stories you need to read

STORIES YOU NEED TO READ
since this blog started out to be a blog about being a doctor
doing organic gardening and living green and other things i
thought interesting
when i was hit with my life changing diagnosis of mild cognitive
impairment amnestic type thought to be due to alzheimers disease
i decided that i didnt want to just blog about alzheimers disease
as i did not want that to take over my life and be all i wrote about

since im so early in my diagnosis i feel like i have a lot to give to
others in educating them about the disease and easily bring it
up in conversations with people whether they want to know about
it or not
but
i also wanted to continue my life and this blog as i originally planned
it to be
so
i compromised and every friday i write on something to do with
alzheimers disease and occasionally on other days if something
comes up like my alzheimers symposium presentation or my involvement
with a walk to end alzheimers events or like an upcoming interview and
possible another video of my story
otherwise its only friday alzheimers day on my blog

today i want you if you have a loved one especially early in the diagnosis
to introduce yourself to these two blogs
and especially if you have a grandchild or child whose parent or grandparent
has the disease and really doesnt understand whats happening
take the time to read these blogs

www.alzheimersreadingroom.com

i subscribe to the alzheimers reading room which regular does short
articles on alzheimers
this one is about a young boy whose grandmother he loved developed
alzheimers which stimulated his interest in alzheimers research even at
a young age
read this alzheimers reading room blog and im sorry but i cried when i read it
be sure and read the link at the end of the story on-a 16 year old takes on a
disease of the elderly



www.pbs.org

the other blog i read
is by dr david hilfiker
watching the lights go out
a memoir inside alzheimers disease

he like me is a retired family doctor who dedicated himself to the poor
and was the first to establish a clinic in the washington dc area for aids
victims when they were being shunned by the medical establishment
he is an author and brings that writing skill to this new blog about his
journey with this disease

ive made contact with him and communicate with him occasionally
he also is in a study where he is getting one of the new alzheimers
vaccines that ive written about before

his latest blog is linked below
please take the time to read his blog if you have any interest in alzheimers
disease or if you have a relative or friend or loved one with this disease
especially if they are early diagnosed like we are

he is farther along than i am but is still doing well driving and writing and
speaking about alzheimers
he has a good insight into the disease as its developing because of his
skills as a writer a humanitarian and a philosopher

here is the link to the blog i would like for you to read
www.davidhilfiker.blogspot.com/
read the blog dated tuesday may 28 2013
preparing our hearts

you can also sign up for email notifications as he writes his blogs
in the upper left corner
also take the time to click on the newspaper article written on him in
the washington post

thanks
hope  you had good memorial weekend
i dont remember mine
i get my mri this am to ensure nothing is going on from my spinal tap
that needs urgent treatment
otherwise its just the slow recovery that you go through in recovering
from sciatica

the organicgreen doctor

i want to apologize

I WANT TO APOLOGIZE

www.zazzle.com

sometimes until youve walked in someone shoes
you really dont know what something is really like

as a doctor i havent walked in peoples shoes when
they came in to see me but i usually had seen a lot of
patients with that problem and had used the experience
of taking care of similar cases and reading up on the
problem to know how to best take care of them

thats called clinical experience but as i realized
this time until youve walked in their shoes you really
dont know what its like

for example when my mother was diagnosed with alzheimers
disease and possibly my father had it then my brother was
diagnosed with it i understood what it was like dealing with
the disease
before then i really wasnt much help with people who were diagnosed or
family members who had to deal with the day to day of living
with a loved one with the disease

now im starting to walking in their shoes and every day i think
about how much better job i could have done carrying for them
had i known what i know now about alzheimers disease

i now try to talk to as many people as i can about the disease
and what to do and what can be done to somehow compensate
for my lack of knowledge when i was in practice

now im walking in another pair of shoes that i wish i had walked in
when i was in practice

thats people who would come in with severe sciatica
for those who dont know
sciatica is pain of the sciatica nerve from the spine down to the
big toe
in severe cases the pain can extend the whole nerve and can be
quite severe

yes i wish i had walked in their shoes before i was practicing and
i would have done a much better job controlling your pain and
discomfort
and would have been more compassionate

there are many causes
a ruptured disc
an arthritic spur that is pushing on the nerve
a narrowed opening that the nerve goes through
a hematoma
a cyst
a tumor
or rarely inflammation from a spinal tap

(if youve read my blogs lately i wrote one about ouuuuuuccccchh when
i had my spinal tap as i felt a shot of pain down my sciatic nerve that only
lasted a second and had no residual discomfort from it
sciatica from a spinal tap is rare
i just hope im not that rare event
you know these usually happen to doctors or nurses or their family members)

so i started walking in your shoes last wednesday and i didnt enjoy it much
at all
as i got to where i couldnt walk
not sure how i drove my truck wish it wasnt a stick shift or how i managed
to climb up my stairs as i knew thats where my hydrocodone was i had
left over from my wisdom teeth extraction
i also added 1500 mgm of naprosyn and a lot of tylenol arthritis but after
a few hours of no relief i gave up and
told my wife she i need to go to the er

i felt like i was having a kidney stone that was in my sciatica nerve

(i looked like those guys who were in that video i posted recently
that was hooked up to an electrical stimulator on their abdomens to see
what labor was like)

