A BLUE STUDY
i get notifications on my email from the nih whenever
there is a new study on alzheimers disease
this week i was notified that a new study on ht-0712 was going
to start soon
its a phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor (pde4) that may increase memory
and also reduce inflammation in the brain
pde4 hum let see
i remember something about that in the past
there was a recent study done on mice with a pde5 inhibitor
that increased memory in mice and lowered that sucky sticky substance
beta amyloid in the brain that causes alzheimers disease
with hopes to start studies in humans in the future
then there was this pde5 inhibitor that was tested years ago
in england for high blood pressure and for angina
angina is heart pain when the blood flow is decreased to the heart
thinking was that this new medication would increase the
blood flow by inhibiting this pde5 enzyme
if it worked it would prevent or help angina
well it didnt work well for either so the study was discontinued
many of you know nitrogylcerin thats used for angina
it works great for that
this pde5 inhibitor didnt though
then a researcher a few years later was reviewing the side effects
for some reasons and noticed the men would seem to get
boners or erections when they took this pde5 inhibitor
so a few weeks ago when we were at the alzheimers conference
in dallas for those of us who have volunteered for research
a professor the one who stuck me for my spinal tap and made
my right leg burn
ouch i said i feel that one
the next week is when i ruptured my disk in my back
i jokingly blamed it on him
no that wasnt the cause of my rupture
i digressed some didnt i
he told us about this new study that was going to be started
at the alzheimers research study soon
using this pde5 ihibitor called sildenafil
of course being a doctor i instantly knew what that was
i had written a lot of prescriptions for that one
many times at the request of wives and girlfriends
and sometimes they requested i not order the medication
this sidenafil would
like the pde5 inhibitor above used in mice
would increase the blood flow to the brain by opening up
narrow vessels and also would decrease the production of
that sticky gooey substance called beta amyloid that may
cause alzheimers disease
the result would be improved memory
then he told everyone the name of the pill
and the snickering and smiling started
its viagra
the little blue pill
my wife she isnt quite sure though if she wants me on
that sildenafil study
but
honey i said
blue is my favorite color
LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE
some people dont like to use humor to ease themselves
in painful or stressful situations
but
ive found using humor defuses that anxiety and fear and
not wanting to talk about its that people get when talking
or not talking about alzheimers disease
as you know my mom died with alzhiemers after a lengthy bout
with the disease
as did my younger brother
his seemed so tragic since he was so young and robust when he
was stricken with that disease alzhiemers
and
my father who died of a heart attack probably had the disease
when i look at what his symptoms were
knowing what i know now about how the disease progresses
we used humor a lot with my mom during her disease progression
in fact the picture i posted two days ago of her when i wrote my
blog on meals on wheels
was one of those days when we used humor with her
she seemed to really enjoy that day
as we dressed her in those sun glasses and that hat which i think
was one of my donald duck hats
she laughed so much and smiled so much that day
so using humor made her feel better and made us feel better
in dealing with having to visit her in the nursing home not
knowing what we would be up against that day
it laughter and humor made for a better day for all involved
alzheimers is one of those diseases that people dont want to talk about
like cancer use to be
it was kept secret alzheimers if your family had it
now
my approach and many peoples approach is to be in the open
like ive done with this blog and my talks and my involvement with
the alzheimers associaton
ask me about alzheimers and ill tell you more than you want to know
i do notice people look at you funny at first when you talk about
the disease freely
and
as i say you know i might have alzheimers disease
im on aricept (donepezil) for the possibility
im in a research study the largest one ever
and
im waiting for treatment studies that start up soon that
may allow folks like me to be treated in the future so that
we wont progress or for younger folks so they wont get the disease
one problem is that congress has defunded alzheimers research
significantly over the last years
which has remarkedly slowed the research for a treatment and cure
so enters laughter humor and congress
as yesterday the comedian and actor
seth rogen did a presentation a speech to congress on alzheimers disease
using humor to make his points
i laughed and at the same time i cried as he talked
as memories of especially my mom and my younger brother and my
thoughts of what the future has in store for me
was invoked by his speech and humor
but
he made his point
laughter is the best medicine
contact your congress persons
this is a non political issue
you if you havent been already will be
i can guarantee
affected by this terrible disease
alzheimers disease
for those of you who read yesterdays blog but cant go to the fundraising austin toros game for meals on wheels but wanted to know how to make a donation go to this link and make a donation in the designation box write in meals on wheels program or send a check to wbc opportunities 604 high tech drive georgetown texas 78626 include a note that the check is for meals on wheels thanks ogd CARING
it provides care when its needed
thats what the obamacare policy provides
some of those who get it will have the first
caring that insurance can provide
so far over over 4 million have signed up for these obamacaring policies
the number of young folks are increasing
