my story revisited

MY STORY REVISITED
last week as we were driving up to dallas to the alzheimers research center
at ut southwestern
thats where all this started five years ago
unsuspecting i was then
i thought about how i felt driving up in 2010
compared to a few weeks later
compared to how i felt driving up last week
compared to how i feel today writing this blog

8 years ago i underwent a mental testing for my long term care insurance
that took about 30 minutes
i got all the answers correct
normal is to even miss a few
i didnt

5 years ago i volunteered for the adni study
and
to be followed yearly at the alzheimers research center
because of my familys history of alzheimers disease
i was to be in the normal control group of the study
as i sat taking the memory test
some questions similar to the ones i had answered 3 years previously
all correct
now those answers were just not there that day
thats
when i realized there was a problem

a few weeks later i met with a neurologist
received the diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment
known as amnestic  mci
the precursor usually to full blown alzheimers disease

thinking back
it was a devastating diagnosis to me
and
to my wife she and my family
i immediately stopped practicing never to return
it turned my life our life upside down

all i could think was the terrible awful fight my mother
and younger brother had with the disease
i and we werent ready to be there yet
later that year a lengthy lengthy several hour evaluation by
our long term disability insurance confirmed the diagnosis again

so what did i do
what would you have done
luckily finances were not an issue with us

in regards to finances i put all my investments in our iras into a
target date fund only one making it easy for my wife she
to manage whenever i could not do it anymore
before with the help of my financial planner rainwater brother
my investments were more complicated and required more
regular interventions
so i simplified them knowing my wife she would never figure it out

i made sure all our legal documents were done
will power of attorney power of attorney for health care living will
no cpr when the time comes

now if i pass out
dear my wife she remember that time is not here yet

i did lots and lots of reading on alzheimers
i at times realize i know more about whats happening in alzheimers
research than many neurologists and most primary care doctors

i decided to find those things that have been possibly shown to
make me better make this disease process slow down
if you had noticed the problems i had the first time i did the memory
tests at the alzheimers center in yourself
you would have been very very concerned about having dementia
there was no doubt in my mind after that day that
my time had arrived

so heres what i did
i decided to be actively involved with the alzheimers association in
their walks to end alzheimers
knowing they were the big fund raisers for the fight against this disease
our government had drastically cut funding for this disease
actually delaying potential treatments by several years

i decided to be up front and personal with this disease
talking freely about my diagnosis what i feel about it
about my families fight with this disease
mother father brothers aunts uncles now maybe myself

i decided to do talks and answer questions about this disease
for folks seeking answers
ive done lots and lots of these over the last few years
as well as
helping families navigate the medical system to get the proper workup
diagnosis and treatment

i decided to be active socially mentally and physically
so i volunteer at meals on wheels habitat for humanity alzheimers association
and help with some school gardens
as well as maintain my own garden and ten acres

i decided to get aggressive with my health
get max control of my blood pressure
get max control of my cholesterol
get active doing my country n aerobics
get my blog to write at least once a week on alzheimers disease
for others to read and learn
get my weight and diet under good control
which ive maintain a normal weight and an almost vegetarian diet
the mind diet
get the most of life out of each day that i can without being too ocd
about it
i rarely sit around wasting time
sometimes i think i need to do more of that
get myself to relax and meditate some
i do this commonly when i work outside

then with the consultation with my neurologist
i decided to take aricept or donepezil for the possibility of this
being alzheimers disease

now ive had the side effects
initially they were severe but most are tolerable now
i mostly just shrug them off
nausea dizziness blurred vision leg cramps burst of energy in the am
loss of energy in the afternoon and evening restless sleep
real vivid non disturbing dreams
but
the worst side effect
the one that makes me at time not want to take the aricept
the lack of sleep it causes every night
as i told my wife she this weekend
imagine if you got only 5 hours of sleep a night
i know what you would be doing
riding a broom is what you would be doing

now i compensate for that loss of sleep by taking afternoon naps
without them i would be a zombie
now i have had bad zombie dreams where they were about to
get me but those have gotten better

i have incorporated these naps into my life
sometimes they interfere with things
but
thats a sacrifice ive made
knowing what could happen if i stopped the aricept or donepezil
i might come crashing down to a lower level of mental capability
that i would not recover from

