alzheimers news-a test soon?

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-A TEST SOON?

strewn across our family tree are lots of folks who died
from heart attacks and strokes
and
dementia probably alzheimers disease

when i reached 40 i had my first cholesterol level done
since it had been shown that an elevated cholesterol
especially the ldl cholesterol
the bad i always called it
was associated with an increased risk for heart attack and
later stroke was added to this warning

so because of my family history
my dad died of a heart attack my older brother had his
first one at 60 my mother had multiple strokes
interesting all three also had or probably have alzheimers disease
i decided to have my cholesterol labs or lipid profile done

whoa omg
is what i said when i got mine back
my total cholesterol was over 325 with normal less than 200
my ldl bad one cholesterol was over 240 with normal less than 100
my triglycerides were well over 500

so knowing what lay ahead for me
i did a lot of life style changes
diet
exercise
later a few years later i added the statins to my regimen
so
my lipids now are
total cholesterol less than 200
ldl cholesterol less than 90
my triglycerides less than 100

so having that blood test at 40
probably kept me from having a heart attack or stroke by now
both my dad and older brother had heart disease at my age

as it turns out
knowing now what we now know
it also probably slowed down the progression of alzheimers in
my brain
but at the time i didnt know that

remember whats good for the heart is good for the brain


now researchers have found a way to predict if you will get
alzheimers disease years before you develop it

now i am in a study at ut southwestern using an alzheimers blood test
that according to recent tests seems to be about 90% accurate
in predicting if you have alzheimers disease
years before symptoms start

yes folks that test or one like it will be in your doctors
before this decade is over

yes you can go to your doctor soon
get a blood test
yes you have alzheimers disease you will be told

so if i have alzheimers disease now
when i was 40 the disease process was starting to pick up
so that the bad beta amyloid and tau levels up there would
have been abnormal
my alzheimers blood test would have been positive

do you want to know
is society ready for this test
can you handle this back to the future test

i say yes i can
i sort of did 5 years ago when i got diagnosed
i made even more life style changes
like stricter diet exercise increased mental activity and
social activity more aggressive blood pressure and
cholesterol and weight control use of some
recommended vitamins and supplements that might help
etc etc

now also coming soon this decade
if the phase 3 tests show they work
new treatment and prevention medication can be used
to slow down or prevent this disease

so like the cholesterol test
the alzheimers blood test
can potentially add years and years of good health
alzheimers free

would you have it done
i know i would have


october 31   hays county in san marcos
team organicgreendoctor

november 7   bell county in temple
team organicgreendoctor
i will be the honorary chair for this event

we are close real close to a treatment or cure
we need your help

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-not yet

COUNTRY N NEWS-NOT YET

weve lived here at the county n for 14 years
the last 12 years we have collected rainwater
for our personal use

about 10 years ago our well died so we made
the decision to go all out for a full rainwater system
instead of redrilling a well
that would only produce that hard water that
makes your hair feel like a rope or make it
feel and look like a horses tail
plus
the drains and pipes and filters get all clogged up
with that calcium buildup
plus
the plants dont really like that well water like
it likes rainwater

natures cloud juice is what rainwater is
silky in its feel
taste well theres really not a taste
not that bad taste that well water can have
and
definitely not that chlorinated taste and smell
that city water has

its seems since we switched over to rainwater
as our water source that i can really smell how
bad cty water smells
i guess it helps not to be chlorinated all the time
just look at what clorox will do to mold in a shower
wonder what it does to our guts

so we made the decision to change to rainwater
and
have never looked back since

well
we did twice
once with the severe drought we had a few years ago
we got down to 50 gallons one day
even had to buy a tank of water
ok i bad since i left open the valve that drained a tank
well ok it was two tanks
otherwise we wouldnt have had to buy water

then this summer we went almost 4 months without
measurable rain
just a light sprinkling or two that did no good
but just aggravate us

we got down to 1200 gallons last week
ok i bad i left that same valve open again
drained a full tank again
at least my pasture below the tanks have a full
thick layer of grass

so i was thinking when i was watching the water levels
go down each day
maybe its time we do things different