i crawled backwards down my stairs and out the door and onto the
driveway to the car
sure hope my wife she didnt take any pictures
i even did my lamaze training and even did my hehes which seemed to help

in the er at seton williamson county they took me right in
im sure i looked like i was about to birth a baby
heck you never know now a days right

all the staff there were nice and pleasant and compassionate
even the young doctor who could easily have been my grandson

they upped my hydrocodone and valiumed me up
after awhile i was slightly improved
he offered iv morphine for relief but i decided against it

so for the next 5 days i stayed stoned and really seemed to have
missed a lot of what when on around me
heck i even read some emails i wrote that i asked my wife she
did you answer these for me
nope she said

so i went to my regular doctor yesterday who has personally walked
in your sciatica shoes and probably is the best at taking care of this
pain
he switched me to a tapering dose of prednisone and placed me on lyrica
which is used for nerve pain and continued the hydrocodone for pain
i discontinued the tylenol and the naprosyn
i am only rarely using the hydrocodone
i now today am 100% better in 24 hours

thanks to dr b for his knowledge and care

so finally
yes i want to personally apologize to any of you that i treated for
sciatica and did not do an adequate job

im not enjoying the walk at all
and find it all a humbling experience

please forgive me

the organicgreen doctor

fruits of our labor

FRUITS OF OUR LABOR
this is the time of the year when we get to harvest the
fruits of our labor
i use to call it garden p(*&^ but when i write that in my
blog it gets so many hits from adult websites that i quit
calling it that
so its
fruits of our labor

i grow most of my stuff in 4 ft x 12 ft raised beds
this year i dug them all out and using the anthill or
hugelkulter method of cardboard newspapers
tree trunks limbs in the bottom then layering it
with leaves compost garden soil newspapers etc
then topping the top off with 3-4 inches of good
compost

then i added cottonseed meal over the bed and added
an organic fertilizer called lady bug brand 8-2-4

each bed has its own drip system of 3-4 lines of drippers
which i drip regularly based on how much rain weve had
only using of course natures own cloud juice
rainwater

now that the plants have gotten larger and its gotten hotter
here i add a 3-4 inch layer of mulch
this year im using oak leaves ive collected from friends

ive tried to plant enough for my wife she and i to use so
we dont have to put so much up in the freezer or can so much

here are the fruits of our labor

this is my first tomato
its for some reason red on one side and green on the other
we ate the red part then let the green half ripen
the flavor was fantastic
its a heirloom called pruden purple
it grew on the mitey mater plant
the pruden purple was grafted onto a stock native plant that
was resistant to a lot of diseasees
it so far is twice as large as my other tomatoes
i planted my tomatoes a month early using methods of
protecting it from the cold
planting deep in a hole then adding soil as it grew
keeping it covered when the temps got low
so i got a big boost on the growing season

theres more tomatoes on the way

then i harvested my garlic
it was planted last november
all 100 of them
i harvest them and let them dry for 2-3 weeks
then i we braid them together and hang them from
the rafters of our garage or grill area
last year we put each one in the leg of a panty hose
i go buy the cheapest ones i can find
then tie a knot after each is placed in the hose
place another one then tie it off
when a leg is full i then hang it from the rafters

then i harvested my onions
they are mostly 1015 sweet onions with a few red onions
for my wife she
i planted close to 300 onions in mid january
we will let them dry for 2-3 weeks then will either
braid them like the garlic or use the panty hose method
when they are hung on the rafters i call them my
garden onion chimes

then i harvested my potatoes
i planted 30 potatoes in mid january
this year i planted them in my keyhole garden made from
an old watering tank
last year i left them in the ground too long and they all
rotted
one sad organicgreen doctor last year
so
this year i began eating them early on and decided to go
ahead and harvest them earlier so
i did not get as big a harvest as i wanted to but at
least i got ones that are not rotten this year

we were able to get a 5 gallon bucket of potatoes in
this years harvest plus what weve already eaten over the
last month

so now weve harvested our first round of the fruits of our labor
and are waiting for round two
cucumbers cantelope purple hull peas beans squash tomatoes
okra christmas beans peppers basil egg plant and for salads
malabar spinach arugula purslane

when we harvest this fruits of our labor
its all worth the effort
eg organic onions at $2-3 an onion x 300
organic garlic at $1.5 a piece x 100
great flavor
chemical free

and its all organic

the organicgreen doctor

easy free trap

EASY FREE TRAP
ive seen the mosquito soda bottle traps on facebook
several times lately
guess its mosquito time

as i looked at the trap with all those mosquitoes i thought
i bet that would work for flies

in the summer as it gets hotter we start having a problem with
flies that become a nuisance when we try to sit outside on
our decks

ive seen those bags of water thats hung out at restaurants that
they claim work real good

im not convinced
but
by doing this homemade fly catcher at least you can see the results of
your efforts

first take a soda bottle




cut it off just as it flares out to the lower part of the bottle



turn the top upside down and insert into the bottom



using tape of course i would use duct tape but you can use
electric tape as in the picture



mix up a sugar solution and pour it into the bottle
or drop in a piece of fruit or meat
think the sugar water may be less smelly
and more visually appealing



