer much becomes very familiar with the "landscape." There is a "tool bar" or a "task bar" or "menu items" that are ALWAYS at the top of the screen (or bottom). I moved my eyes from the words I was trying to find to some familiar piece of this landscape and it was not there. The space where it should have been was there -- but that space was empty. Some time during this period I had occasion to purchase something on the net -- I came to the form for my name and address, etc. There were certain fields which you ALWAYS find on such form and I found some of those fields were just missing.

This was clearly some problem in SEEING. I normally don't use glasses, but when I'm tired or the light is not bright I improve my vision by "staring." I open my eyes very wide and "hold" them open with an unnatural intensity of eye muscle strain. When I do that I can see things very clearly which might have otherwise been a bit fuzzy. This time, however, straining my eye muscles didn't help. The words I had just typed were not to be found or the menu item was not in its proper place.

I started to figure all sort of odd possible explanations. I decided that my keyboard needed changing, or that my chair was too low! I turned on more lights. I decided that it was too late in the day, or that I was tired.

The next day, however, when I felt physically fine and normal I found that these same words were still missing!

Gradually I began to worry that there had been some relatively permanent change in my eyesight.

There was another worrying action, or lack of action, that took place.

I would be ready to type a word, such as "ate" and knew without any thought necessary that this meant my left hand should be resting on the home keys with my little finger, left hand, on the "a." I knew that it was simply a matter of moving that little finger, striking the letter "a" and continuing for the other letters.

I found that the little finger on my left hand would not move. I sat there and looked at my hand. It was resting normally on the keyboard. There was no pain -- no sensation of something wrong -- no paralysis I could sense. I could see the little finger on the left hand just resting in the proper position, but when I "decided" to move that finger -- nothing happened. This was very different from typing a word and not finding the word on the screen, or seeing letters that didn't make sense (another problem I discovered I was having was that I would "type" and move my fingers but they didn't hit the proper keys. It appeared that my hand wasn't in the proper position so that if I tried to push the forefinger DOWN from the home position I did NOT hit the "F" key but the one above it or below it.

I soon realized that my hand was out of position for starting the motions. I might have given the proper mental commands to individual fingers but when the stretched or struck a key they didn't get the key I intended. The result of this was gibberish on the screen. A series of letters that bore no resemblance to the words I had clearly in mind.

One time when I sat there looking at my left hand and realized I couldn't command it to type the letter "A" I simply took my right hand (which seemed to have no problems or different problems, picked up the little finger on my left hand with my right hand and pushed it down on the letter "A."

Or, I would just bypass that errant digit and strike the "A" with a finger on my right hand.

This went on for several days. I didn't think my driving ability had been changed, but another day, same period, I took my wife to the hair dresser and then drove a friend to her appointment. When my friend was done I was to take her to the hair dressers to meet up with my wife. I got lost on the streets of the city I had lived in for 30 years. During my search for the correct street (I couldn't remember the name) I was in a lane along side of other cars. My friend, sitting in the passenger seat called out, " Get in your lane!" I THEN saw that I was headed for a side swipe of the next car. I had no trouble swerving back into my lane but I came close enough to that other car that the mirror on my car clipped some part of his car -- my mirror wouldn't work any more -- I have to take it to the car dealer and get it repaired.

I started doing "typing exercises" to get my fingers more trained on these finger movements. I found on an irregular basis, that my left hand would be semi-paralyzed. I could move all the fingers, but I didn't seem to have much control over the exact movement. So I would try to type a word and find that no matter how much I concentrated on getting the motion correct, I would hit the wrong key. I could see it instantly on the screen, and backspace to correct, but I would often then hit the same wrong keys. I have to conclude that I need lots more of the typing exercise program.

As these events mounted up I started researching about "strokes" and began to see the connections between my symptoms and the usual symptoms of stroke or "TIA."

Many very different types of thoughts flew threw my head like a bird flying high above, seeing so much from the distance:

• What about this "Karl Loren" who 'preaches' he has the solution to heart disease??? Well, looks like he didn't know this stuff after all!!
• or by his wife:
• "Don't you dare die and leave me with everything to do by myself!"
• I "know" that as soon as see the MD she will want to rush me to the hospital -- how will I escape the drugs and surgery they will be insisting on? I wonder if they can force treatment on me? [Karl Note: When she read this page she assured me that this would not happen with her.]
• and after just a few days: "I know I've found the solution to my treatment how can I research it and present it to my public?"
  