that number doesnt count those who have qualified for those
medicaid policies
but it doesnt cover those millions left out of this coverage
because of the decisions of their states
i noticed here in central texas a new hmo that formed to provide
coverage for those new folks who would be covered in that
group between medicaid and private insurance just announced
that rick and his state has screwed them so they wont have all
those new patients to sign up for the hmo
well thats ok though since the taxpayers of central texas will
be supplementing their care to the tune of millions now
but
it didnt have to be that way
the feds were willing to pay the premiums for those folks
now we all will
you dont really ever have to worry about that insurability letter now
that has to show you had unbroken coverage for years
ive got a string of those letters all lined up in a file
ive had to deal with that one since ive retired
it doesnt matter anymore
unless
you have one of those grandfathered policies that doesnt
have to follow the new rules
or
those junk health policies that so many were complaining about
they couldnt continue
folks the new law was just trying to protect you
i call them the antiobamacare policies
sorry if if you are middle age and have a policy you are only paying
$50-$100 a month then you have a piece of junk insurance
policy that wont pay good if you use it
one of our son has had his own insurance policy for 10 years
it was not a junk one though as it was better than most policies
that people had through their work
there were however preexisting conditions attached to it though
that took years and years to go away and even still has some
attachments to it
well they recently removed the breast cancer attachment to it
not that he needed that one
and it had a lifetime limit on how much coverage he had
and there was no preventative care allowed
and many of the other protections the new obamacaring policies have
he signed up in january for a new policy an obamacare one a silver one
that had as good a coverage as his old one at about the same price
with all the obamacaring requirements
it was due to start february 1st
on january 22nd a letter was mailed to him that said the premium would
need to be paid by janurary 23rd or the policy would be discontinued
the problem was he got the letter on monday february 10th
his old grandfathered policy ended at midnight saturday february 8th
so he would have an 8 day overlap of coverage
then
he was skiing on that february 8th
on a double black diamond
me im a bunny slope guy
the ones where if you have to go backwards because you
cant control yourself
its ok
he hit a tree
went to the hospital with a concussion and a broken knee
no hes ok now
learned his lesson about skiing without his helmet though
he doesnt really remember the hospital stay
when he got home he found the letter the next week
i knew his coverage on the old policy had stopped just a few
hours before the accident
we figured he was just screwed
however when he contacted blue shield they said send in the
payment and your coverage will start retroactive to february 1st
so add this to the list of caring provided by the new obamacaring or
affordable care act policies
MEALS NIGHT
foir those of us who are sports fans we are lucky
here in the austin area as we have
3 minor league teams here that play at the highest
level of the minor leagues
when you go to one of the games you may be seeing a player
who will be in the major leagues that year or the next
or youll see a major league player who is playing down
so that they can rehab a sports injury
we have the round rock express the triple a team of the mlb rangers
the texas stars the minor league team for the nhl dallas stars hockey team
then
we have the austin toros the minor league team for the
nba san antonio spurs the austin toros are the team in the nba d league
most of the players if they make it to the nba
will play for the spurs
some will be picked up by other teams later
so the quality of play is just below the nba level
our political leaders on both sides
they are both responsible since the cuts for funding for the
meals on wheels programs was
voted on by both parties
why they would cut funding for a program that feeds the
poor elderly folks in our area
i dont know
wonder if they have trouble sleeping at night
if you see them campaigning bring this up
when i deliver meals on wheels to folks on my route
i am probably the only one that day who will see them
and
the meal we deliver to them is the only one they will get
that day
many split it in half and eat half at lunch and the other
half in the evening
money well spent
now the meals on wheels is having to find monies wherever
they can
to prevent decreasing the numbers of meals they deliver more
than they already do
in the county we serve there is a long waiting list of folks to get on
the meals on wheels
on friday march 7 at 730pm
it will be meals on wheels night at the austin toros game
at the cedar park center in cedar park texas
you can go here to this link to buy discounted tickets for that night
50% of the proceeds go back to the meals on wheels program
one of the cheapest ticket will produce enough for a meal for someone
there will also be a silent auction that night
there will be multiple items for auction
several gift certificates to area restaurants
one is to one of my wife shes favorite one
we will bid that one up for sure
there are sporting tickets to multiple venues like the
round rock express university of texas longhorns austin toros
oh yea the longhorns are our other professional team
come out and join us that night
place a bid on an item
just if you see my name dont overbid me please
WWJD
what would joe do
thats what i was thinking last week as i listened to
the news report
my younger brother was a deputy sheriff for several years
he died last year from that devastating disease
alzheimers disease
the one none of us wants to get
its alzheimers disease then stroke then cancer then heart attacks
thats what america fears
