#dcm

[swemtpotamtam]

"So break through it all, and don't look down

You won't fade out

'Cuz the fire in you never dies

It comes around

To light the flame

They'll know your name

Burned into their memory"

(Tomoya Otani - Break Through It All)

[f-yeahimpalass]

[herewegobebe]

"Such a beautiful view ..."

[athletearrhythmia]

Two dilated ventricles

(Note: this is a more dark cardio post. Everything written was approved before posting, if the tone seems kinda mean it's not, I know the other subject well)

(Top image I'm on the right, bottom on the left)

Xykolich is one of the best cardiophile creators around right now, I'm sure you've seen videos of his remarkable heart. He has advanced dilated cardiomyopathy and recently gave me images of his mri study to compare to my own dilated ventricles.

His left ventricle is a whopping 80mm across, a full centimeter over my extremely large left ventricle and nearly twice the size of an average person's. However while my heart is positively adapted to exercise, his heart is scarred and inefficient. You can see a ring of scar tissue in his short axis image representing the dead portion of his heart that can't contract, which is what caused his heart to balloon as it panicked to compensate.

We don't have video, but this contrast in our hearts really flourishes in exercise. We both have low ejection fractions at rest because our hearts are so large a small percentage still amounts to large stroke volume. (Although his disease is advanced enough that his stroke volume is getting too low.) If we were to exercise though, the scarring prevents his damaged heart from contracting much harder than it can at rest. Even in light exercise then, his heart rate will skyrocket before decompensating and going totally out of rhythm as his heart fails. You've seen this in some of his videos. My heart by comparison will expand and contract harder as exercise intensity increases, allowing my heart to pump gallons and gallons of blood as its output increases beyond standard limits.

His right ventricle is also normal in size but looks small because his left ventricle is so large. You can really see here just how much cardio has enlarged my right ventricle. The biventricular enlargement reemphasizes athlete's heart syndrome as it represents improved function of my right ventricle to support the enhanced left. In fact my right ventricle clocks in at 56mm and 7-9mm thick walls. For context, that is the size of a well trained amateur's *left ventricle*; my heart is so enlarged that supporting my left ventricle requires the output of most athletes' entire heart. His right ventricle is not up to the task. Even if his left wasn't damaged and could beat well, the rv isn't big enough to fill that massive heart. His heart is doomed to fail.

I love that our hearts are opposite ends of the cardio spectrum. We are both genetic flukes (DCM is usually genetic, the extent of my enlargement can only be genetic). We have both extensively pushed our hearts in their natural directions, mine by constantly trying to improve its function and grow it, him by engaging in dark play. And we are both extremely "advanced", with his heart essentially a non functional balloon and mine 99th percentile among Olympic athletes. What's so cool is on a still image, our hearts are still pretty similar looking. Certainly explains why some cardiologists look at my heart with concern. I should show them his.

[canisitsnotlupus]

New research has been published this month on diet and dilated cardiomyopathy. The paper can be accessed here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jvim.16606 Key takeaway: When compared between diet groups, healthy adult dogs eating diets containing pulse legumes (peas, lentils, chickpeas, beans) as main ingredients have lower cardiac function and higher ventricular volume than dogs eating grain-inclusive diets without potatoes or pulses in the first 10 ingredients. Study summary: In this study, researchers sought healthy, owned adult dogs that had been consistently eating the same diet for at least 1 year duration and receiving 90% or more of their daily calories from a single commercial kibble. Diets were divided into "traditional" (grain-containing, no pulse legumes or potatoes in the first 10 ingredients) and "non-traditional" (pulse ingredients as main ingredients). In order to address potential confounding variables, researchers excluded dogs with congenital heart disease, heart murmur, or arrhythmia, as well as several breeds based on their potential predisposition to DCM or taurine-deficiency. In total, 23 dogs matched for age and breed were enrolled into each study group. Dogs accepted into the study received an echocardiogram. The screened dogs had cardiac measurements falling within accepted reference ranges for normal. However, on average, dogs in the non-traditional diet group had reduced systolic function (the ability of the heart to pump out blood to arteries) and larger ventricular volume (the amount of blood filled into the chamber before being pumped out-- excessively high volumes, or volume overload, is a component of heart disease). Researchers note that further study would be needed to determine if increases in ventricular volume precede increases in ventricular measurements. Researchers conclude: "Despite these limitations, results from this study showed that dogs eating nontraditional diets had several echocardiographic variables suggestive of larger left ventricular size and lower myocardial systolic performance as compared to dogs eating traditional diets, although echocardiographic variables for both groups were largely within extant reference intervals.”

