[Verse 1]
When the chambers of the heart grow stiff and scarred,
The mind bears witness, keeps a parallel guard,
Post-stroke depression grips the prefrontal fold,
Emotional lability — the tears come hot and cold,
Aphasia steals the syllables mid-thought,
The sentence starts but lands where no one ought,
Diabetes clouds the vessels, dims the nerve,
And COPD leaves breath with nothing held in reserve
[Verse 2]
The thyroid whispers slow — fatigue without a name,
Hypothyroidism mimics grief, diffuses blame,
Vitamin B12 depleted, neurons start to fray,
A macrocytic anemia steals the day,
Chronic kidney disease, the uremic haze descends,
Urinary incontinence, and dignity suspends,
Arthritis locks the knuckles in a calcified refrain,
And cancer's cortisol cascade reshapes the brain
[Chorus]
Cardiovascular, stroke, diabetes — mark the cortex well,
COPD and cancer cast a psychological spell,
Kidney, arthritis, thyroid, B12 deficiency —
Every body system bends the mind's efficiency,
Cardiovascular, stroke, diabetes — mark the cortex well,
Every system touched is a story we must tell
[Verse 3]
In Parkinson's the dopamine pathways thin and fall,
Depression, anxiety, apathy — afflictions all,
But dopamine agonists may kindle something strange,
Impulse control disorders — gambling, spending out of range,
And psychosis arrives when the levodopa speaks in tongues,
Hallucinations scaffold in the subcortical rungs,
The clinician must parse the medication's hand
From the illness itself — a distinction few command
[Bridge]
Now sensory loss — the ears that fade bring dementia near,
Auditory deprivation accelerates the fear,
Charles Bonnet syndrome — the eyes grow dim, the visions bloom,
Phosphenic phantoms in a well-lit room,
Not psychosis, not delusion — the cortex fills the void,
A veridical misperception, perfectly employed,
Frailty cascades — the falls, the fractures, and the dread,
A kinesiophobia settles in the homebound bed
[Chorus]
Cardiovascular, stroke, diabetes — mark the cortex well,
COPD and cancer cast a psychological spell,
Kidney, arthritis, thyroid, B12 deficiency —
Every body system bends the mind's efficiency,
Cardiovascular, stroke, diabetes — mark the cortex well,
Every system touched is a story we must tell
[Verse 4]
Sleep disorders thread across the whole terrain,
Insomnia amplifies every chronic pain,
Sleep apnea fragments the restorative arc,
And REM behavior disorder leaves its mark,
Fear of falling is a clinical condition, not a whim,
It contracts the world until the margins grow too slim,
Frailty is phenotypic — measurable, defined,
Not merely old age — a syndrome of a different kind
[Chorus]
Cardiovascular, stroke, diabetes — mark the cortex well,
COPD and cancer cast a psychological spell,
Kidney, arthritis, thyroid, B12 deficiency —
Every body system bends the mind's efficiency,
Cardiovascular, stroke, diabetes — mark the cortex well,
Every system touched is a story we must tell