then
here comes the rain
all 6 inches of slow rain  4 1/2 inches on day one
thats the best kind since we are able to capture all of it
none runs off the gutters like with those typical texas rainstorms
where you can lose a lot of the water
not this time

since i know the collection surface of my buildings
i can calculate how much water i should collect

this time since there was no wasted water
i calculated correctly how much water would be
in our tanks

so we went from 1200 gallons to 10400 gallons for drinking
and
2500 gallons for our irrigation

now we are happily awaiting rainfall this weekend to
add to that number

so forget all about my wondering if we should do something
else
our coffee tastes good
we drink water now rainwater with all our meals
our clothes are soft
our hair is silky
our skin is soft and smooth
our pipes are all clean and uncorroded
we have happy happy plants in our garden
our bees dogs cats chickens birds butterflies all get to
drink rainwater

its all worth being the water man to maintain this system
changing filters cleaning gutters pumping water around
sometimes from tank to tank

it all keeps my wife she happy
a happy wife means a happy life
right

the organicgreen doctor

final answer

FINAL ANSWER
i can remember helping my sons with math
i always liked math
you know
its something that there was one way to do things
something concrete you could always count on
like
a+b=c
always
and
c-b=a
always
c-a=b
always

eg
1+2=3
3-2=1
3-1=2

you could always count on math
it was always consistent
not like
the weather
politics
writing
life

i would help my sons with their math
quickly coming up with the correct answer
but
no they had to come up with the answer by
doing the calculations another way
using lots of steps going around in circles
then
spittoon out came the answer
sort of like putting it into a calculator
the answer is right
but how the hell did you come up with that answer

so
5+5+5=15
no thats not correct
its
3+3+3+3+3=15
now thats the correct answer

looks to me like both are correct


now 5+5+5 has another meaning
its not 15
if you want to know just google it
or click the links

take that common core math
bet you didnt know that one

heres the way i would have done it
the old school way i guess you would call it

5x3=15

thats my final answer

its the multiplication tables
ok you dont know what those are
just google it also

i guess im missing something
with this common core math

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-time change

DEAR MS B-TIME CHANGE

now ms b
there is this thing called
daylight saving time
or
as i like to call it
daylight losing time

this is going to get a little confusing
when you go to bed saturday night
lets say at 800pm
if you wake up at 800am the next day
it will really be 700am
or
wait
will it be 900am

lets see spring forward
fall back
its the fall so we fall back
so we fall back from 800am
so it will be 700am

wait
or is just the opposite
do you fall back but you really move forward
to 900am
because
in the spring you spring forward
so it would be 700am in the spring
since its the opposite of what you think

wait ms b
do i have this all wrong
is it fall forward
and
spring backwards

ms b
im so confused

so i never can seem to figure it out
all i know
is that i get up when its real dark
get on my computer
drink my rich black coffee
wake up
then when the sun comes up
i go outside to do my outside work

kinda like the farmers did
before we tried to change mother nature
cant we just go by the sunrises and sunsets

now i know you are confused also
maybe even worrying if you will be forgotten
for an hour
or
that you may lose an hour of sleep
or
that you will sleep another hour

ms b
just wake up sunday morning
start googooing real loud
maybe laugh a lot
then
if that doesnt work
just start crying real loud

now matter what the time is
theyll change you and feed you
they will either be sleep deprived
or
they will have overslept

ms b
i just cant figure out which it will be

the organicgreen doctor

dilbert knows medicine

DILBERT KNOWS MEDICINE
before you read this blog today
click on the link below
if you dont you wont understand this blog

dilbert sunday october 25 2015

for copyright reasons i couldnt post the strip on this blog


now i read dilbert everyday
its my comic of choice
theres this edge that i like
i guess i think like this sometimes

but
ive thought a lot about medicine since ive retired
and
had to go to the other side
the patients side
sorry
i dont like that side of medicine
but
ive learned to accept it