 

The "official word about TIA'S IS here:

Transient Ischemic Attacks: Part I. Diagnosis and Evaluation

NINA J. SOLENSKI, M.D., University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, Virginia

Transient ischemic attack is no longer considered a benign event but, rather, a critical harbinger of impending stroke. Failure to quickly recognize and evaluate this warning sign could mean missing an opportunity to prevent permanent disability or death. The 90-day risk of stroke after a transient ischemic attack has been estimated to be approximately 10 percent, with one half of strokes occurring within the first two days of the attack. The 90-day stroke risk is even higher when a transient ischemic attack results from internal carotid artery stenosis. Most patients reporting symptoms of transient ischemic attack should be sent to an emergency department. Patients who arrive at the emergency department within 180 minutes of symptom onset should undergo an expedited history and physical examination, as well as selected laboratory tests, to determine if they are candidates for thrombolytic therapy. Initial testing should include complete blood count with platelet count, prothrombin time, International Normalized Ratio, partial thromboplastin time, and electrolyte and glucose levels. Computed tomographic scanning of the head should be performed immediately to ensure that there is no evidence of brain hemorrhage or mass. A transient ischemic attack can be misdiagnosed as migraine, seizure, peripheral neuropathy, or anxiety. (Am Fam Physician 2004;69:1665-74,1679-80. Copyright© 2004 American Academy of Family Physicians.)

Based on an increased understanding of brain ischemia and the introduction of new treatment options, a working group has proposed redefining transient ischemic attack (TIA) as "a brief episode of neurological dysfunction caused by focal brain or retinal ischemia, with clinical symptoms typically lasting less than one hour, and without evidence of acute infarction."1(p1715) This definition underscores the urgency of recognizing TIA as an important warning of impending stroke and facilitating rapid evaluation and treatment of TIA to prevent permanent brain ischemia.

[Karl Note: Realize that THIS new definition would have the effect of INCREASING the number of serious "mini-strokes reported by the media by a factor of TWENTY TIMES! It is often true that the doom and gloom of some disease is based on a "new" definition that "lowers" the bar -- allows more "events" to be classified and thus makes is abundantly clear how terrible the situation is.]

Epidemiology

An estimated 200,000 to 500,000 TIAs occur annually in the United States.2 One study2 found that 25 percent of patients who presented to an emergency department with TIA had adverse events within 90 days; 10 percent of the events were strokes, and the vast majority of the strokes were fatal or disabling.3 More than 50 percent of all adverse events occurred within the first four days after the TIA. Notably, of the patients with TIA who returned to the emergency department with stroke (10.5 percent), approximately one half had the stroke within the first 48 hours after the initial TIA. In
2.6 percent of patients with TIA, hospitalization was required for cardiac events, including congestive heart failure, unstable angina, cardiac arrest, and ventricular arrhythmia.

Clinical Presentation

The more common clinical presentations of TIA are described in Table 1. In general, a TIA presents as a syndrome rather than any one sign or symptom.

TABLE 1 Common Clinical Presentations of TIA Affected area Signs and symptoms Implications Cranial nerves Visual loss in one or both eyes Bilateral loss may indicate more ominous onset of brainstem ischemia.   Double vision If double vision is subtle, the patient may describe it as "blurry" vision.   Vestibular dysfunction True vertigo is likely to be described as a spinning sensation rather than nonspecific lightheadedness.   Difficulty swallowing Trouble swallowing may indicate brainstem involvement; if the swallowing problem is severe, there may be an increased risk of aspiration. Motor function Unilateral or bilateral weakness affecting the face, arm, or leg Bilateral signs may indicate more ominous onset of brainstem ischemia. Sensory function Unilateral or bilateral: either decreased sensation (numbness) or increased sensation (tingling, pain) in the face, arm, leg, or trunk Sensory function If sensory dysfunction occurs without other signs or symptoms, the prognosis may be more benign, but recurrence is high. Speech and language Slurring of words or reduced verbal output; language difficulty pronouncing, comprehending, or "finding" words If speech is severely slurred or facial drooling is excessive, there is an increased risk of aspiration. Writing and reading also may be impaired. Coordination Clumsy arms, legs, or trunk; loss of balance or falling (particularly to one side) with standing or walking In coordination of limbs, trunk, or gait may indicate cerebellar or brainstem ischemia. Psychiatric or cognitive function Apathy or inappropriate behavior These symptoms can indicate frontal lobe involvement and frequently are misinterpreted as poor volitional cooperation.   Excessive somnolence This symptom may indicate bilateral hemispheric or brainstem involvement.   Agitation or psychosis Rarely, these symptoms may indicate brainstem ischemia, particularly if they occur in association with cranial nerve or motor dysfunction.   Confusion or memory changes These rarely are isolated symptoms; more frequently, they are associated with language, motor, sensory, or visual changes.   Inattention to surrounding environment, particularly to one side; if severe, patient may deny deficit or even his or her own body parts. Depending on the severity of neglect, the physician may need to lift the patient's arm to check for strength, rather than rely on the patient to perform this task.