then set it outside and wait for the flies to come flying into
the bottle and not figure out how to get out


you can empty it out and reuse it or just make another one

now ill have to go buy a bottle of soda so i can make me
one of these

its a green fly catcher using a recycled plastic bottle
when you are finished with it you can rinse it out and
send it on to the recycle center

images from www.wikihow.com

the organicgreen doctor

do nothing, gospurs

DO NOTHING

www.huffingtonpost.com

that seems to be the approach
do nothing
as congress tries to fix our debt problems
they did nothing
except
they did increase the tax on those making over
$500,000

then we all got sequestered
the full effects are going to hit later on
but that was nothing to do with what congress did
its wont they didnt do
nothing

lets see
lets look at a worker
who works more and makes more money
he and his family cuts expenses
maybe uses the dave ramsey method
and his investments and his house increase in value
most peoples have
at least the property tax people say my property is
going up in value each year

add that all up and that worker
should have a surplus and should be getting out of debt
seems like simple math and a simple method

now back to our economy and debt
it seems that the estimated deficit we have has been
cut in half this year
why
more taxes on the rich
decreased expenses ie sequestration
increased economical growth

maybe congress should do nothing for awhile
since they usually just mess things up anyway
and they cant agree on what to do anyway

GOSPURS
no thats not a religious word
no not something blasphemous

its the chant you hear on tv
especially yesterday
go spurs go
as the spurs methodically took apart the grizzlies in the
western conference finals

no flash
defense
an offense built around three guys
actually all are not from the us
parker duncan and ginobili

old school coach

the spurs just suddenly every year show up at the end
without people paying attention to them

i find that refreshing

go spurs go

the organicgreen doctor

will it be there in time

WILL IT BE THERE IN TIME
thats the question im asking myself
as ive read a lot about alzheimers disease and how it progresses
real gradually it seems over 20-30 years
and probably over a lifetime
it has multi causes most likely
changing some of those causes may help
you know like blood pressure weight cholesterol diabetes exercise diet
alcohol intake smoking sleep habits etc

as scientists are getting better and better at diagnosing alzheimers
disease we are and will  be seeing more and more  people diagnosed
with this eventually before any symptoms show up

now thats the dilemma
you can diagnosis them
but you cannt really treat them except by altering those things mentioned
above
or
use the 5 medicines approved to treat alzheimers disease
none of which actually treats the disease itself but only treats the
symptoms
eg
im on aricept (donepezil) and have been it for 2 1/2 years in hopes if
my final diagnosis turns out to be alzheimers disease that it may have
slowed down the progression of the diseases symptoms

of the 5 drugs only aricept (donepezil) exelon and namenda are
really used

what is needed now is drugs or treatments to treat the disease before
symptoms ever start and probably as much as 20-30 years before it
starts to show up

possible treatments attack the beta amyloid accumulation or the tau protein
unfolding and destruction in some way
these are thought to be the two hallmarks of alzheimers disease

ive written about the bexarotene studies that are starting up
hoping that the baxarotene will inhibit beta amyloid production
like it did in animal studies
(bexarotene is an old anticancer drug used for certain skin cancers)

in another study one of the old leukemia chemotherapy agents will be
given at a low dose to slow this production of beta amyloid
it appears to work in animal models

several companies have developed new drugs also that work like the
bexarotene and are being tested now in new studies that like bexarotene
will decrease the beta amyloid being produced in the brain

excuse me it seems that you could go back and study people who
were treated with these medicines for their leukemia and cancer and
see if it helped those who were going to get alzheimers
i bet there are blood samples and spinal fluid samples stored somewhere
that could be looked at

www.nytimes.com
the big colombian study using one of the alzheimers vaccine that binds up
the beta amyloid and removes it or prevents it from being deposited in
the brain
hopefully this works because if not this approach using injectible
antitbodies against beta amyloid will not be effective
in this sudy it is given to people in their thirties who are going to get the
disease in a few years
so we will know in less than 5 years if this approach will work

right now across the us another alzheimers vaccine is being given to
prodromal alzheimers patients thats people some like me who have
positive mild neuropsych tests positive beta amyloid and tau proteins
in the spinal fluids and positive pet scans for beta amyloid but who
are really asymptomatic

i would qualify for this study but one of the criteria is that you can not
be on aricept (donepezil) and be on the study
thats a choice i would have to make
would be to stop this knowing
that if this vaccine didnt work stopping the aricept (donepezil) might
make my symptoms deteriorate if what i have is alzheimers disease

as of right now im not willing to do that

so im watching the drug studies closely for a potential treatment that
is in the works

one promising drug is being evaluated by taurx.com where the drug affects
the unfolding of the tau protein
earlier studies on a protype of this drug showed some promise

for me personally
i dont qualify because they arent testing it yet on people like me but are
only giving it to people who are in the early stages of alzhiemers
disease eg like the tennessee basketball coach pat summitt

ill be watching this one real close and if they do start a study in
people like me with minimal symptoms and positive tests
then i plan to try to enter the study
just dont give me that damn placebo

www.nature.com
another study that i read about involves an enzyme thats called
secretase
it was discovered in a group of people in iceland who do not get
alzheimers disease because of a gene inherited that affects this
secretase enzyme so it doesnt break down amyloid into the
beta amyloid piece that is thought to possibly be the cause of
azlheimers as this beta amyloid piece gets deposited throughout the brain

