(NaturalHealth365)  You beat the odds.  You survived a massive heart attack when your heart literally stopped doing its job.  The doctors called you lucky.  Your family threw a celebration.  You thought the worst was behind you.

Then you tried to go back to your normal life and realized something was wrong.

You can’t remember where you put your keys.  Simple conversations leave you confused.  Tasks you’ve done a thousand times suddenly feel impossible.  Your brain feels like it’s wrapped in thick fog that never lifts.

Welcome to the nightmare that doctors don’t warn you about – and a shocking new study reveals it’s happening to almost everyone who survives cardiogenic shock.

Two-thirds of survivors get their brains scrambled

Researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center just released a bombshell report that should wake up every person dealing with heart disease.

They tracked 141 people who survived cardiogenic shock – a life-threatening condition where your heart literally can’t pump enough blood to keep your organs alive – and discovered that 65% developed new brain damage by the time they left the hospital.  Even worse, 53% were still mentally impaired three months later.

Dr. James de Lemos, who led this research, didn’t mince words: “Nearly two-thirds of cardiogenic shock survivors experienced cognitive impairment within three months of hospital discharge, underscoring a critical but overlooked aspect of recovery.”

Think about those numbers for a second.  If you survive one of the most catastrophic heart events possible, you’ve got better than a coin flip’s chance of walking out of that hospital with a damaged brain.  And nobody, not your cardiologist, not your nurses, not your discharge team, is going to warn you about it.

What cardiogenic shock does to you

Here’s what happens when your heart goes into cardiogenic shock: it basically gives up.  Whether from a massive heart attack, severe heart failure, or surgical complications, your heart just stops pumping enough blood to keep you alive.

About 100,000 Americans go through this hell every year.  Until recently, most people died.  Period.  However, medical technology has advanced to the point where up to 70% of patients now survive the initial event.

The problem?  While doctors are patting themselves on the back for keeping you breathing, your brain is slowly starving to death.

Your brain needs about 20% of all the blood in your body to function properly.  When your heart can’t pump enough blood, your brain cells start dying from oxygen starvation.  Even if the medical team manages to get your heart working again, the damage to your brain tissue might already be permanent.

The medical cover-up that’s destroying lives

The medical establishment has known for years that heart problems cause brain damage, but they have not paid much attention to what kind of life they’re sending people back to.

Dr. Eric Hall, who led the study, admits: “We found that cardiogenic shock is associated with cognitive impairment, which is an under-recognized consequence strongly linked to patients’ overall quality of life.”

“Under-recognized” is medical speak for “we’ve been ignoring this massive problem for decades.”

So imagine yourself lying in that hospital bed, grateful to be alive, while doctors explain your discharge instructions.  Nobody mentions that there’s a two-thirds chance you won’t be able to think straight for months – maybe years.  Nobody suggests cognitive testing.  Nobody connects you with brain specialists who might be able to help.

You get sent home to discover your mental decline on your own, wondering if you’re going crazy.

How to protect yourself before crisis strikes

The harsh truth is that once your heart goes into cardiogenic shock, the brain damage is probably already happening.  Your best defense is to ensure your heart never reaches that point.

Here’s how to keep your heart so strong it never fails catastrophically:

Ditch the foods that are literally poisoning your cardiovascular system.  Processed junk, sugar-loaded garbage, and those toxic seed oils they put in everything are creating chronic inflammation that’s slowly destroying your heart and blood vessels.

Feed your heart the nutrients it actually needs to stay strong.  CoQ10, magnesium, omega-3s, and hawthorn berry are beneficial for your cardiovascular system.

Stop treating symptoms and start fixing root causes.  High blood pressure, insulin resistance, and chronic stress are all warning signs that your heart is headed for trouble.  Most doctors just want to throw pills at these problems instead of actually solving them.

Get real testing that can catch problems before they kill you.  Standard heart tests often miss early problems that advanced testing can identify years in advance.  For example, talk to a holistic doctor about C-reactive protein (CRP) and fibrinogen, two tests that measure levels of inflammation in the body.

Improve your body’s detoxification systems.  Environmental toxins, heavy metals, and chronic infections are all attacking your cardiovascular system.  Your liver, kidneys, and lymphatic system need support to protect your heart from this toxic assault.

Your heart and brain are connected, whether doctors admit it or not

What happens to your heart directly affects your brain.  When your cardiovascular system breaks down, your brain pays the price.  The medical system might want to treat these as separate issues, but your body knows better.

Thousands of people are walking around right now thinking they’re “heart attack survivors” when they’re actually brain damage victims who don’t even know what happened to them.

If you are ready to give your heart the protection it needs, consider Jonathan Landsman’s Cardiovascular Docu-Class, featuring 22 leading heart health experts who understand the real connection between heart and brain health.  These aren’t the same doctors who ignore cognitive damage – these are experts who know how to prevent heart disease before it destroys your life and your mind.  Get lifetime access to strategies that could save both your heart and your ability to think clearly.

Sources for this article include:

Medicalxpress.com
JACC.org