if youve been to a doctor lately
many of them have electronic medical records
so
they look at the screen
read the screen
type in something
ask you questions
dont hardly ever look you in the eyes
or
look at you
watch your mannerism your movements your face
when you talk
yes
they are missing a lot of whats the art of medicine
knowing your patients
reading them
yes providers
you have to look at us when you talk
touch us some maybe pat our shoulders
rub the kids head
heck i use to take my finger and put it on the kids
shirt and say
whats that
when they looked down
i would touch the tip of their nose
gotcha i would say
they loved it
i enjoyed it
a bond was being built between me and the kiddo
i rubbed his or her hair
see ya next time

is all that going to go away
with the dilberting of medicine

yes
im afraid is is
im afraid it already has

not sure how it can be fixed

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-can you help me please

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-CAN YOU HELP ME PLEASE

i frequently get messages like this via facebook email
messenger or texting
folks asking for help deciding what to do for
themselves or a loved one with memory issues

this person a former patient
no i consider them once a patient always a patient
messaged me
asking for help with her parent who lives with the family

my parent is having memory issues
my parent had an episode of several minutes where
they didnt know who they were or where they were
they were confused
then it cleared up
i dont know what to do

so i went into my doctor mode
my alzheimers disease memory loss mode

from hearing the story i knew this patient would eventually
end up at a neurologists office for definite care
however
knowing the system like i do it can take awhile for someone
to get into see a neurologist

so enter the primary care provider
the entry road to the healthcare system

i knew that there were possibilities causing this
some of them real bad
some of them that couldnt wait that long to see the neurologist

like a brain tumor a stroke a hematoma from a fall an aneurysm
too much fluid in the brain
things that really needed to be ruled out sooner than later
things like vascular dementia alzheimers disease could be
diagnosed at a slower pace with no rush in doing the workup

i recommended a primacy care provider appointment as soon as
possible
if before the appointment the episode occurred again
the parent should go to the emergency room

eg i remember my mom had slipped and fallen
when she was taken in a ct scan was done which showed
a subdural hematoma from the fall
luckily it was small and nothing had to be done about it
a larger one that continued to bleed would have required surgery

if i was the primary care provider for this patient
i would do a careful history and examination to look for causes
of thier memory loss and confusion
an irregular heart beat eg atrial fibrillatin can cause clots
to be sent up to the brain causing these symptoms
a fall uncontrolled blood pressure uncontrolled cholesterol
uncontrolled diabetes
medications that would affect the memory
symptoms of depression or severe anxiety or lack of sleep
on exam i would look for signs of neurological deficits
like drooping of face or eyelids or muscle weakness or
increased or decreased reflexes gait problems
confusion in answering questions

i would probably do a brief mental exam to generally find out
what the memory level was

my priority for this visit would be to find an acute cause
that could be life threatening that needed to be addressed

then based on what showed up in the history and exam
i would do screening labs like cbc chemistry profile thyroid level
vitamin b12 and probably add a vitamin d level while i was
drawing blood and add an urinalysis
elderly patients especially females can get confused from utis

then i would do an mri on this patient to rule out most of the
bad things that could be going on that would need sooner
treatment

other things to consider would be a carotid ultrasound to
check neck circulation

so a primary care provider could and should do all this workup
then fine tuning the care can be done by them
or referral to an appropriate specialist

on her parent the mri showed some brain shrinkage
and what sounds like white matter hyperintensities
although i dont have the mri to look at

these are areas that start showing up in folks who may
have eventually have a stroke or have alzheimers
its associated with high blood pressure high cholesterol diabetes
i think of them as microscopic strokes in some cases
from either hemorrhage or ischemia
eg i have two of these on my scans but over five years there have
been no new ones

so she is left with a parent who has some mild atrophy of the
brain with memory loss

there is an upcoming neurology appointment
this parent should not let the parent go to any of their appointments
alone
so whats left to do
maybe more labs
carotid ultrasound
memory test probably in office or neuropsychological test to see where
the patient is with their memory and to act as a baseline

so if nothing else is found
this parent may have memory loss from vascular causes
ie vascular memory loss

the idea is to maximize a persons health
good control of blood pressure and diabetes and cholesterol
maintain good sleep habits
watch for anxiety and depression
be careful with medications
avoid excessive alcohol
do exercise even if its walking around the block once a day
be active
make sure the person is active socially
dont let them isolate themselves get them involved in something
make them stay mentally active reading writing using the computer
if possible
dont let them get stagnate