for people like me with amnestic mci who carry the double barrel
apoe 4 gene
the gene that puts you at risk for late onset alzheimers
taking aricept or donepezil early on may delay the onset for several
years
the onset of that drop off a cliff that eventually occurs with alzheimers

those without the apoe 4 dont get as much benefit
i guess thats one good way to look at having the double apoe4 gene
i guess

this last week as i was taking my memory test
the same or similar ones ive taken before
i knew as i was taking it that i was definitely better than 5 years before

lets put a number on it
30 being perfect
for my long term care evaluation i was a 30
for my intial memory test at the alzheimers center i was a 23
trust me if your result was this low it would bother you
now
5 years late my score is 27 which is consider in the normal range

so basically i have returned back to a normal evaluation

why
i think its because of all the things ive done to improve my health
both my wife she and i agree that it may be partially due to the
benefit of the aricept or donepezil
i take 12 different supplements that have been implied to possibly
help with improvement of cognition or memory
basing it on a recent research study form the alzheimers center
at ucla

so putting it all together
i feel like i probably have early early alzheimers disease
based on going from normal to abnormal memory over 3 years
having a strong strong family history of the disease
having the double apoe 4 gene that puts me at risk
having low beta amyloid in the spinal fluid and elevated tau protein
in the spinal fluid both are associated with alzheimers disease
to be done in jan or feb a amyloid pet scan which if positive
means that what i have is more likely alzheimers disease

so my wife she and i have some hope now compared to 5 years ago
hope that this thing has been slowed down some
actually hopefully a lot
making our future more promising

yes
we have hope for the future

thanks to all of you who have supported us over the last few years
thanks to all of you who read my blog and share it
and
help spread to the word on alzheimers

yes
my wife she and i
had a very happy thanksgiving

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-la bobera

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-LA BOBERA

there is early onset alzhiemers disease
it less common
its what alice had in the movie still alice

basically if you inherent the gene for alzheimers
you will get the disease
a cruel way to pass down your genes
a lethal one

dailymail.com.uk
a researcher at uc santa barbara has looked closely at the genetics
of a town in colombia
called
yarumal in the state of antioquia
well known for the wrong reason
for the worlds largest population of folks with alzheimers disease

5,000 carry the mutation for early onset alzheimers
1/2 of them will be diagnosed with alzheimers at 45
the other half will die before they are 65 with
what they call
la bobera
the foolishness

the researcher drew blood on 102 folks from antioquia and found
72 folks with the mutation gene for alzheimers disease
all 72 destined to die from this awful disease

using genetic analysis and historical data
like a super ancestry.com
the conclusion based on the fact the dna was tracked to
western europe
was that there was a common ancestor to all those folks
in antioquia who had the awful alzheimers gene

a spanish conquistador who had the mutation gene in his dna

an infiltration into their society that has harmed generations and
generations of folks

now this area is an hot bed of research on alzheimers disease
many of the new treatments that are being tested
are tested here
a large population of folks all of who are going to die from
alzheimers

one problem with the study
all those tested who were positive were not told they had the disease
since genetic counseling was not available to the population

whether this was ethical is another discussion

one boy asked to be told if his was positive

why
the researcher asked
there is no treatment

the boy took his hand shaped it like a gun
cocked back the thumb

well you get the picture

la bobera


this is alzheimers awareness month
the clinic where i worked did an interview with me
on alzheimers
here is the link to the article they wrote
three facts you should know about alzheimers

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-help of many

COUNTRY N NEWS-HELP OF MANY

i do the landscape planning for the williamson county
habitat for humanity
i take what the new home owner wants with the confines
of how much money is left over at the end of construction
and
what donations of supplies and plants
are made for the project

sometimes theres not much money or much supplies or
plants available so i do what i can to make the
place look as nice as possible
knowing what the restrictions are to make a landscape plan

then the biggest contributions are made by volunteers
who help clean up the lot
move tons of debris
cut down old shrubs old fences old barbwires
old trash like bottles metal you name it we find it
on the property some of it buried

these volunteers work hard
sometimes in oppressive heat and freezing weather
rarely are there complaints
im always amazed to watch especially the high school kids
who work so hard to help out
as i say i always feel good about our future after
working with these kids