By the time I had read the above I knew I couldn't tell my wife about this, yet I knew that I could not fail to tell my friends and customers -- the thousands of people who have come to count on me for truth and willingness to tell it.

I had had many of these symptoms, and the prediction of another TIA within a few days or even 90 days was intriguing since I now realized that I had had a real TIA just a few weeks earlier during my vacation in Hawaii! I'll describe the Hawaii event separately, but when I saw that there had been a real TIA a few weeks earlier and now a real stroke, I began to look at the term "cascading stroke" as a series of strokes coming one soon after another -- and all for failure to follow the standard protocol of "emergency hospital visit and swallowing the terrible drugs that they would claim would "handle" the problem.

Not so long ago, it was common to attribute neuronal damage that occurred during a stroke to a lack of oxygen and glucose. However, researchers now believe a toxic cascade of glutamate spreads chaos to other parts of the brain, resulting in the devastating and sometimes irreversible effects of stroke and a transient ischemic attack (TIA). When a blood vessel becomes blocked in the brain by an emboli or thrombi, oxygen and nutrition are not allowed to get to neurons downstream of the blockage. Neurons starved of oxygen and glucose release excessive amounts of glutamate from their synaptic bulbs. The glutamate then binds to NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors and triggers excessive influx of sodium and calcium ions, along with water, into the postsynaptic neurons. The neurons swell and neuronal toxicity and apoptotic death are initiated (9). Before glutamate-poisoned neurons die they too release excessive amounts of glutamate and the process of poisoning continues in a cascade-like fashion. Calcium released en bloc triggers release of calmodulin, which then stimulates nitric oxide synthase, an enzyme needed for the synthesis of nitric oxide. This acts as a retrograde messenger that travels back to the presynaptic neuron where it activates guanylyl cyclase, initiating greater calcium and sodium influx (10). Some scientists believe that, along with glutamate, excessive release of NO contributes to neuronal damage. Most agree, however, that glutamate plays the central and starring role in ischemia-induced brain damage. (source)

It begins to look like 'ole Karl Loren has gotten himself into a pickle he hadn't anticipated!! Strokes often cause a terrible "electrical" confusion such as a "short circuit" in the brain.

Now it is time to tell you MORE of the REAL problem with having a stroke.

As you have read the above technical information about strokes -- all from medical sources, you can easily see how those who love you would worry -- even more pertinent, those who love you the most are probably the ones who worry the most. I've found that those who worry a lot about the possible death of disability of a loved one often turn toward standard treatments as being best, even if, before this, they had been staunch advocates of "alternative remedies."

So, those who love you will feel that they MUST offer you advice -- usually of the negative type: "Make sure you follow the doctor's advice." "I don't know whether it is safe to do those exercises -- you should ask your doctor first." These are almost always very loving messages -- from someone YOU love too! Yet, they know that they don't understand this "thing" called a "stroke" and they feel strongly that YOU, too, are not the expert on this "thing." So, you should follow the doctor's orders.

If you have decided that there is another type of treatment which is better, these who love you know that you don't know enough to make such a decision on your own. They want you to "check it out," or "I don't think you should do that without asking your doctor." The closer these people are to you, the more they love you, the harder it is to listen to their "advice" if you are inclined to travel some path OTHER than the standard medical path.

Or, they love you much but know with great certainty that they have THE solution -- just take their green powder or whatever.

Your very best friends are often your biggest problem. They love you SO much and are SO worried that their fear translates into a very strong feeling of "doing the "right" thing -- which is almost always the standard medical procedure. Logic is not effective on persuading these people about the wisdom of your own decisions.

There is a remedy for strokes and I have it in hand. I will be writing about it here, but I write FIRST the stuff which is most important for you to know -- and this just above is of that nature. You may believe me, Karl Loren, but there are dozens of others much closer and personal to you -- they STRONGLY advise you to "at least go see a "regular doctor." I've started a dairy of my medications, tests and results -- I have exact notes on this.

How is it that I, Karl Loren can be so confident he has the truth of something in the fact of contrary data from "the medical establishment??"

This page was started as a response to a wonderful letter of testimony sent me by Don Rankin. Don is a full-blooded Shawnee Indian. It is well worth jumping to his full story to learn more about him -- in some fascinating ways I share a similar spiritual heritage.

Don wrote to me about his Indian heritage and including the following:

When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home."

When I cured my wife of cancer an important part of the healing process was her willingness to die. I covered that extensively, including how she and I would spend hours of quiet togetherness, even planning her funeral. (here) At one point in her journey she said:

Bonnie finally said it, that fateful night.  "I would rather die than go back on the 5FU!"

It was just two days later, at the end of the link above, that the radiologist covered up the terrible damage he was doing to her with the false diagnosis that she probably had a serious heart problem:

He actually called the next day, told us, "Bonnie, I'm concerned that there may be something wrong with the heart -- I want you to get an ECG."  Well, I said, "she had one just a few weeks ago!"