joe was fair
i spoke with him several times about being a policeman
he seemed to deal with people fairly
especially those normal citizens that made a mistake
like speeding
or
maybe jaywalking
no hard core stuff like drugs dwi prostitution murder robbery
those guys didnt get off easy
i even discussed with him once about the time i was stopped
and had my wife she not been there with me i probably would have
made the 6 oclock news like she did
i turned like hundreds of drivers every morning early into a
turn lane
if we all didnt do that then the traffic at that intersection that
time of day would come to a standstill
had been doing it for years
then
there he was behind me with his lights
sir you turned too early on that turn lane
what do you mean everyone does that
look see all those people doing it now
enter my wife she sitting next to me and who gave me
a swift elbow in the ribs
shut up she said youre making him mad
think maybe he had been up all night and was grumpy
as i argued more he got more unhappy
glad he didnt reach and grab me by the arm
i probably would have ended up like she did
although she seemed more innocent than i was
so
i was sore in the ribs by then
i got the message
last week in austin a young college student got ready to
do her morning job
shoes on ear buds in place
put on her toe shoes
i wear those ear buds not the toe shoes
when i work in the yard on weekends to listen
to my garden show
my wife is always talking to me and i cant hear a word
she says
glad she doesnt come up behind me and grab my arm
something bad may come of that
like it did for her
she was running on the drag
thats the area around the university of texas west campus
when you drive down that street everyone knows to
watch out for pedestrians as the students
ok when i go down to this area i do the same thing
just walk out into the street to the other side
you know like deer do sometimes on the roads
or chickens crossing the road
notice how you never seem to hit those chickens
you have to be cautious
then
theres those signs you are suppose to wait for
those white gloved signs that starts sometimes
a countdown to let you know when to stop
however
the rule of the road in that area
if its clear dash across
i do it they do it its the common law
understood by all
so she is running
cuts across like everyone does
now there was a cop a real big cop not tall
writing a ticket to some criminal at the intersection
wonder
why
he wasnt a further east and north
at that intersection
if you live around here you know what it is
ok its rundberg lane
you can get a hit a joint a bag of something a fix a lady
or a man anytime 24/7 a day
we know it they know it the police know it
so why werent those cops over there stopping that criminal
activity instead of working so hard
stopping those student hardened criminals who broke
societies law of
jaywalking
a threat to us all
so she crossed the street runs past the cop he reaches out
and grabs her arm
wrestles her to the ground
how surprised im sure she was as she went down
slammed those handcuffs on her
if she could have jerked away there is no way in hell
that cop could ever have caught her
it appears it took 4 of them to subdue this criminal
as she yelled
i didnt do anything wrong i was just jogging
it was caught mostly on tape and on pictures by bystanders
now she did do wrong when she started to f bomb some
i fbomb did nothing wrong
yes you did you menance to society you jaywalked
youre worse than those rundberg criminals
into the car she went
ok she was fbombing as she went
i fbombed didnt do anything wrong
she wouldnt learn would she
later the police chief seemed a little too grumpy to me
must run in that police force that day
he said something about at least they didnt rape her
seems strange
wonder how he explained that on cnn
all i can say is thank goodness she wasnt black or hispanic
it could have been a lot worse
oh yes across the street while this was all happening
was a reporter for the daily texan the ut newspaper
who was sitting at starbucks drinking his coffee
he caught this all on video which has gone viral
you can even hear him talking to her
and warning other potential criminals who would jaywalk there
she looks like a hardened criminal to me
hope she is a law student
so wwjd
joe would have been fair
im sure in his heart he would have looked at her like he would
have looked at one of his daughters
that look he could give
probably gave a warning a stern warning
not to jaywalk
and would have let her go and finish her run
so she could get back to class
they dont make those cops like him anymore i guess
on days when i take my dogs walking along the 1 mile path
i have mowed in my pastures i get a sense of well being as
i walk
i notice that the rest of the day seems to
go much smoother
i am just 6 feet from whats happening on the ground
as eg now i see all those blue bonnets growing everywhere
that i would not normally see from the driveway or the
road driving by
i can see eg the blue birds as they are searching for a place
to live this year
please take my blue bird houses i have readied for them
yes i talk to them
i love their song they sing
i tell my wife she do you hear the blue birds singing
then there are all those turkeys agobbling down by the river
and that owl that hoots and hoots even in the early morning
i see all the signs the deer have been in my pasture
the tracks the residue they have left the areas where they
seem to be bedding down
they seem to get closer and closer to the house each year
as my pastures and the trees there especially the trees get
more and more grown up
many times in the early morning there are lots of deer that
will travel across our front pasture i guess on the way
back down to the river
so its relaxing to take that short walk
peaceful
and its exercise
our dogs love it
they walk and run a lot more than that mile course
as they follow smells and run through the deep native grasses
we have there
we have a resident road runner bird now that seems to live year round
