as many of you know i am in an alzheimers research study
at the university of texas southwestern alzheimers research
center
in this study i receive a lot of testing
some not available yet to the general public
some that are available but not readily available to the
general public
i dont get to see the results of the tests but when i take
the neuropsychological test i know how im doing when i
take the test
but
there is no treatment part to the study
just monitoring
this all helps progress the knowledge base of what happens
in alzheimers disease as it progresses
but
nothing is offered or really available to slow it down except
for managing my health and taking aricept (donepezil) to slow
down any symptoms
but
im at the point where i know that i have a window of time
maybe 5 years maybe 10 years or
maybe im too late already
as this disease starts years before any symptoms start
so that the time to attack this disease eg in me would have been
20 years ago when i first moved to texas in 1989
so im monitoring new developments and i keep a close eye
on new possible treatments
here are a few
the alzheimers vaccine
they give you a vaccine that ends up inducing antibodies that
attack the beta amyloid in the brain by binding it up and preventing
it from accumulating or binds it and removes it from the brain
it seems the time to do this is years before symptoms start
a new study will be doing that
it appears that i may qualify for this study later this year
if so i will get a beta amyloid pet scan of the brain called amyvid
and if its positive i will either get the vaccine for 3 years or get
a placebo
i plan on doing this study if nothing else shows up
if im in the treatment group i will get the vaccine for 3 years
if it helps ive benefited from the treatment
ill take what i can get
if im in the placebo then im not worse than i am now
since im on nothing already
keeping my fingers crossed on this one
several anitcancer drugs some new ones and at least one old generic
anticancer drug are starting or are in studies now
the bexarotene study is starting soon
its an old one that is available now since its fda approved already
there are reports that some people are already taking it by getting
a prescription from their doctors
my thoughts on this
is whattheheck
there is nothing to lose by taking it
the end result of doing nothing is not a good one
my problem with the bexarotene study is that im not far advanced
enough to qualify for the studies
another new drug is an enzyme that was discovered in a group of
people in iceland that do not get alzheimers disease
this enzyme inhibits the production of beta amyloid
thought to be the culprit in alzheimers disease
i hope to qualify for this study when it gets started
there is a study thats starting where a drug is given that prevents
the destruction of tau protein that occurs in alzheimers disease
ive applied for this study and again im not far enough
advanced to qualify
this all seems cruel somehow
they are treating people in some of these studies who may not
benefit as much even though they are early in the disease
since the treatment may turn out to work better if you start it
before the symptoms occur
so are we there yet
no
but we are getting closer to treatments that will work
maybe not for my generation but for the generations behind me
my kids my future grandkids my nieces and nephews
SILENT AUCTION
the organicgreendoctor team in the walk to end alzheimers has decided
to have a silent auction to raise money this year
we plan to have just 5 good items
two of the items have already sparked interest
one is a 4 foot square organic garden that is 4 ft x 4 ft x 1 ft
that will be built by this organicgreen doctor
all good organic soil will be used and will be obtain from a well
known local organic garden place
the garden will be built and placed on the buyers property by
the organicgreen doctor
he will also assist the new owner in planting their fall/winter garden
using a gift certificate to a local nursery for the plants
if youve ever wanted one of these and didnt know how to do it
nows your chance
more details of the silent auction will be posted here and on my
facebook page in the next few weeks
we may even take online bids
the other is an alzheimers quilt being hand made by one of my
medical school classmates who is a plastic surgeon who does
knitting and quilting for a hobby
folks you can imagine what fantastic work she must do
she also has a blog called
sutured for a living
today her post will be on making the quilt for us to sell
at our silent auction
those flowers on the quilt are forget me nots which are
the official flower of the alzheimers association
ive talked to several quilt people and im amazed at how
much this quilt will be worth
there are already people who plan on bidding on this
quilt
read her blog today to find out more about this
alzheimers quilt
support us by bidding on these or the other items
more later
the organicgreen doctor
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