this group from westwood and rouse high schools worked
hard clearing trees and brush

this group from fort worth worked hard clearing bush
briers trash limbs and trees from the lot

this group from a local austin school raked the lot
removed lots of vines and rocks and limbs
moved mulch and logs to get the lot ready for
the landscape mix and eventual sodding

this group from a local church worked hard cleaning the lot
placing landscape mix prepping the yard for seeding of
grass and laying of sod as well as moving wheelbarrows
of soil to level the yard

here is the finished landscape
the lava rock along the front and side was donated several months
ago by my wife shes friend
it was removed from her house by togd since she was
relandscaping her yard
thanks again cm

the white rock along the bed in the front was donated by
a little ole lady from andice who called me and said
do you want these rocks i have at my house
folks there were 3 truckloads i pulled from that place

the crepe myrtle was donated by a friend who grew it from
a small plant from his yard
ive had it saved at my house for several months
thanks to m&dc

the 3 shrubs called dwarf yaupon hollies were bought
from circle d nursery at a reduced price as well as
the garden soil in the bed
i get a reduced price almost 50% since its used for habitat

that tree in the front of the picture above is a cedar elm
it was found a year ago all vined up surrounded by brush
fencing hackberries ligustrums
i marked it to protect it
removed everything around it
its parent across the tree is a huge old cedar elm that must
be proud of its child
that once released has doubled in size

then the final laying of sod applying landscape mix for the sod
cleaning up the lot prior to sodding was done by this
great group of volunteers one being my wife she
yes weve learned we can work together
she just doesnt work directly with me
its better that way

so
through the kind donations and volunteering of many
we were able to do the landscape for the new home owner
to make this property stand out in the neighborhood
one she and her kids can be proud of

its all worth it
sure feels good inside when we are done

it takes a village

the organicgreen doctor

what is is

WHAT IS IS
thats what clinton said in the 1990s

now in the 2010s were having the same question

whats isis

they are a group of religious fanatics
radical jihadists
radical islamists
now
they represent only less than 0.5% of islam believers
so
i agree not to call them radical islamists
but
radical jihadists

why label a religion
give it a bad name
the religion is suffering enough as it is
without us labeling it

eg
hitler was a christian
was a radical christian then
it seems he did the same thing
that the isis folks are doing

i was wondering last night
what would have happened had hitler came to the us
with small groups and attacked our larger cities
like isis did in paris

im sure we would have entered the war a lot sooner

i am disturbed about the rhetoric about the muslims religion
and
blocking immigrants from syria
we after all
have to do our part in handling this crisis
we have to take them in

we are all products of immigrants unless we are of native american descent
my ancestors came from england ireland and northern europe
escaping famine political and religious persecution and severe poverty

sounds familiar doesnt it

its a joke that the governors say
no refugees here
they cant stop them from coming if the federal government allows it
cant they put some of that effort they are wasting on posturing
to find a way to handle the refuges smoothly
if you are accepted as a refugee in the usa
you cant be restricted on where you travel

my reading seems to show that it can take up to 2 years
for a syrian refugee to get through the vetting to get into the usa

but the thing that bothers me the most
is the rhetoric about preventing muslims from building mosques
and
even preventing them from entering
because of their religion

it seems
wrong
since thats one of the building blocks of our country
was religious freedom

lets be careful
less we tread too much on our constitution

remember the red scare in the 50s that ruined lots
of innocent folks lives

our record sometimes is not pure

then
just remember
you iphone ipad mac users
without immigration from syria
there would not have been
a steve jobe
and
you wouldnt be using your apple device today