sometimes aspirn is added
sometimes based on what the memory loss looks like
aricept or (donnepezil) like i take is added

then
they and their family need to be ready for the future
start planning now
make sure these documents are done now
will power of attorney power of attorney for healthcare living will
no cpr form for when things get worse
families wait too late sometimes to do this and it takes
the legal system and courts to get these done
please dont wait on these

i have all these forms done

then be ready as someone in this family will become
a caregiver
a tough tough job sometimes

then do all this
but
enjoy each day as much as you can with this person
sometime in the future you and your family will
be glad that you did

thats what i would tell her and others that ask me
enjoy the moment


october 31   hays county in san marcos
team organicgreendoctor

november 7   bell county in temple
team organicgreendoctor
i will be the honorary chair for this event

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-plant fall garden now

COUNTRY N NEWS-PLANT FALL GARDEN NOW
this week i bumped into one of my neighbors and former patients
at the grocery store
she said i want to do a garden but my soil is bad
that i know since i have the same soil
i told her read my blog on thursday and ill explain
what to do

first
she needs raised beds since she has limestone just
under the surface
use concrete blocks to build the frame
i suggested she start with 3 across both ends
then 3 between these to form the other sides
like in this picture of my wifes shes school garden

go buy good garden soil
dont go cheap here
these soils at some of the soil yards have everything
in it to start with like fertilizer compost greensand etc
dump and plant is what i recommend

so if shell do that she is caught up with where i am
now as i plant my fall garden
hoping it doesnt get all washed away by the 7-10 inches
of rain we are expected to get over the next 3 days
our ground is so dry its like a humongous sponge
that might soak up a lot of this

remember
this is the best time to garden in this area
the fall and winter

so i planted these things based on what we like to eat
and what seems to grow well on the country n location

carrots beets lettuce spinach sweet peas swiss chard
multiply onions cilantro broccoli cabbage
brussell sprouts better known at poot balls by
someone i know
asian greens kale arugula
the lettuce spinach kale swiss chard i trim and eat
as we need it and it just grows back
giving us a fall winter of greens for our salads

now a few weeks ago i prepped my beds
by adding compost organic fertilizer a dusting of
cottonseed meal liquid molasses and liquid humus
covering it with a layer of mulch
letting it sit to ripen until i was ready to plant
i use ladybug brand of 8-2-4 organic fertilzer available
at local nurseries
other options are growin green by medina available at
nurseries and lowes or home depot
gardenville has a good organic fertilizer also

to my neighbor and former patient
your soil if you get the good organic bulk stuff
it has all this in there
just go ahead and plant it

in this bed i planted my cilantro broccoli cabbage
poot balls asian greens kale arugula
in the middle of the beds i buried 5 gal buckets
with holes drilled in the bottom and every 6 inches
up the sides to allow me to water deeply and
to add liquid fertilizer when needed

i used this on my tomatoes this year and it did
a good job of getting them through the hot dry summer

remember i have deep in the bottom of all my beds
logs limbs cardboard twigs leaves newspapers to
hold water deep down where the roots can go

i planted each plant in a hole
adding this earthworm castings to the hole
this stuff gives the new plants a real jump start

then i watered the plants with liquid sea weed
which has hormones and minerals that
stimulate rapid root growth

i then added a layer of mulch
i like to use pine straw since it lets water through easily
and
covered it all with a black mesh sun screen
that blocks the sun since we have been
exceptionally warm this fall
as soon as the weather cools off ill remove it

later when it starts getting cold ill cover them
with row cover to keep them from freezing
all this stuff will still be there
come march
giving us a good winter of fresh greens to eat

here is my circular bed where i planted my
carrots beets spinach lettuce swiss chard multiplying onions
and sweet peas
i plant my spinach from plants since it can be hard
to get the spinach seeds to grow
the carrots and beets and lettuce i plant from seeds
heres how i do it

i get an old spice shaker
add several packs of different lettuce seeds
i use renees gardens seeds
then i sprinkle them over the area where i have the beds prepped
lightly sprinkling soil over them gentling packing it down
with my hands
ill replant more in 2 weeks