a new study is being looked at using this to treat people hoping they
too will not get this disease
these new inhibitors of this secretase enzyme lower the beta amyloid
in the brain and
if it works will slow down or prevent the disease
this may be the most promising of all the new treatments
ill be the first in line for that one

yes this is hope for the future
these new drug treatments that are coming
but i realize my window of opportunity is closing if what i have is
alzheimers disease because by the time an official diagnosis is made
its like being told you have stage 4 cancer
the odds are against you

so
lets hope then that one of these new drugs will be effective
soon

the organicgreen doctor

respect for others

RESPECT FOR OTHERS
ive volunteered at the habitat for humanity now for over a year
the group that usually works there are mostly retired
and many have traveled and still travel all across the us and
the world
they in their travels and past occupations have be exposed to
a diverse group of people from different racial backgrounds
political backgrounds and religious backgrounds

ive seen the respect they have for these people as they also have
volunteered to work with us

each session is started by a prayer since the habitat for humanity
is a christian based organization
we all respect this even though some of the volunteers are of
different religions or no religions

even the choice of food for lunch can be altered based on
who is there
its not unusual to have a group or person who is not a
meat eater for personal or religious reasons present
when possible vegetarian choices are provided

recent we had a group
the muslim student association from the university of texas
at austin come work with us
yes they were all americans
they all spoke english
and they were all quite intelligent and
were extremely hard workers
they may be your next doctor lawyer or accountant or politician

when we all got together the leader of the volunteers
recognized this groups religious beliefs and turned
to one of us who is a retired military person who worked in an
environment that exposed him to a diverse group of people from
all over the world and to a diverse group of religions
he was asked to say a prayer

it was a nondenominational non protestant non islamic prayer
that could have been given at any protestant church catholic church
synagogue or mosque

i was impressed that there was respect for others beliefs and
that there was ground that we all could meet on as shown by
his prayer

then i got to thinking about prayer before events in schools etc
in a school near here
one of the most respected academic schools in this area

this school has a diffuse population of students whose parents are
from around the world and represent most major religions of the
world

the principal recognizing this
put it to a vote of the senior class if a prayer should be given
before graduation
the overwhelming majority who were mostly protestants
voted no as they recognized that
a protestant prayer would offend their other religions
a muslem prayer might offend the protestants
the jewish prayer might offend the muslems and the protestants
the catholic prayer might offend the protestants jewish and muslems

this group of kids this millennial group think differently than their parents
and grandparents
maybe for the better
they recognize the diversity in america and respect others
gay relationships are not a big deal
race relationships are not a problem with them
their views on politics are not the same as ours
they recognize the diverse religions
and respect them

maybe or probably the better for all of our futures
we should be more like them
but many of us
im afraid
will not

the organicgreen doctor

so thats how it feels

SO THATS HOW IT FEELS
i went through two pregnancies with my wife she
and many of the problems she had are well described in this
trailer for the movie from the 1990s with danny devito and arnold
schwarzenegger

arnold becomes pregnant thanks to his scientist friend danny
and experiences all of the symptoms women have good and bad
during pregnancy
morning sickness
mood swings
concern for looks
uncomfortable as the pregnancy progresses
etc

watch this trailer for a smile

during my medical career i delivered several hundreds of babies
and went through the pregnancies with each of them
the husbands or partners always seemed so lost as they could
not relate to what it was really like
you know until youve walked in their shoes you really dont know what
its like
not really

but these two fathers to be agreed to experience what labor might be like
my letting themselves be hooked up to an abdominal wall stimulator that
would simulate contractions

as i know from taking care of male patients over the years and watching
women struggle through their pregnancies i and we know that men are
such wussies

this video below confirms this
i dont think these men will let their wives have another pregnancy
not if they have to do this again

click below
for the funniest video i think i have ever watched
i was laughing so hard
i was crying and almost fell out of my recliner

labor pain simulation on two men as their wives sit by

the organicgreen doctor

more transformation

MORE TRANSFORMATION
this last week we had a group come out to work on a new
project for habitat for humanity
this house was foreclosed on several years ago and has set
empty with no care during this time

the house both inside and outside has been neglected and or abused

the outside yard is a mess
the back as i posted last week was overgrown with those awful
paper mulberry
on the dont plant list in the growing green plant list
after cutting down all of them all day long i understand why

so below is the front of the house
neglected neglected

enter these guys
our heroes of the day

this is a group from aci worldwide that has an office in austin
i dont know what they do but if they work as hard as they did
this day on this houses yard then that company will definitely be
a success and has a bright future

this is the back yard near the fence where those awful paper mulberries
were and what they are digging at are those awful stumps from the
trees we cut down and also the roots that pop up out of the ground
and sprout new trees
sort of reminds of a cypress on those bayous except theres not water

kudos to those ax and pick guys as they worked so hard to dig up
those stumps

  

these guys worked real hard on this stump
they did it in shifts until it was dug up

then another crew attacked the beds which were overgrown
with weeds rocks vines limbs leaves and only one snake
was located
it was gently released safely to another location