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-black beauty

DEAR MS B-BLACK BEAUTY

ms b
there are some things in this life
you look at and think
thats just not right
that cant be good for you
why do they keep doing this

ive written about this before but it warrants another writing

last night as i watched the voice
yes ms b i like the voice
i wish blake would kiss gwen right there on tv
as i was watching one of the amazing teenagers
on this years final 12
as she stood up to sing
i looked down at her feet
and
i instantly thought of
black beauty

now black beauty
is a classic book about a horse
it tells the story of the horse as it transverses across
the country
i think its in england or europe
from owner to owner
from good living conditions to worse

but
now black beauty was feisty
i hope you are that way
standing up for whats right in this world
standing up for whats best for you

in the book
gma will get you one
and
knowing her she will want to read it to you
one of the owners had a fancy carriage that he had
these beautiful horses tied to to pull
they were all dressed up with beautiful leather straps
but
their heads were pulled back
real tight
so that they were at almost a 90 degree angle
i know that must have hurt those little horses
keeping their heads up like that
heck they couldnt even bend their necks down
to eat green grass

now ms b
can you imagine being a horse being strapped down like that
all day
that would hurt
it cant be good for them
some long time damage must be going on in that neck



fanpop.com

so its with this black beauty story in mind
that i looked at that teenagers feet last night
she was all laced up from toe to lower calf
like a corset
her toes
well she was pretty much standing on the toe foot bone joints
all i could think was
that must be real uncomfortable
that must hurt
that cant be good for your feet
who in the world ms b would design such a torture piece
it could only be a man

then her toes were all squished together so they came out the
end in a reverse triangle like this >
ms b that cant be good for her

now ms b
i want you to think for yourself
i dont want you to be wearing those shoes that cinch up your
pretty little feet
that raise your heel way way much higher than your toes
almost like a ballerina
lord only knows those ballerinas have lots and lots of feet problems

now ms b
i notice the men seem to wear boots or tennis shoes
oh tennis shoes are sneakers
or nice dress shoes where the heels touch the ground just
like the toes do

so ms b
if you havent figured this out yet
there are a lot of injustices in this world for women
thank goodness you live in the usa
this one
wearing those black beauty shoes
is one that can be easily fixed or eliminated

just remember
keep your heels on the ground and your toes all spread out
and
those little feet will do ok when you get older

the organicgreen doctor

could it

COULD IT
thats what i thought when i saw all the stuff that happened in paris
this weekend
could it
happen here

yes it could
how can you really prevent it
its just a matter of time before it happens here
i really thought about all this yesterday
as i watched all the football games on tv

we
as americans
probably wont handle this well

for some reason
i thought about the late 60s and 70s
all the unrest that existed here in the usa
all the riots and burning of our larger cities that occurred


i thought about the sla from the 60s and 70s
the symbionese liberation army
the one that kidnapped patty hearst
brainwashed her
robbed banks and created mayhem in california in the 70s

now this is on a smaller scale than the isis attacks in paris
but
there seems to be brewing here in the usa
this discontent and disenfranchising folks
that stirs the pot for discontent
that could feed such a resurgence in the usa
of a new radicalism

that has nothing to do with letting illegal immigrants in
our borders
these unhappy folks are everywhere
in the ghettos of our large cities
in our universities
in our poorer areas of the usa
both black and white and brown are affected

yes
are we setting up for a radical group like isis
to reach into this pot of folks
to start an internal war
one that is really hard to fight
you cant bomb it away
it has no borders
it has not a leader that you can bomb away
chop their heads off
it feeds itself

just think about this
are we here in the usa
at risk
are we creating our own monster

we might be

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-a sad story

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-A SAD STORY

alzheimers affects 5 million+ people  in the usa
alzheimers is the 6th leading cause of death in the usa
some think its the 3rd and of the top 10 causes
of  death its the only one without a treatment or cure
alzheimers will develop in 5 people in the usa
while you are reading todays blog
alzheimers will break medicare soon in the usa
if a treatment or cure is not found

those are some alzheimers facts folks

this week was veterans day on wednesday
i saw a lot of pictures and posting about veterans
many were my relatives
some were my siblings


then this week on his wifes facebook page
up pops this picture
and
an article about the plight of this veteran
as he and his family struggles with the financial
and emotional devastation this disease causes
he is in his 50s

here is the newspaper article of jims story

read it
and
weep

his wife writes a blog called
missing jim  confessions of an alzheimers wife
a gut wrenching read
it is on my list of blogs i follow on my blogs home page

read it
and
weep

i think his story resonates so much with me
since
it seems to mirror so close
my younger brothers course with this terrible
alzheimers disease

both were young and robust
there cant be anything wrong with these guys they said
they look so healthy
they were wrong of course

