High cholesterol or neurological symptoms? Posted: 02-07-07 09:38am
My father's had a problem with feeling
"muzzy" (wooly-headed), for quite a while
- starting last year, and becoming worse.
Later, around September, suddenly having a
drink of alcohol caused a "bad head", when
it was fine before. My father hasn't been
able to drink alcohol since without the
same problem appearing in the morning.
Just before Christmas, things seemed to
get worse - he now gets frustrated at
simple tasks, like cooking a sunday
dinner, or finding the passwords for web
sites. Also recently, he has been having
migraines, which he never had before. He
seems to walk a little unsteadily,
"walking like an old man". Mainly it's the
wooly-headedness. It seems to be worse in
the morning and evening.
He's been visiting his doctor for a couple
of weeks now, having the blood tests
described above. Can this really be
cholesterol, as the doctor says? I never
heard of any symptoms of cholesterol
before like this! Thanks!
According to your father’s symptoms
(feeling woolly, becoming more sensitive
to alcohol, unable to perform some
previously normal activities, headache,
unsteady walk…), he could be
experiencing some type of neurological
disorder such as dementia or Parkinson’s
syndrome. High cholesterol can’t cause
these symptoms directly, but can
indirectly affect the body by damaging the
arteries (atherosclerosis) in the brain.
Atherosclerosis of the brain arteries can
then cause cerebrovascular dementia, or
Parkinson’s syndrome. You can seek help
from a neurologist for a neurological
examination.
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