this was the end result of their hard work

the area supervisor for texas was there and he and i
thats me on the right in my ogd attire
discussed how hard he and they worked that day to make
this place look better for the new home owner

she was there that day helping with her son and she was truly
amazed that all these people she didnt know was there all day
working so hard just for her to have a place to live

well thats what its all about

thanks again to aci worldwide for their hard work to make this
house look better

yes it does make you have some hope for the future after working
with a crew like this and seeing them volunteering their time and
sweat to help someone

more transformation is coming over the next few weeks

the organicgreen doctor

it so mediterranean, ancestory

ITS SO MEDITERRANEAN

ive written about it before and plan to again and again
that mediterranean diet thats so simple and good for you

fruits
vegetables of all types unless they have been poisoned by pesticides
whole grains-thats not white bread but whole wheat bread brown rice etc
legumes-beans beans and more beans
less red meat and dairy-lean meats and fish
less salt and sugar
limited red wine
olive oil
moderation

from realbeauty,com here are 5 reasons

its heart healthy
its has the good fats as not all fats are bad for you
it lowers blood pressure and lowers your risk for heart disease

prevents cancer
some veggies and legumes have antitoxidants that have cancer preventing
properties

boosts testosterone
apparently men who consume a lot of omega 3 foods have increased
testosterone levels
move over little blue pill
think how much veggies especially leafy ones could be bought with
the price of the little blue pill

it helps to lose weight
consuming the healthy foods in this diet like vegetables and whole grains
over over consumption of processed foods helps you lose weight

cuts down on chronic diseases
diabetes alzheimers disease and heart disease are less in those peoples
who eat a mediterranean diet

and of course those of you who are trying to get bathing suit ready for
the summer it helps you fit in that suit

then remember this
i found from a facebook friend



ANCESTORY
from a nephews facebook posting

re redneck murders

why is it so hard to solve a redneck murder

1   all the dna matches

2   there are no dental records

the organicgreen doctor

wish we had that

WISH WE HAD THAT

those of you who follow my blog everyday will recognize
that my blog was posted late today
ok a few hours late

my wife she and i love living at the country n
we feel peacefully isolated here
nearest neighbors 1/2 mile away
the river a quarter of a mile away
wildlife and birds everywhere
heck we sometimes just dont want to go anywhere because
its so nice to live here
some people drive and travel to stay at a peaceful place like this

but sometimes there are drawbacks
like
today since we cant get real fast speed internet service ive been
fighting our internet now for a couple hours trying to get this
blog done

weve tired regular ole dial up
at first when we first moved here that worked real well
then over the last 12 years as the internet progressed that
would not work well if at all anymore
heck we couldnt even get them to help with the phone line when
it would malfunction
so after several attempts to get my land line working
with the promise of no service available to make it work
heck the guy that came out always blamed it on field mice
who set up a nest every spring in the control box out front
bet he told everyone that

so i decided to fix it myself
i simply canceled the land line and converted the number to an
old cell phone we had to use as our home phone
its used mainly to catch calls from those we dont want to talk to
you know like political parties robo calls things like that

weve tried the land line service initially that sucked big time
so we changed to a satellite service called wildblue which
actually worked well when it worked
but  a storm coming through like last night would knock out
the service
then
if you got close to your data limit they would start slowing
down your internet speed
so frustrating
so
we canceled the service after a couple years

they left this big dish on our roof that i had to take down
when i did that i was so impressed with the guy who put it up
how in the heck did he get that up there all by himself

i took it down
man it was heavy and it was held down by these heavy concrete
blocks

i recycled all of it by setting the big antenna on the side of the
road here at the countyry n and after a couple of days it
disappeared
im always amazed at what people will take off the curb

the concrete blocks i used to build my wife shes garden at her school
yes i try to recycle everything just ask the people at habitat
for humanity

next we switched over to verizon jet pack 4g lte service
i know what 4g is and never quite understood what lte service is
but
we were told
oh yeah theres a new tower near where you live that has 4g service
forgot to ask how near was near

have you ever seen a light that flitters off and on all the time
we have one here on our front porch that will make you
dizzy as heck if you sit and watch it too long

well thats what our internet service is like
a flittering light
so that we fluctuate between 3g and 4g and no g
usually that happens just as i start to write or post my blog
like this morning
heck that lte lettering probably goes to xyz on our service

but
like living out here at the country n there are trade offs you just
have to accept
bringing home a car on empty like my wife she does a lot
if shes used up my gas can gas already from the last time
then what she does is take my car instead or even worse take
my old beat up black pickup truck thats used up a few of
its nine lives
then theres the time when you go to the store and come home
and start to cook something and you go oh darn it i
forgot the sugar or the salt or the pepper or the chicken etc
you adjust the menu or cook something else
my wife she recently forgot no that was me some of the
ingredients for her cornbread so she just made up a new one
and well it actually tasted good even though it was a little
on the flat side
friends sometimes say oh thats too far to drive why dont
you just come into town to see us
that doesnt make sense does it
we also dont get any of those solicitors here
they never get past our dogs at the front gate

so when you write out the pros and the cons
the pros have it for living out here at the country n

even though
we will continue to have to deal with this slow internet speed
at times and hope there will be more times when it really is
fast speed internet service