now he is a veteran
retired after his 20+ years with full benefits
except
apparently none of these benefits are helping them
with the expenses of his care
since he now has to be placed in a long term facility

he has two young children
you can imagine the devastation they feel from
losing their dad to this awful disease

he has reached that stage where he has become a
danger to himself
if youve had a loved one with this disease so affected
you understand what im writing about

the point is reached where its best for all involved
to move them out of the home to the facilities
a gut wrenching decision that has to be made

like most americans they are not prepared or able to
provide the monies it is taking to provide for his care

take a few moments and read this story from
the newspaper article

if you have it in your heart make a donation to his
gofundme page

www.gofundme.com/jimgarner

their goal will be to raise $60000
this will pay for about 333 days of his care
in a regular nursing home
a true memory care center where he needs to be
is much more than that

he im afraid will probably need several more years of care
as he falls down that downward slope of
the alzheimers decline that all with this disease takes

yes
a sad story
that im sorry to say
will have a sad sad ending

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-reap what you sow

COUNTRY N NEWS-REAP WHAT YOU SOW


thats what i did this week
i reaped what i sowed

first before i starting reaping
i did my warm up exercises
in the country n gym

here i am doing my shoveling exercise
putting about a yard of garden soil
into my old black truck
to take it to a local school garden to get ready
for their planting of cole crops
thats broccoli cabbage brussel sprouts etc

this is the first year i have gotten a good crop of
citrus from my three plants
these are lemons
yes even though they arent completely yellow
they are ready to use
i put some in my veggie beans last night
and
used some in my drinking water also

we got a total of 15 off one plant
i planted them in a large pot so i can move them inside
our greenhouse in the winter

then on to these tomatoes
which are well over 6 ft tall
i planted these in july into a bed of black eyed peas
covered the bed also heavily with your leaves
you gave me

those 4 plants produced this 5 gallon bucket of tomatoes
which we will wrap individually in newspapers
where they will gradually ripen
enjoying delicious tomatoes for several weeks

then we harvested some of our poblano peppers
and
bell peppers and jalapeno peppers

i also found in our keyhole garden bed
this thick layer of cilantro from last winters plant
that we let go to seed
ive transplanted some of these to our garden
and to a large pot on our deck

cilantro the gift that keeps on giving

we also harvested some of our basil this week
more to come
trying to beat the first freeze
my wife she makes a great pesto which she freezes
in ice trays then puts in a ziplock bag to use this
winter and spring

we even keep this tray of basil in small fruits jars
in our kitchen for awhile
sure makes the house smell basiliny

then these rains we have had recently
has made the country n look like the spring
our autumn sage or salvia greggii have bloomed
and
are almost brilliant in their color
see how green the winter grasses are

so
we reaped what we sowed this week
so
we will be eating on this produce for several weeks

its well worth the effort it took to grow all this

the organicgreen doctor

a christmas story

A CHRISTMAS STORY
now when i saw it
i said
what a simple pretty christmas cup

you can take your pen and write whatever you want
on the cup

i saw where donald wants to boycott starbucks
over this simple christmas cup

i dont understand what donald has against christmas

now i personally dont ever go to starbucks or any other
coffee place

not for political reasons
but
because of the latte factor

whats the latte factor
put simply buy a cup of coffee or latte for a year
you are spending hundreds of dollars on coffee

$5 x 5 days a week x 52 weeks equals $1300
do that for 20 years
thats $26,000 for coffee

now i personally buy a nicaraguan free market trade organic
coffee for $8.99 a lb
i drink 3 cups of coffee a day so i save myself a lot of money

now i don have a problem with going to starbucks or
drinking their coffee
even drinking out of that beautiful red christmas cup
with that lady on it
its just i dont like to waste my money

well i do like to go to starbucks to get their free coffee grounds
to use in my garden
my plants especially my tomatoes love that soil that has
the grounds in it

so as i sit here
im confused
why do those candidates and facebook folks
not like starbucks to honor christmas with its
simple
bright
but i think
beautiful
christmas cup

maybe its because they came out with it too early
its not even thanksgiving yet

yeah thats it
they were too early

its the only explanation that makes sense

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-its time to do it

DEAR MS B-ITS TIME TO DO IT

now ms b
is time to do it
before you start to school

thats what i told my wife she
that would be your gma jo
when i saw this news report last night