[bowieisworried]

Taemin in 540px - Day 636 of 673

37 Days Remaining

[kojiarakiartworks]

April 2021 JAPAN HOKKAIDO SAPPORO

© KOJI ARAKI Art Works

Daily life and every small thing is the gate to the universe ：）

[socks-pawn]

Gridoc rivalry with Doc railing Grian is good food 👌, but where's my Dom Bottom Grian content. Doc losing whatever war they're in and becoming Grian's pet. Being collared and bound as he has to please him. Grian is coming to the assumption that perhaps he loses on purpose and wants to be his good little pet.

jdkgfhkjadsghjklasjdghlkjfgfhfjkd THIS, Doc just being restrained and used as a toy for Gri djghsdgd yesssss

[fitsofgloom]

Detrás De La Máscara Es Donde Perteneces

[mimiayachan]

Ambre in my version !!

[timplatt]

Normal Joker (if the Joker was Normal)

[swemtpotamtam]

bitter morning smoke

[f-yeahimpalass]

[herewegobebe]

Minho 💞 Don't Call Me' ☎❌ Knowing Brothers 221112

[runfromreality]

shinee - don’t call me I atlantis

please credit when using and don’t repost.

///

etsy I redbubble

[canisitsnotlupus]

There is a lot of misinformation when it comes to pet food, I hope this can shed some light. - Grains are necessary (Unless diagnosed with grain allergies by a veterinarian). - Raw isn't always best. (Raw/home cooked diets need to be properly formulated by a board certified nutritionist to be balanced, more information below). - Grain free can be dangerous. - The vast majority of companies do not follow WSAVA guidelines. - Veterinarians DO NOT get kick backs from suggesting food. How are they going to get a kickback from a food you didn't even buy from them? If anything, the pet store employees are getting kick backs for suggesting foods! The “Big Five” Brands are the five brands that adhere to WSAVA guidelines (World Small Animal Veterinary Association). Which are: - Employs one or more full-time qualified nutritionist(s) and willingly discloses their credentials. - Foods are formulated by a qualified team of professionals such as nutritionists, toxicologists, food scientists etc. - Undergoes feeding trials that meet or exceed AAFCO standards, for most or all formulations. - Foods are produced and manufactured in US facilities, owned and operated by the manufacturer, or under close supervision of the manufacturer. Equipped with machinery, laboratories and staff that provide extensive on-site quality assurance. - Provides detailed description on quality control protocol. Selection criteria for partners, analysis and sample tracking of externally sourced ingredients, daily safety checks of product batches and facilities, physical inspection, key nutrient testing before final packing. - Provides exact number for any nutrient on an energy basis (grams per kcal). - Readily provides kcal content per gram and per cup. - Conducts research relevant to nutrition, products marketed, and product claims. Publishes research in peer-reviewed journals. So let’s get to it. The “Big Five” Brands are: Royal Canin - Breed specific lines that were created in conjunction with breeders and veterinarians, general health lines and targeted health lines + RX diets Eukanuba - Owned by Royal Canin, mainly their performance lines + general health lines Purina - Sport lines, general health lines, targeted health lines, most accessible and cost effective + RX diets IAMS - General health lines, cost effective, easily accessible Hills Pet - General health lines, targeted health lines + RX diets If you’d like to do some reading… Here are multiple links for kibble, raw diets, grain free vs grain inclusive, Diet Associated DCM and WSAVA. Peer reviewed resources on dog kibble: https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2019/03/stop-reading-your-pet-food-ingredient-list/ https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2016/06/why-you-shouldnt-judge-a-pet-food-by-its-ingredient-list/ https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2019/12/pet-food-decisions-how-do-you-pick-your-pets-food/ https://vet.osu.edu/vmc/companion/our-services/nutrition-support-service/myths-and-misconceptions-surrounding-pet-foods https://www.aaha.org/publications/newstat/articles/2017-01/myth-busters-corn-edition/ Peer reviewed resources on raw diets: https://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2016/01/raw-diets-a-healthy-choice-or-a-raw-deal/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3003575/ https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/debating-raw-diets-january-2019/ STOLEN FROM HERE