i do the same with the carrots and beets

i plant the sweet peas every 2 inches around the frame in the
middle of the bed
they will run up the tomato cage i have placed there

then i cover it all with the sunscreen
especially since lettuce does not like the heat
i will water the seeds daily if we dont have rain until
they are well established
dont let the soil dry out early on or the tender plants will die

next i planted my bed of garlic
i used garlic from last years crop
picking the best looking ones
overtime i will use country n natural selection to produce
a garlic better suited to our location
i also added a row of organic garlic from the natural gardener
to add diversity

i broke open the garlic bulb
picking the betst looking cloves

planting them pointed side up 1 inch deep
1 hookup sign width apart ie 6 inches
then i watered them well with sea weed
they almost take care of themselves

ill cover them with row cover when it gets real cold here
i planted 90 of them which is enough to last us a year
and provide cloves for planing next year

so folks
thats how i do it here at the country n
a method learned from lots of reading talking to other gardeners
listening to gardening shows
and
lots of trial and error mostly error

it sure seems to work well for us

the organicgreen doctor

live longer

LIVE LONGER
heres how to do it
to live a longer life
from an article i read in webmd

protect your telomeres
your dna shrinks as you get older
like everything else
telomeres are on the end of your dna
lengthen them by healthy living

play to win
plan well think things through do the right thing

make friends
socialization as you age is important

chose the right friends
those with bad habits can have a bad influence

dont smoke

sleep restfully

eat a mediteranean diet

get married
youll live longer
usually

lose weight
obese folks get more diseases and die younger
being miserable as they go along

keep moving
do exercise either structured or unstructured exercise
like i do here at the country n

drink in moderation

get spiritual
those in church groups
like the long lived 7th day adventists in loma linda
live longer

forgive
let those grudges go
relieves a lot of stress

wear safety gear
like seat belts bike helmets
folks that asphalt does bad things to your head

make sleep your priority
folks i got that one down good
sleep is when the brain repairs itself

manage stress
easy to say hard to do
do yoga go for a walk sit and enjoy the moment somewhere
relaxing for you

maintain a sense of purpose
men who dont do this die more from heart attack and stroke

so i looked at all of these
and
these are why i feel like my health has improved so much
over the last 5 years

you should try it

the worst it can do is make you live longer

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-phe garden 2

DEAR MISS B-PHE GARDEN

miss b
now this story is not sad like the one last week

im telling you this story because i want you to
develop a love for the outdoors
for nature
for organic green living
getting those little hands grubby from digging in the dirt
like ive said before maybe eating a little of it
especially my garden soil

oh ms b if you look under your bed there is a ziplock
plastic bag that has some of my garden soil in it
if you eat it dont tell mom and dad
but
be sure and tell me ok

heres the story
its fate that all this happened

so last spring im standing in line at meals on wheels
ms b
when you get older you can go with me
those old folks will love you
i started talking to another volunteer
she said something about having a car load of peppers
and tomatoes in her car
that they were planting at her girls school
my ears perked up
so i started talking about gardening with her

she said something like we could use some help
i said
ill be there

so ms b
heres is the garden this fall
ill call it phe 1 garden
thats the name of the school the e is for elementary
the 1 ill explain in a second

oh ms b
 that scarecrow thats fred that was in the barn
the one i backed into in the dark
the one that scared the beejeevies out of me
he looks changed
those crows are scared of him or should i say her now

so ive been helping with phe 1 since then
helping plant stuff finding supplies for them
giving advise when needed and asked

well ms b this weekend
fate struck again

after our walk to end alzheimers walk in little rock
i took a short nap
then
when i woke up our friend and your gma they said
lets go to the harvestfest
now i was sort of not awake but not wanting to be
a spoil sport i said ok

as we were walking down looking at the long long row
of booths on the street
my wife she thats your gma she
said ogd look at this come here you wont believe this

i walked over and looked at the exhibit
here ms b was a sign that said phe garden
fate struck again

i spent a long time talking to the teacher who directs the
phe 2 project
and
the parent that does the parent side of things

miss b
they gave us one of those yellow bell peppers
which we ate in our salad last night
it was so sweet and flavorful