i know that google fiber is coming to austin promising a 100x
increase in speed to that town
heck
a 100x increase here at the country n will get us up to
where you guys are now in town
but
well stay where we are now
as we are happy and content here

the organicgreen doctor

where do you go

WHERE DO YOU GO
im always reading top 10 lists
you know like daves top 10 list
like today i saw a top 10 list of things not to eat
i wont write about that today but
in a semi-related list i found this morning on yahoo
i will write about it

as ive gotten more involved in reading about alzheimers disease
i realize that what we eat especially throughout our lifetime may
make a difference and whether we get alzheimers disease or not

its recommended that we eat a mediterranean diet
vegetables fruits nuts lean meats fish olive oil red wine in moderation
then couple that with exercise controlling your blood pressure
controlling your cholesterol controlling your diabetes
all this can go a long way to not getting or slowing down getting or
getting a mild form of alzheimers disease

this approach to life mixed with adequate restful sleep controlling
depression being happy and being mentally active all your life
helps also

this approach also appears to be the treatment and prevention of
a lot of other diseases
heart disease stroke diabetes cancer high blood pressure cholesterol
diabetes osteoarthritis symptoms

so here is the list
of the 10 most visited popular stores

some on the list speak for themselves
so maybe if you want to live longer you might avoid this list
except for target and maybe walmart

10   target
9     taco bell
8     cvs
7     walgreens
6     wendys
5     starbucks
4     burger king
3     subway
2     walmart
1     mcdonalds

so target is not bad for your health i dont think
it interesting that 4 on the list have pharmacies
we in america do love our drugs dont we
some of those are not good for your health

i looked at the list
ive been to target maybe once last year
ive been to walmart several times for various items but not for food
they do have mcdonalds in the one i go to

i dont go to walgreens or cvs anymore since i get my prescriptions
at costco every 6 months so i go there only twice a year

ive been to mcdonalds several times but it was to use the bathroom
but never to eat there

i never go to starbucks since i found out about the latte factor
price of latte x numbers bought in year x 20 years
$5x250x20=$25000 if invested would be worth $52000+-

i guess if you go to subway and eat like jason does thats ok
i usually eat their veggie sandwich

remember the guy that did the movie about eating at mcdonalds
every day for a month and he gained all that weight
it could easily have been at the other ones on this list

of course taco bell doesnt have a lean cuisine either

so its possible if you look at this list and stay away from them
well not walmart or target
unless you eat there
you might live a longer and healthier and richer life

the organicgreen doctor

yard transformation

YARD TRANSFORMATION
thats what im doing now
yard transformation

over a year ago i started volunteering for the habitat of humanity helping
build houses
at the end of the construction the day before the house is to be dedicated
a large group of volunteers would come in and do the landscape

now this was done on a limited budget
real limited budget
and not always xerically done

i helped with 3 houses but then i couldnt stand it as i sat back and
watched the landscaping being done

so i approached the head of the construction and said
i would like to take over doing the landscaping for the houses
i explained i wanted to do it as organic and as xeric as possible

it is at times difficult but so far its been successful

it has helped that area landscaping companies have donated or
reduced prices for the landscape materials and that
people we know have donated trees shrubs sod etc
thanks to you guys that helps a lot

more would be appreciated

the newest house im doing is representing somewhat of a challenge

this house is a repocession by the bank and then the bank turned
around and gave it to habitat for humanity
it had not been lived in for 3 years
it will need a lot of work inside and out
when its finished it will look like a new house
we hope the landscape will match the house

first those trees in the back ground are called paper mulberry
dont ever ever ever plant them in your yard
this back yard was a forest of these mulberry trees
this picture was after we spent all day removing 90% of them
resulting in two large brush piles in the front yard
we plan on removing almost all of the remaining ones

these mulberries spread by seeds especially those from birds that
eat them
they also spread by the roots that grow underground then shoot up
several feet away
you cant hardly get rid of them unless you dig it up and use stuff
i usually dont like to use to kill them roots
it will be a long term battle for the home owner

its interesting there are a lot of other shrubs planted on the property
that are all texas native plants but they are all planted wrong

here in the front they planted 9 texas sages (purple sage) and 8
dwarf youpon hollys but they bunched them all together and have
them on the north side of the house
all this has stunted these beautiful native texas sages

i plan to replant all of them and spread them out over the lot so they
are planted in the right areas based on light and location on the
property
not under the roof edge where it cant be grown

i will also spread out the dwarf youpon hollys in the front and back
the spacing is based on how big they will get in a few years

then we will make a lot of the beds in the front larger and larger using
mulch (mulch is cheaper than grass) to eliminate a lot of the front
yard
you dont have to pay to water mulch since you dont water mulch
water is getting more scarce around here every year
we hope to eliminate 30-40% of the grass in the front

in the back yard we found  under all the paper mulberry canopy
a fig tree a peach tree and a plum tree
all which may now grow to their full potential now and produce fruit for the
new homeowner

then there is confederate jasmine and lantana that we will transplant to
an appropriate spot

there a lot of roses also that were tucked away in the deep shade
those will be transferred to areas on the fences so they can
grow and produce a large amount of rose blooms