seat belts in school buses and video

now i know i wrote last time that i wouldnt put
any more bad stuff in my writings to you
but
i think this is different
ok

now i worked off and on for several years in the
emergency room as a doctor
and
while in college i worked in a large city emergency room in a large
city in california
i saw a lot of trauma from moving vehicle accidents

those involving kids i still remember
and
at times for some reason like last night
when i see those reports on accidents on buses
i think of those bad ones
their images have been burned permanently into my brain

last night as i watched the news reports on using
seat belts in buses
i saw the videos of all those little kids flying around
hitting the windows and the roofs
tumbling down the aisles over the seats

no those werent dummies they were real kids

i had those flashbacks to years ago in the emergency room
seeing what the end results of those injuries are like

some were war like

now ive thought about this a lot
why dont we have seat belts in buses

ok
here comes the excuses for why
now i remember those same excuses
when they first made cars have seat belts
my first car didnt have them
now i wouldnt think of riding in my car without them
and
the same excuses were used when there were
requirements to have babies and kids in car seats

if you ever seen a squished baby from being in a moms arms
and
mashed against the dash or steering wheel
then
that will really make you a believer in car seats
and seat belts

ms b
your dad is alive today because of being in a car seat
in a bad car wreck when he was a little older than you
he sustained head lacerations and a broken arm but
he wouldnt be alive if he hadnt been in the backseat
in a car seat
if you look close you can still see the large scar that
runs from his temple to the back of his head

now it seems like to me
its a no brainer
seat belts in buses
like the car seat your dad was in
it was required at the time

the reasons why not to have them i heard in the 60s and 70s and 80s
all proven wrong by time

if you are reading this writing to my granddaughter
and
you have kids
watch that video on the link above
of the kids being thrown through the air
into the window in the next aisle
and
put your kids face on those kids

now
would you be opposed to seat belts in buses
for your kids and grandkids
i think not

now ms b
i sure hope this gets all settled before you ride school buses
if not
call me and gma and well come pick you up in our
seat belted car
to take you to school

ms b
how can we not do this
put seat belts on buses

a no brainer
i say

the organicgreen doctor

shame shame

SHAME SHAME
i am a big football fan
i watched several games this weekend
including that exciting arkansas game
where he receiver threw the ball back for
the longest lateral ive ever seen to eventually win
the game in overtime

so a lot of excitement was felt this weekend
some disappointment
like the cowboys losing in overtime to the eagles

but
then
there was a lot of shame this weekend
felt yesterday as i watched pregame shows
watched the cowboy game
listening to all the commentators

all like me felt disgusted
shame is what i felt

so im not even going to mention the players name
lets just say i have no respect for jerry jones
the owner of the cowboys

how deep down into  a pile of feces does he have
to go
in order to win

well he did
he must have got covered real good when he dung down
to get that player
he stinks real bad
jerry i dont think you will ever be able to wash this off
the smell of shame that you should feel
but
im sure you dont


deadspin.com

for signing that player who beat the crap out of his girlfriend
got convicted
then
i still cant figure how he got off
oh i know how
money probably doesnt talk
or
she was so scared to talk anymore is probably what happened

if you google his name plus beating of his girlfriend images
you will see images that will  make you sick

i think if that was my sister or daughter i would have
made sure he would never play football again
one way or the other
legal or not legal

so
shame shame shame
on the judge for reversing the conviction
on the nfl for even letting him back into the league
especially on the players association for defending him and getting his
penalty reduced to 4 games
the same tom brady got for maybe letting air out of some footballs
the same as this cowboy got for letting the air out of his girlfriend
then
on jerry jones for doing a deal with the devil
to sign him to play for the cowboys
a mark a smudge that he will never be able to rub off

yes shame shame
jerry
you stink

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-robins disease

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-ROBINS DISEASE

dementia is an umbrella
under which there are several different types of dementia
the most common is alzheimers disease
then there is vascular dementia mixed dementia frontotemporal dementia
parkinsons dementia
then there is
lewy body dementia


abcnews
thats the final word on what robin williams had
which explains his behaviors and his death