miss b
heres the story
heres their website www.phegarden.wordpress.com/
we toured the place

this is the nice sign between the long row of carrots

the garden is run by the students under the direction of the
teacher
they got several grants to finance all this
including one from the game and fish commission to
develop a habitat on the school grounds for birds and animals

now miss b
this school is only a few blocks from where we spent 7 years of
our lives while i did medical school and training
yes your dad lived there
this school has over half their students from poverty level families

all kids rich and poor are involved here

here is an outdoor classroom
they do math class here science class art class music class
english class well most of the classes use this area
since gardening uses all these different curriculum
heck here at the country n i use all them frequently

here is the long rows of carrots and beets

here is a garden of peppers egg plants flowers beds being
put to rest like when you go night night

so what do they do with all that produce
well some of it is used for cooking class demonstrations
by different cooks in the area

much of it miss b
guess what they do
they take it to the local farmers market on saturday
and
sell it
can you imagine being in the fourth grade and getting to
do all this
digging in the dirt
playing with worms
planting seeds and veggies plants
harvesting all that produce
doing the math to figure out how much to plant
what sizes the beds need to be
how much profit is made
writing about all this like im doing now
maybe a poem or maybe a crayon drawing of a pepper plant
like the yellow one we ate

miss b
the use of this little garden is endless
i bet if you were involved in this in your future school
you would have memories of it that will last forever
hopefully instilling in you
a love of all things
outside
organic
sustainable
a life time of remembering

yes miss b
it was all fate

do you believe in fate
i do miss b

the organicgreen doctor

i be ready

I BE READY
we had a nice weekend seeing a friend who has been ill
but seems much better
and
doing a walk to end alzheimers in little rock in front
of the clinton library

on team #joenash
the walk raised $100,000
for research and education
some of the monies from these walks are used in the
study i am in now

i saw the neurologist at the alzheimers research centers
memory care clinic on friday
in reviewing things with her over the last five years
my memory is much improved
maybe even normal based on what i notice
and
what she sees on my memory tests

i am under no illusion here that its all gone
its there just waiting to rise up and take over

now next month i will have my memory tests updated again
as part of the study im in
as well as
maybe getting a new scan for tau in the brain
quick review
tau is the protein that unravels in the brain in alzheimers
forming tangles and destroying brain cells
in the process
lots of inflammation occurs
the bad beta amyloid accumulates first then the tangles of tau

now that tau can be seen on scans

also ill be doing new memory tests online from home for
the study

but the most exciting is
they are getting new treatment studies there
one in particular that i really want to get in
using one of the new vaccines

in preliminary studies
when given to folks with memory loss
the memory tests improved
as well as
that bad beta amyloid gets removed from the brain

if this study shows it works well
it will become the new treatment for alzheimers
probably before folks have symptoms
yes
before folks have symptoms

i have to have the amyvid pet scan to get in the study
the scan for the bad beta amyloid
if its positive you probably have alzheimers disease
or will get it

so if i get into the study
that means only one thing
my scan is positive
which means
i probably do have alzheimers disease
so
ill know in january or february
good way to start the new year

so if i get a call
ogd you are accepted in the study
ill be maybe a little sad
that means only one thing
you got it
the big a

however
it is exciting
since i would if i dont get the placebo
a 50/50 chance
be getting treatment that if it works
will slow this stuff down
and
if it works
it will be available for public use for
everyone so diagnosed
soon after that

so
for my wife she and family
guess what i want for christmas
thats right
an amyvid pet scan and intravenous infusions each month
for 18 months

folks
i be ready

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-reflection

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-REFLECTION

thats what ive been doing the last few days
reflection
it happens every year as this time
when i have my annual neurology appointment

i try to look back to where i was at one year ago
and
try to see where im at
am i better
am i worse

i must say
i feel im better
my memory doesnt seem to have worsened

i seem to be in good physical health
heck i walked right up that enchanted rock a few
weeks ago without getting short winded at all
i can work all day with younger folks doing the
landscaping at habitat
i do lots of manual labor around here
so im ok physically
then

i  seem to be doing ok
i dont feel depressed
im not stressed out
while we do need a little rain around here
maybe thats coming next week
i dont feel too sad about things
but
writing the blog about my younger brother
and
alzheimers this week did bother me some
but
overall all im doing ok

