Speakeasy forum: Hillary Clinton Near Death?

Not that uncommon when older adults bang their heads. There's a thinning of some protective layer that happens with age making subdural hematoma/cerebral hemorrhage a threat. The condition may present by having headaches due to pressure within the skull. Pressure is relieved by drilling a hold in it. Older people, though Hillary isn't feeble of body, suffer more falls and worse effects from them.

.....she's in one of the best hospitals in the country. I live near it. Bit of trivia -- John Lennon's son Sean was born there in 1975.

As soon as a person is born...they are "closer/nearer to death".

And It's not a subdural Steven, it is an extra-dural haematoma. The brain is covered by a triple layered membrane comprising the Dura Mater, the Arachnoid and the Pia Mater. Bleeding between the skull and the Dura Mater is called an extra-dural haematoma (hematoma) and is far less serious than a subdural or sub arachnoid haemorrhage or haematoma, and those are miles from an intra cerebral bleed. Blood is very harmful to brain tissue which is why aneurysms and bleeds are so harmful. It's also why there are three membranes to protect the brain.

Sec. State Clinton has had DVT (that's Deep Vein Thrombosis) behind one of her knees before. DVT's are the reason they recommend walking a bit on long airplane flights, because the clot may form in the immobile lower limbs and break loose (sort of like a tadpole's tail) and be sent to other organs of the body, the worst of which are of course the brain, resulting in a stroke, or a heart attack.

Ms Clinton has had no neurological symptoms at all, and the clot is not in a place likely to cause trouble. It is in vein, which are the vessels headed back from the intra-cranial space to the heart, not in an artery which are the vessels heading away from the heart.. The clot was picked up on an MRI done routinely following her fainting spell a couple of weeks ago.

She is on standard prophylactic treatment for blood clots, which means anti-clotting meds and careful measurement of her Pro-thrombin times probably every 4 hours or 8 by now. It may take a couple of months out of hospital to get her titrated properly (that is to get the drug levels adjusted to a point where she retains good clotting times, but has dissolved the clot).

So stop celebrating James, as you so clearly are hoping to do. People get through extra-dural haematomas without treatment.

Rob

While having a good education in health and healthcare I am not a doctor and don't pretend to be. All of this is my interpretation of the news reports primarily from CNN and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, their Medical Correspondent.

and I'm late? I still intend to apologize for my tone, because I didn't know this was a close to home for you as it was when I typed up my response. I should have read further before putting my foot in my mouth.

As to having no connection. I was watching TV and following the updates which you might have noticed had you read the whole of my response.

Rob

based on what I knew. It was known fairly early, in the absence of any mention of abnormal neurological symptoms that it was extra-dural rather than sub-dural, but I hadn't heard anyone use either term at the time of posting. I was just doing a standard EMT work-up from the information supplied. She wouldn't have been a Code 4 transport, and barely qualifies as a Code 3. Code 4 is lights, siren, and hell for leather. Code 3 is quick transport obeying the traffic laws. Code 2 is a leisurely trip with a thorough history being taken.

Posting prematurely on minimal information, particularly given the press' difficulty with medical information and communicating it clearly and a desire to make everything into a disaster, isn't helpful.

What we knew first. That she was in hospital, that she had been diagnosed with a clot, that she had no neurological symptoms. All of that says Extra-dural. There would have been greater confusion and greater urgency if she had shown some neurological symptoms, but information would have been less clear.

First thing to look for, Unequal pupil size and reactivity otherwise referred to as a "blown pupil". That can be the only symptom, but does indicate something intra-cranial and likely sub-dural. Second, mild or more serious weakness on one side or another. Third, slurring of speech, difficulty finding words for things, or confusion. Fourth, decreased level of consciousness. In the absence of those 4, or any hint of those 4, I said what I said.

I was not repeating what I had heard on the TV except insofar as the clot was discovered on MRI. As I understood it during the reporting, it was from an MRI done earlier that week, not as a result of an MRI done following her admission to hospital. As I understood it, the admission to hospital came after the MRI had been checked and reported.

Rob

to the circulatory system in which case the normal breakdown during the coagulation cascade wouldn't take place...or in the same manner. She'd not be in danger of a stroke but could have other symptoms. Often it would be fluid build up and pressure on the brain as there's no extra room in skull to accommodate it....In most people anyway.

The problem was a "concussion". That's what set up my mother's eventual blood clot in brain stem which killed her. She was OK for a couple months afterward except for a "tight feeling" at the back of her head, probably "referred" in nature. The whiplash damage from the fall set up the clot which happened while she was already hospitalized for a stomach condition and had a small atrial fibrillation while there. TSA was administered but after showing initial effectiveness, quit working and they couldn't give more without causing possible hemorrhaging elsewhere, she was already on blood thinners. There's a 3 hour timeframe following a brain clot to open up the vessel again or what part of brain it feeds becomes too damaged, the dying cells then release a toxin that kills other good surrounding cells. It can be a cascading effect. Six days later Mom was dead.

One's head is hit, they take some rest for it, any fibrillation cause a clot, even small one, it breaks loose, travels and may end up in the brain, often in the stem area, causing instant or locked in syndrome, both followed by death or veggie state.

gives rise to blood clots, it also gives rise to fainting. The reason they treat Atrial fibrillation as agressively as they do is to avoid the possible blood clots which may arise.

As noted, blood within the meningeal membranes, which comes in contact with brain tissue causes immediate breakdown of the tissue, and releases enzymes and by products which are very bad for the brain. There are interventions before the bleed occurs, but there are really no completely successful treatments after the bleed starts within a closed skull. Intracranial pressure rises partly due to the volume of non-circulating blood building up, and partly from the breakdown of brain tissue.

The brain stem is a conical collection of nerves leading into the first cervical (neck) vertebra, and a clot or a bleed there is invariably fatal since it interferes with all the most vital primary brain controls for organs and homeostasis (the ability of the body and brain to regulate temperature and blood pressure).

I'm sorry this happened to your Mum, James. If it is any help it is spoken of as a quick death in the neurological and neuro-surgical community.

Rob

Having seen it in action with people I care for, I'd not wish it on anyone.

more dangerous than the press has reported, or maybe realized yet. I think Hillary is near my mother's death age of 68.

the clot was just in her head. We once used that to mean psychosomatic.

injury which provoked the blood clot. The clot would not have caused her to faint, it was in the wrong place.

Rob