so many people were logging on the lewy body website
that it crashed this week

i always tell folks when asked that lewy body is the worst
dementia to have

if you have had a loved one who has had alzheimers disease
you know how bad that disease can be
a slow painful drift downwards that speeds up at the end

well i think of lewy body dementia as alzheimers disease
on steroids
its all sped up so that it all happens in a shorter time
think of all the bad things that happens in alzheimers disease
except its all scrunched up together
and happens more powerfully
its all devastating to all involved

at least with alzheimers it gets spread out over a longer
period of time so its not as traumatic
although not pleasant
the symptoms of lewy body can be fast and furious

if you ever talk to a family member whose loved one has had this
disease
they usually start crying and talk about how bad it was

an emotionally traumatic disease that i would wish only on
my worst enemy


in lewy body dementia there is this accumulation of this
protein throughout the brain
called
alpha synuclein
thats causing all this disruption in the normal activity of the brain

early on in the disease there are movement problems like
parkinsons but then all the bad things start happening

there is variability from day to day on patients alertness and
confusion
there are visual hallucinations and delusions
there is acting out sometimes violently their dreams
there is autonomic motor dysfunction with low blood pressure
dizziness and urinary incontinence
there is memory loss that is usually milder than alzheimers

the diagnosis is clinical
based on symptoms
until the patient dies and an autopsy can be done

medications like i take aricept (donepezil) may help some
antipsychotic drugs can make symptoms worse
antidepressants may help the depression
for the rem sleep disorder benzodiazepines like clonazepam
may help

but
really there is no treatment
there is nothing to do to slow dementia of lewy body down
they usually live less than 8 years after it develops

death is merciful for all involved

its just a bad experience for all those involved
the worse affected is the patients family

rip robin williams


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

tomorrows walk has been moved inside because of the
potential for flooding rain
the walk will occur inside the baylor scott and white research building
next to the pepper creek trail

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

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-homestead plant

COUNTRY N NEWS-HOMESTEAD PLANT

when we start to build a house for habitat for humanity
i usually go look over the property trying to identify
plants that need to be saved
as well as look for trash trees that need to go
like ligustrum and hackberries

if you dont know what a hackberry is then you
dont have them on your property

i have spent $2,000 removing them near my house
over the last 15 years
so when i look at these properties thats what im looking
at into the future
a huge expense for these folks

the most recent property is almost a full block where
eventually the plan i think is to add 6 houses
the block use to be part of an old homestead
weve found lots of barbwire and rocks and cedar posts
old gates old water troughs lots of chicken wire

you can tell where the fences use to be because of
the lines of hackberries around the property
now hackberries are a useful tree as a food source
for birds
but they are a nuisance for property owners since
they die after about 25 years
dropping their dead limbs slowly everywhere
sometimes on your house or car or fence

one of the first plants i found was this big old what i call
a heritage oak
hidden by all these vines and hackberries and brier patches
brier patches mean scratches
just look at the scars on my legs sometimes

then this group plus two other groups cleared out this
heritage oak so you could see its beauty

sitting close by was a huge old pecan oak
sure its a native one
not one of those soft shelled ones we buy now


texastrees,org
then
sitting close to the pecan was a vitex tree like in the above
picture but bigger
a huge one
this year it was loaded with its beautiful purple plumes
its the largest one ive ever seen
so far its still entombed with yards and yards of vines
and briers
over the next few months it will be released from its
tomb

then just above the trailer of chomped down hackberries
by this energetic group you can see the upper branches
of the desert willow
a beautiful sometimes hard to find tree
this one is probably 25 ft tall


sungardensinc.com
wish i had one in my yard

then
one day as i was at the back of the property
i looked down and saw this plant with red flowers
it was all wound up in stickers and briers
so i labeled it with yellow tape

just after this rain it bloomed
this is what it looks like
to me it looks like a salvia greggii or autumn sage
but its leaves are darker and larger and the edges
are darker almost brown
but
its beautiful
knowing it was going to be destroyed with the next
construction this winter
and
knowing it may be hard to identify it this winter
i dug it up
transferring to a new safe environment
hoping it will live on for another generation

its safe here at the country n

the organicgreen doctor