there also is a spot that we will put in either a square foot garden or
a keyhole like garden if the homeowner wishes it

so we will transform this yard
by using a lot of labor
using a lot of mulch
moving plants to the right spots
without much cost

the good thing is that once these plants are established
there is no care or upkeep
no trimming required
even if you dont water them they survive our central texas weather
ok with neglect


if you live in the leander area
you can go by 600 sioux trail and follow this transformation
over the next 2-3 months

also if you ever have a native plant you dig up and need a new
home for it let me know and ill use it in one of our projects

the organicgreen doctor

dirty dozen

DIRTY DOZEN
i have a theory that a lot of our illness are caused by what we eat
some because we eat too much of the wrong things
especially processed foods
then
some or a lot that are contaminated by chemicals in the growing stages of
vegetables and fruits
or
contaminated by all those preservatives they add to our food to make
it look good or taste like something its not or to make it last forever

just take some of those foods and leave it out and watch
how it doesnt spoil
eating  that cant be good for you

recently i saw the dirty dozen list of contaminated foods listed on yahoo shine
67% of all the foods were contaminated even after washing them well
i repeat 67% of all the foods were contaminated even after washing them well

then this is what is scary
of the top 3 worst ones
apples strawberries grapes 100% of them had contamination even though
they were adequately washed
one grape had 15 pesticides on it

then even scarier
some domestically grown squash and kale and collards were commonly
contaminated with real toxic pesticides
are you ready for this
these organophosphates were phased out of agricultural use in the 1970s
and 1980s
but still are in some farmers soil which then get into these foods

you know our forefathers didnt worry about this stuff
as they grew all their foods
yes organically
and put things in root cellars or
canned them without preservatives or
ate them fresh from the garden

toxicity of these pesticides are associatted with cancer hormone disruption
brain and nervous system damage and irritation to eyes skin and lungs
can you say increase in asthma and allergies

here are the dirty dozen
apples
strawberries
grapes
celery
peaches
spinach
sweet bell peppers
imported nectarines
cucumbers
potatoes
cherry tomatoes
hot peppers

then
here are the clean dozen you might consider since they have less
contamination
clean mainly because of a thick cover
corn
onions
pineapples
avocados
cabbage
sweet peas
papayas
mangoes
asparagus
egg plant
kiwi
grapefruit
cantaloupe
sweet potatoes
mushrooms

or
just buy organic foods
and or
do like i do grow as much of these as you can
grow them organically
so you will definitely know they are not contaminated with any poison

here are what im growing thats on the list
potatoes
cucumbers
cantaloupe
onions and more onions
tomatoes and more tomatoes
squash
kale
collards
hot pepper
sweet bell peppers
asparagus
egg plant
sweet peas
peaches
spinach
strawberries

so as i eat them i dont worry about any contamination
as they are grown organicgreen

the organicgreen doctor

sum it all up

SUM IT ALL UP

for those of you who did not see the news report on
the alzheimers symposium and the interview with me
here is the link to the video
http://www.kwkt.com/news/alzheimers-symposium-offers-insight-mental-illness


i just finished the book by pat summitt
the university of tennessee hall of fame womens basketball coach
who wrote this book about her career
and her progression to her diagnosis of alzheimers disease

she was open about her life
and open about her diagnosis of alzheimers disease

she even coached her last year while on the alzheimers drugs
aricept and namenda

after reading the book i was able to piece together her process of
getting diagnosed and how she began to notice the early symptoms

comparing my journey to hers

mine
mild cognitive impairment amnestic type
stage 2
hers
early mild alzheimers disease
stage 3

mine
mildly abnormal short term memory tests on the neuropsych exam
hers
more abnormal short term memory tests on her neuropsych exam

mine
positive beta amyloid in spinal fluid and mild elevation of tau protein
hers
not sure of her results
my guess was they were abnormal

mine
normal mri scan of the brain
hers
abnormal mri scan showed some early changes on the initial scan

mine
normal pet scan for glucose metabolism of the brain
hers
abnormal pet scan for glucose metabolism of the brain which
showed some decreased uptake of glucose which means she
has areas of alzheimers disease that has developed

mine
amyvid pet scan of the brain
ive delayed this for awhile
hers
not sure if she has had one

source
her book sum it up

so her diagnosis is a more firm one
she has it and it has progressed some

mine is possible alzheimers disease that time and
more testing in followup will show a trend if it occurs
towards the positive diagnosis

so
pat summitt you are my buddy
wish you well

but man after reading that book
i dont think i could ever play for you as a coach
but
with your record of success you definitely seemed to know
what you were doing

the organicgreen doctor

oooouuuuuuuucccchhhhhhh

OOOOUUUUUCCCCHHHHH
yesterday as i sat in my whitey tighty undies almost naked
in that massage chair with just my socks on
no i wasnt about to get a massage
i had that paper blue gown on
sorry former patients if ive ever had you put one of these on
how embarrassing

i was about to get my spinal tap

i right down publically want to apologize to those of you on whom
i might have done a spinal tap in the past when i was in practice
i now would be a much more sensitive provider to your discomfort

