alzheimers disease neuroimaging initiative(adni)

ALZHEIMERS DISEASE NEUROIMAGING INITIATIVE 
those of you who know me or my family know that
my mother had alzheimers and spent the last months of
her life in a nursing home before she died
we experienced the effects of alzheimers on a loved one
we saw the devastating effect it can have on a person and
their family
we saw the dwindling of our mother over time
we all dread this happening to us but know that it may
be coming to visit all of us eventually

our father before he died probably had early stages
of azheimers but his death from heart disease
occurred before the disease progressed too far

our close younger relative was diagnosed with azheimers at
the mid 50s

i am in an occupation where i can not afford to have any
cognitive difficulties as it could cause adverse effects on
my patients
this has been one of my fears for several years
should there be signs or evidence of impairment then would
want to discontinue working
so far have not noticed any problems that would cause me
any concern

i have wanted to get involved in a study so that i could be
monitored over time so that when the early stages occur then
i will know and can start planning my life appropriately and
can start medications that can slow the progress of the disease

for example i have purchased a long term care insurance policy
so that when the time comes in the future that i need more
care we have a safety net financially that will provide care
for me
usually in our family this occurs in the late 70s and 80s
but it can occur younger as we have seen in our family

today i start that journey on being monitored
my wife she and i are going on a 3 hour trip to a teaching
university so that i can be involved in a study they are doing
on early mild cognitive impairment  called the adni study

i will undergo 5 hours of testing today
i will undergo neuropsychological testing (hope they dont
ask me to remember names or spell correctly)

i will have blood test done to make sure my baseline health is
ok     tests will also be done on dna and rna to measure
markers that may be monitored in people with alzheimers

i will undergo a mri of the brain today that will look for any
changes to the brain

i will undergo a pet scan of the brain today that will be looking
for deposition of a protein and carbohydrate in the brain that
occurs in alzheimer patinets

i will under go a lumbar puncture
(the only sucky part of the visit) to test  for the protein
and the carbohydrate in my spinal fluid

after all of this done if i qualify will be entered in the study
hopefully as a volunteer normal control  but if i were to have
mild cognitive impairment which i dont think i have then i
would be put into the study as a study subject

they are picking 5 people from this location to be part of a
200 patient study nation wide

i will have to go their several times over the next 18 months
to do the same tests
i will continue to be monitored there after the study for as long
as i live

what benefit do i get from this
i feel like i am contributing my small part to help figure out this
terrible disease that will some way affect everyone who is
reading this blog
i hope that things i learn about myself may help my siblings
and my children and their children and....
i will know where i am with this disease as i continue to age
so that my wife and i can plan our  lives for the future

tomorrow will blog on what it was like being tested

the organicgreen doctor