for this appointment
i plan to try to get into a new treatment study
hopefully one using one of the alzheimers vaccines

if i dont get the placebo and if it works then i will have
gained 2-3 years of treatment
a 50/50 chance of getting the treatment
odds ill take
since the odds of no treatment would be 0%

then if the study shows it will be effective
i will jump onto the treatment wagon when its commercially available

in fact we are planning on it being available in our near future
choosing our drug plans and our future financial
planning
knowing that it will cost $20,000 a year
hopefully we will have to pay only a percentage of that

in preliminary studies on a small number of
folks with mild memory loss
they not only got better as measured by improved memory
but
they also had less bad beta amyloid accumulation in the brain
that red stuff on the scan below

that is if it works
so the next few months will be hopeful ones

these treatment studies are important
since
if they work
my siblings my sons my nephews my nieces my cousins
may be able to be evaluated earlier in life
and
be able to begin treatment years before symptoms occur
so
this is why its so important
its very personal

then
if i enter the study i will finally have the
amyvid pet scan
for alzheimers where i will be able to get the results
it measures the bad beta amyloid in the brain
that red stuff in the above scan

if its positive
its the final test that solidifies my diagnosis
well as well as can be done without a brain autopsy
when this is all over with

or
if i dont get into the treatment study
i plan to pay for the amyvid pet scan myself
as
i want a final answer
so we can definitely plan our future days


then on saturday
we will do the little rock
walk to end alzheimers
on my younger brothers team
#joe nash

so the next two days will be all about
alzheimers disease
and
how to stop it

the organicgreen doctor

its real

ITS REAL
when i was twenty years old
i moved from southern arkansas
where it seemed the air where we lived
seemed so clear
no permanent haze was seen all the time

i moved to southern california to the high desert
another place with nice clean air
except when the winds would blow the
wrong direction
and
this stuff would come over the mountains down
into the desert floor
producing a fog like sky as it spread out
over the desert

i did notice an increase in the number of asthma
patients and emphysema patients uring smog time
in the emergency room where i worked while in college
as an emergency room technician

then
after living there for a few weeks
i took a trip up into the mountains
through the pass down into the los angeles basin
there
was this rusty red cloud
i said to my historian brother whom i lived with at the time
that sure is a strange looking cloud
its so thick and seems to go for miles and miles

he said
man thats smog


as we drove down the other side of the mountain into
the valley below
it was real thick
heck it was like a fog that had moved in
at times you could barely see across the street at times
almost china like

then
later i moved down there with my new wife she
we
lived there
worked there
went to college there for two years

in the winter the wind would blow all that stuff
out to sea
you could look out in the distance
and
see the beautiful mountains
well there were a lot of dead trees up there
supposedly killed by all that smog

one good thing about living in all that smog
it made me quit smoking
i hacked and coughed all the time while living there
even wheezed and rattled inside
thats crazy i said
so i quit smoking

then my respiratory symptoms went away

what if i smoked for years and lived in that smog all my life
imagine how rotten my lungs would have been

then imagine what would happen to trees and plants and animals
that live in all that stuff
it would not be a good thing
they would all die young

recently i was thinking
so thats what climate change is
and
how it can be affected by  pollution


pretend my lungs were the earths surface
all those microcilia were the trees
and
all that slimy mucous junk that was coming up
was what would be happening to our earth
leaving me with denuded damaged scarred lung lining
then
imagine
know you dont have to imagine
its there to see
a mountain of trees dying
what grows in it place
what effect does that have on all the environment
sorry
it cant be good

now suppose thats happening everywhere
plus all the natural changes that are occurring
its not good when the north pole is melting
where they gonna put that perry flag
on a buoy on the ocean

how oh how we can we afford to not do nothing

those who dont believe in climate change
cant
afford to be wrong

itll be too late

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-not a pioneer

COUNTRY N NEWS-NOT A PIONEER

here at the country n we are glad we are not in the pioneer days
if we were
we would starve to death or die from dehydration