granted most of you  would now be in your 20s-40s
as most of the ones i did in my career were on infants toddlers or
young children
luckily for the majority your taps were normal
except for the unlucky child who did have advanced
meningitis from h.flu in the pre h.flu immunization days
he nowadays wouldnt have gotten the disease that disabled him
unless he was one of those whose family didnt believe in
immunizations
this patient is the reason i always was such an advocate of
childhood immunizations and why i had such an awareness of
the symptoms of possible meningitis in kids

anyway i apologize to the rest of you although probably none of
you have any recollection of the painful  procedure

ouch thats what i said yesterday
i didnt say that last time i got the tap two years ago
but as i said during the procedure
so thats what sciatica feels like
as a doctor i knew that as the needle is inserted into that
small space where the fluid is that sometimes you do hit
the nerve root that travels down the leg
yep i also thought
so thats what it feels like when they zap those cattle with
that cattle prod
i know my wife she would have like to use one of those on
me sometimes
she would love to hit my nerve root when i make her angry

but yesterday we had her all prepped
we laid her down
covered her with a blanket
and did not talk about 'it" with her before or afterwards
yes she did well yesterday
we handled her with kid gloves

wait a minute
whos the patient here

my goal  yesterday was to get my spinal tap and
send fluid off to the private lab to get my beta amyloid and tau
remeasured
i made a decision and went a different direction

you are only allowed to draw out so much spinal fluid at a time
if i sent the fluid off to the private lab i would know if my
levels had reached that abnormal level on the graph i showed
on this blog two days ago
in the consistant with alzheimers disease portion in the right lower side
instead
i opted to donate that fluid to a researcher who desperately needed
spinal fluid from a patient without significant other disease for a
possibly new landmark study for another well known disease
so
i let them have my spinal fluid for that study
knowing that i probably would not ever know if my level became
abnormal over the last two years
as i may not be getting another tap again

then
my other goal was to do my beta amyloid number two yesterday
even though i wouldnt see the results
then i planned to later this month get an amyvid beta amyloid pet scan
here in austin to tell me if i have that beta amyloid in my brain
that hallmark of alzheimers disease was present
yes
those two tests would have been the two things that would have
probably solidified my quest for do i have it or dont i

but
i decided to forgo that test yesterday and to forgo the beta amyloid
pet scan later this month

why

there are several new studies that are starting up soon that actually
are evaluating new medicines that either remove or stop the production
of beta amyloid in the brain or stop the tau destruction in the brain
these studies if they work would possibly be new treatments for
preventing or slowing down the disease

for them to be effective really effective they have to be started early
or even before symptoms or labs become abnormal

many of these studies will reject you if you have had a beta amyloid
pet scan in the last 12 months

so no fluid sent off so i wont know
no scan as i want one of these new treatments
as for now all i can do is to live a healthy life and do those things i
mentioned in my lecture and have on my slide things you can do now

the organicgreen doctor

more today

MORE TODAY

theres even more today
its been a busy 10 days for me as im completing my 2 year
followup for the alzheimers disease neuroimaging study and
then prepared for and did a presentation for the
alzheimers symposium on april 30

the study required visits last week on two different days to dallas
which i have written about as they have happened

now today my wife she and i go back to dallas to the
alzheimers disease research center at the university of texas
southwestern medical school for our final day of testing

today they interview her to see if she has noticed any problems
with me
the only problem i think she has with me is that sometimes i dont
listen to her and i dont do what she wants me to do
now thats been going on for years
then theres the falling asleep in the chair at night while watching tv
something that many of the people that know me well have
experienced over the years

they have already interviewed me about some event in the last month
to see if our stories match up
the  problem is that my wife shes doesnt remember the story as well
as i do
whos got the memory problem huh

then i have a boatload of blood work
they take out more blood than lance uses to load up with before a race
and test it for the usual things like anemia liver tests kidney tests
glucose etc
then they test it for blood biomarkers-beta amyloid and tau proteins
inflammatory markers and other proteins to use in their profile thats
been developed to help diagnosis alzheimers
a test that may be available in the future to everyone

then i have the my wife shes fainting spinal tap done
for beta amyloid and tau protein
last time my results from a private lab showed my levels
were close to those of someone with alzheimers disease
i have to decide this morning if i want to repeat those at a private lab
im leaning towards doing that

before the tap we plan on lying my wife she down on a table
elevating her feet
dropping down her head some
starting an iv to infuse fluids if needed
we want to be prepared for a repeat

then following that i go over and get to sit in that whirling machine
again for an hour plus

they give me an iv infusion of a radioactive substance that binds itself
to beta amyloid in the brain
wherever its located that sticky gooey substance that forms plaques
and is thought to be the indicator of alzheimers disease
will show up as abnormal areas

if you have alzhiemers you will have beta amyloid in the brain
100%

now you can have beta amyloid and not develop alzhiemers disease
but the odds are against you if you do have it

my decision after today will be do i want to spend the $3000-$6000 to
know at a private xray place if mine is positive
i will decide after i complete the test today
(the study im in is a blind study so that i dont get the results of the tests)

then when thats all done
after a busy 10 days i get a break to going back to my normal activities
for a year or
until i decide to be involved with some of the new studies that are looking
at potential treatments for this disease that could be available in
the future for people to prevent or slow down the disease

im ready and willing to try anything
the choice otherwise
is...

the organicgreen doctor