in our pastures
heck hes around so much our cats and dogs just ignore him
so this relaxing exercise is good for your heart your brain your soul
in the last 3 weeks i have been to two conferences on alzheimers disease
there has been and is now going on a lot of research on the effect
of exercise on the development of dementia and alzheimers
folks its been shown that exercise can decrease the production of
beta amyloid in the brain
that stuff sticky stuff that shows up in alzheimers disease
if you add other things we can do to stay healthy
like
control blood pressure
control cholesterol
control diabetes
control your weight
eat a healthy diet
dont smoke
dont drink excessively
sleep well
wait isnt that what i wrote yesterday when i wrote about things
to decrease the chances of having a stroke
and before on heart attacks
the europeans are big into doing studies on preventative stuff
for the general population
if you look at the above list
its all doable
its cheap to do
most we can do ourselves
and
in their studies the dementia rate can be decreased by 30-40%
over a long period of time
in the us these long term studies are going on now
isnt that where most of us came from the european countries
so
their findings should apply to us
so could this be the major prevention that those of you who
are in your 20s 30s 40s 50s could be doing now
to prevent through treatment with those things listed above
to not get or to remarkably slow down dementia and alzheimers
onset later in life
even starting this later in life in your 60s 70s 80s 90s seems to help
but not as much as in those millenniums
exercise research shows that it increases the number of blood vessels
that supply the brain cells and increase the number of connections
between nerve cells
i swear as im walking in my pastures enjoying the scenery
that i can just feel those new vessels growing and those
nerve cells start interconnecting again
so as of right now the best hope for treatment for me
and for you younger folks the hope for prevention
is to exercise any exercise and to do those things on
the list above
so lets get moving
for your heart and your brain and your soul
DONT HAVE A STROKE
in my practice which was a family practice
made up of mostly young healthy folks with some
older folks
i didnt have many patients who had strokes
if had a patient with a stroke it was usually a young person
sitting here trying to think of the men i had that had strokes
i remember only one and he was 19 when he had his
before he became my patient
his was caused by smoking uncontrolled blood pressure obesity
and severe high cholesterol
but the rest of my stroke patients were young females of
child bearing age
luckily for them there strokes were not life threatening and they
all seemed to have recovered well
there was usually some explanation like the pill hormone replacement
smoking migraines high blood pressure eg
new guidelines came out recently for women for stroke prevention
in addition to the usual recommendations
quit smoking
control blood pressure
control cholesterol
control diabetes
maintain a normal weight
exercise
uh thats the same as ways to slow down or prevent alzheimers also
the new guidelines focused on stroke risks more common in women
stroke is the third leading cause of death in women
they live longer than men so this may be one explanation of the increased
risk of stroke in women
here are the risks migraine with aura
the women who suffers with these have a prodrome or warning before
that awful headache occurs
things like dizziness ringing zigzag lines in your vision light sensitivity eg
i had the zigzag lines once when i was in practice
my first thought was oh shoot im having a dang stroke
women have migraines more common than men and they seem to
be hormone related
if you add smoking birth control to this mix then the risk for stroke
is increased
women with migraine with aura should not smoke
nor should those who dont have migraine with aura atrial fibrillation increases the risk for stroke
women over 75 should be screened for it
the left atrium fibrillates or doesnt beat right and a clot
can form there which can be dislodged and sent to the brain
causing a stroke
most of these i picked up was simply from listening to the heart
beat during an office visit
the treatment is converting this to a normal rhythm with medicine
or mild shock treatment
some women who have this have to take coumadin long term
to prevent clot formation menopause
women use to be given hormones to prevent strokes and heart attacks
thanks you drug companies for lying to us for years birth control pills
women should be screened for high blood pressure before starting
the pill
they probably shouldnt take the pill if they have high blood pressure
or smoke
both increases the risk for stoke
most of the clotting events i had in female patients on birth control
were deep vein thrombosis a clot in the legs and
pulmonary embolism a clot in the lung
which can be fatal
it seems most of those clots were in women who were on the pill
and smoked pregnancy
if a women has preeclampsia which causes elevated blood pressure
in pregnancy they are at increased risk for strokes later in life
and quadruple the risk for high blood pressure
the greatest risk for stroke during pregnancy with preclampsia is
the last 3 months and during the early postpartum time
elevated blood pressure before pregnancy needs to controlled
some women with this condition may need low dose aspirin treatment
during pregnancy aspirin therapy
is recommended for women who have had a stroke not caused by a
ruptured blood vessel but by a clot
is recommended for women over 65
is recommended for women with type 2 diabetes
no one though should take aspirin unless they discuss it with
their doctor
so we men are well acquainted with the fact that women are different
than men
live with one and you know that for a fact
women do have risk factors for stroke that are also different
hopefully women will
take note of these new guidelines on stroke prevention in women