He said, "There could be something new -- she should probably go to the emergency ward to get one, urgently."

Take if from me, a keen observer of the medical scene, the doctor does NOT EVER want you to die in his office.  Die somewhere else, but don't die in any place that could be HIS responsibility -- or traced in any way to HIS treatments."

I share Don Rankin's Indian philosophy about death. Neither my wife nor I have any personal fear of death, but it is also true that I have projects of important to my mission in life -- laid out for years to come. So, I am not looking to leave this life just yet.

However, that basic attitude toward death lies at the core of the reason I had a stroke!

After the stroke I had spiritual counseling to look for the spiritual cause of the stroke. I found it. I do not ask you to believe or accept it, but I would be less than complete with my account should I not include it:

I Karl Loren DECIDED to have a stroke for the reason that I could then study the stroke and the symptoms from within the situation.

I have done this other times -- not usually publicized, but very real to me!

I am a very keen student of the traditional supposed causes of stroke, and treatments. I already know that I disagree with much of that data and I will be writing with scientific precision of my findings. My research is from a level of choice that few people ever recognize in themselves, even if they choose as I have chosen.

I have already found the treatment which would have prevented the stroke in the first place, but it is often true that without the stroke I would not be a position to heal myself and others. So, let's get on with it.

The solution will come along in due course -- it is well planned, but not imminent.

First things first? I now need to confront THURSDAY, January 4th when I meet with a long-standing family physician who is, nonetheless probably oriented toward standard treatments. I need to arrange things so that I can get all the tests that establish a "benchmark" of where I am starting from in terms of the condition of my blood system. What are the tests that I am likely to be asked to take?

Start with the word "platelet."

Platelets or thrombocytes are the cell fragments circulating in the blood that are involved in the cellular mechanisms of primary hemostasis leading to the formation of blood clots. Dysfunction or low levels of platelets predisposes to bleeding, while high levels, although usually asymptomatic, may increase the risk of thrombosis. (Source)The image on the left, below has been purchased for use by Karl Loren. In that image the objects in red are normal red blood cells -- the white objects are the platelets.

The objects in the images a ARE the platelets. You could also call them "sticky blood" The images are a good ones because they shows how these platelets would very likely "stick together" if they happened to move next to one another in the blood stream. Click here for more data about platelets.

IF these sticky blood "fragments" also ran into a MESH or NET like the special "medical bandage" shown in the image on the left the platelets would get caught in the mesh and the mesh (which started off with holes through the mesh would become a solid clot of blood. This would be great to heal a wound and stop blood from gushing out of the body, but if this mesh were internal and the solid clot of blood stopped ANY blood from moving through that artery or vein, you would be talking about a possible stroke. If that artery and that blockage were inside the brain, the sudden blockage to the brain tissues could cause death from the stroke.

When someone has difficulty with his "wounds" healing he can use this special medical bandage. Click here for data about them. They are nothing more than a bandage with a built-in substance that creates the mesh, or net, which catches the platelets and stops the wound from bleeding.

This "mesh" is called "fibrin" and you can see that it is t vital part of life -- it helps heal wounds. The wound on the left is a simple and common one -- a small cut on the wrist. Without platelets even this small cut could easily cause you to bleed to death if platelets were not doing their job.

If you have TOO much of the sticky blood and TOO many of those pieces of mesh, you are set up for having a stroke.

Various cells in the body can be "fragmented" because of damage to the body including, for instance a blow or burn or even damage by surgeons during surgery.

It is possible to measure the NUMBER of platelets in a person's blood and also to measure the "stickiness of those platelets (since platelets, by their form and construction are inherently likely to stick to other platelets and to other things). In most people there are 20 regular red blood cells for each platelet. When the ratio of platelets increases you have a greater tendency to clot. click here for more technical description of "blood."

Platelets can be "more sticky" or "less sticky." (Click here for study showing purple Grape Juice reduces the "stickiness of platelets" and therefore presumably also reduces the tendency to clot.

My stroke apparently was in the right side of my brain -- because the right side of the brain is the source of messages to the left side of the body. If you cannot move the little finger on your left hand then most probably it is the right side of your brain where a clot of blood stuck in a mesh of fibrin has cut off the oxygen supply to tissues in the brain that don't live long at all without oxygen.

One test I would like to have is a measurement of the platelets in my blood are more or less "sticky" than some "normal." It would also be good to know if there is an excessive supply of the components of the mesh (fibrin) that would catch the sticky platelets and create a clot.

 

Click here for a review of stroke treatment and probable honest information about strokes.

Click here for another.

Click here for a new product that Karl now uses to prevent future strokes and will soon have available for sale.

New material and how to access it, after January 16, 2007, is published on a different web site -- start HERE.

 

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