tried to post a beta amyloid pet scan of a patient with
mild cognitive impairment yesterday on facebook
that would not post so im posting it here
the red stuff is not suppose to be there
this is actually from a patient with alzheimers disease
but a patient with mild cognitive impairment who has
advanced some will look similar to this
that red stuff is beta amyloid
thats what is thought to be the cause or the end result
of whatever is causing alzheimers disease
if we can stop this deposition of the beta amyloid in the
brain or remove it early with meds or a vaccine then we
will be getting somewhere in the prevention and cure and
treatment of the big A
this is a glucose metabolism pet scan
the red stuff in this scan is suppose to be there
its radioactively labelled glucose
the more the merrier
in mild cognitive impairment its reduced
and in the big A its even reduced more
the brain cells that are damaged cant metabolize
glucose well so they start dying
the other scan that is done is the volumetric mri
on the right is a normal beta amyloid with a normal
volumetric mri (vmri)
on the left is the abnormal beta amyloid with the red stuff
and just below this is an abnormal volumetric mri
with increase size to the ventricles in the middle that looks
like a bird in flight and the decrease in the hippocampal area
on the under surface of the brain
-the hallmarks of early alzheimers disease or mild cognitive impairment
these then are the three scans that i am aware of that are used
in working up alzheirmers disease or cognitive problems
the beta amyloid scan is only available in research centers but will
be available elsewhere in the next two years if the fda approves it
the volumetric mri and the glucose metabolism pet scan can be done
at many radiological centers now
hope this is helpful to those of you that have asked about them
POST VIDEO
taping the video was fun
dang sure was a lot of retakes
hate to see what it would be like to do a movie
the video staff taped an interview with me then with the doctor
i see doing an office visit with me then with the research director
doing an intake interview with me and then with the testing person
doing part of the neuropsychological testing (asked them to do
the part that i could do correctly)
this is will eventually be on their new updated website
will post it when its all completed
POST VISIT
am sure they hate to see doctors as patients
know i hate being one
theres no changes in my medications and will do
a follow up in 6 months
not much to report
WORKUP
a close relative of mine has decided to undergo an evaluation
mainly as a baseline for future reference
the relative took the article that was written about my situation
to the doctors visit
she is now having an evaluation done that sounds like its everything
that should be done to evaluate someone
this is probably a good idea since
the relative is probably at a higher risk than most people because of
our shared genetic history
remember most cases of alzheimers ARE NOT genetic
it just happens that it probably is in our families genes
the earlier this is picked up
the earlier medication and preventative stuff can be done (we all should
be doing those things anyway)
the medications can delay things for awhile
it gives us time with our families
and in my case i savour each day
which i may not have been doing if i didnt know
good luck with the evaluation
the organicgreen doctor
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