on the left is the drought in july
at that time we had gone a month without measurable rain
where we live is the light white color
on the right is the drought in october
at that time we had gone 3 1/2 months without measurable rain
where we live is the darkest of the colors
that dark maroon aggie color

starting in june we had all our rainwater tanks filled up
24,000 gallons
i donated 6,000+ of that to my garden to keep it alive
leaving us with 18,000 gallons
of which i accidentally drained over 3,000 gallons
leaving us with 15,000 gallons
sure wished we had that tank of water back

which as of today we have 2500 gallons left
if we dont get rain in the next 30 days we will be out
of water
the last time this happened was during the severe drought
over the last few years
again i drained two tanks accidentally during the drought

now unlike the pioneers
i can buy water in 1500 gallon increments if i have to

now we chose to use rainwater for our only water source
it just seems like the right thing to do
for our environment
plus
if youve ever
drank rainwater
washed your hair in rainwater
showered in rainwater
washed your dishes in rainwater
washed your clothes in rainwater
grown a garden only using rainwater
then
you understand why we do it

so we have learned how to conserve water on a daily basis
short showers
reusing shower water in the landscape
using greywater in the landscape
not over using water while washing hands or brushing teeth
having a washing machine that doesnt use too much water
not watering landscape as we only have xeric native plants
using our 10 acres for nature when possible
ok thats a male thing
it makes a great weed killer
maybe an outhouse is in our future

now all of you who dont have rainwater systems should be
doing this also
dont worry you may have a lot of water now but the time
is coming when the shortage will get worse
the new war will be over water rights

now look at you water bill to see how much water you
are using each month
it may be surprising and wasteful
well disgusting to those who chose rainwater as our water source

now in my garden i am switching over to water conservation
methods
i now water the larger plants like tomatoes peppers winter greens
with buried basins like 5 gallon buckets and 1 gallon buckets
that water deep into the soil
this puts the water where it needs to be
and
uses less water to keep the garden going

we also use heavy mulching with newspapers pine straw
your leaves you give me
we also will be digging trenches between the beds this fall
then fill them up with mulch items to act as a water sink to hold
even more water in the soil in the garden

so in summary
im not a pioneer
i have a lot of respect for pioneers
but
ive learned a lot from what they did to stay alive
we use it here every day
maybe
yall should be doing it also


october 17   little rock
team #joe nash

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-youdve liked him

DEAR MS B-YOUDVE LIKED HIM


ok ms b this will be the last sad blog i write to you
well i hope it is

you have two ancestors named joe
both are not with us now
both taken down by two different diseases
one taken by an als like disease
the other taken by alzheimers disease
one your other grandpa
the other your great uncle

now your grandpa joe i only met once
even though he was ill you could tell he
was a powerful man
powerful in the way he carried himself
but
compassionate

i wish i could have got to know him better


the other joe
your uncle joe
was also compassionate
had a great smile
worked for years as a fireman then later a deputy sheriff
loved his family like the other joe did
loved life like the other joe did
loved hunting and outdoor stuff the other joe loved the outdoors

ms b he had two daughters and two granddaughters
so he knew about raising girls

now this weekend ms b
we will be honoring uncle joe
at a walk to end alzheimers in little rock
walking with his familys team
#joe nash

we will be walking to raise money for the
alzheimers association to use for research and education
on alzheimers disease

you see ms b
we are getting close real close to finding a true treatment
and a cure
real close

when we walk this weekend these are the four folks we
will be walking for

nell-your great grandmother a nurse
charles-your great grandfather a minister
charles-another great uncle still with us a retired army man
then
joe-your great uncle joe taken like your grandpa joe much too
soon before their lives were complete

ms b uncle joes wife 2 daughters 1 grandson 2 granddaughters
will all shed tears this weekend as they walk
as will his friends and siblings that are walking
and
those who cant be there will be thinking of him and his
family saturday morning

yes ms b
your gma and i still cry every time we do this
walk for uncle joe and our other family members
affected by this terrible disease

ms b
if you met your uncle joe
you would have liked him
his smile
his laugh
yes he would probably pinch your cheeks
maybe give you a kiss

yes ms b

youdve liked him



october 17   little rock
team #joe nash

the organicgreen doctor