holiday wishes

HOLIDAY WISHES
since my readership is made up of folks of different
political beliefs
religions
races
i want to wish all of you readers of my blog

a happy holidays
and

for those who like this

merry christmas and a happy new year
and

to the others

happy holidays and a happy new year

i would like to wish you
peace
goodwill
happiness
for the holidays and the next year

thank you for your readership

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-christmas 1

DEAR MS B-CHRISTMAS 1

ms b
we want to wish you a merry christmas
your first one
now wait a minute
is it being politically correct to wish you a
merry christmas
now i cant find the rules for what to do
i know if i say happy holidays
thats ok
but
i dont feel like that has the same connotation
that
merry christmas does

it just make me feel better
to say
merry christmas to you

i will admit that i will use happy holidays sometimes
if im speaking to someone im not sure if they
would be offended by
merry christmas

now i had a lot of patients
ms b
that were not christians
they were agnostics atheists muslims hindus Buddhists jewish
but
i noticed that they especially their kids still sort of
celebrated christmas

for some its a secular holiday
others its not
it means a time to be with family and friends
 and
to exchangegifts with loved ones
a holiday maybe the best one

so ms b
merry christmas to you
i know you will be loving all those decorations
all those lights
lots of twinkling blinking shiny starry lights

just wait
next year
you can grab hold of them
play with all the wrapping paper
maybe really enjoy the gifts
lets dont do too many

now ms b
be sure
each year to give back to those not as lucky as we are
thats a gift that may be the best you can give

so
enjoy this first one
they only get better

that santa thing
well we will leave that up to your mom and dad

the organicgreen doctor

fifth anniversary

FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

these are jonquils that are blooming thinking
that spring has arrived

thats the way i feel this morning as i look back
over the last five years
that spring has arrived

this morning i went back and reviewed all my
anniversary posts that ive done on this date
from the original one i wrote in 2010
called
last day thanks

8 years ago my memory tests for my long term care insurance
were normal
5 years ago as i sat in the testing chair looking out the
window i knew the time my time had arrived
i was sweating almost hypoglycemic feeling
as they asked me those questions that i couldnt answer
but should have been able to

i was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment amnestic type
the precursor to full blown alzheimers disease
many feel it is early alzheimers and treats it as such
my neurologist feels that way

so thats why i have been on aricept (donepezil) for the last
5 years

during that last 5 years
i lost my younger brother to the final stages of the disease
my older brother was diagnosed with what may turn out
to be alzheimers disease
i must say that those two events bothered me a lot
when you are diagnosed with mild mci
knowing what that may mean for you

so what did i do
i decided to maximize everything i could to help slow this
down
things that are suggested to possibly help
to those that are proven to help
knowing though that
alzheimers disease wins out in the end
no matter what you do

i just what a smoother ride for awhile
thats all im asking for

so i take 16 supplement pills a day and do these healthy
things shown to maybe help in the mend protocol
having checked it out carefully to make sure that none of
it interferes with my medications and health issues
what have i got to loose right

i get 7-8 hours of sleep a day when you add nighttime sleep
and the afternoon naps
i stay busy very busy physically mentally and socially
i control my blood pressure and cholesterol and weight
i am rarely in stressful situations which i try to avoid
im not depressed
im happy
i try not to be a grumpy old man
i eat healthy eating mostly a vegetarian diet i call it 90%

i am still in the adni study
and
am waiting this next year to get in a treatment study
using an antibody vaccine given as a monthly infusion
that may slow things down
preliminary studies imply that it might work
i just dont want to be in the placebo portion of the study
a 50/50 chance
odds that are better than what i have now ie 0%

now my memory tests have returned to normal
normal for my age
there are things i notice but i realize those are normal
things for my age

my diagnosis of this possibly being alzheimers is based
on
a normal memory test that became abnormal in 3 years
a strong family history of alzheimers disease-mother father
2 brothers multiple aunts and uncles
i carry the double gene apoe 4 which greatly increases
my chance of getting alzheimers
my ratio of beta amyloid and tau proteins in my spinal
fluid are abnormal closer to consistent with alzheimers
than normal

a missing puzzle test that ive had once
the amyvid pet scan that shows the bad beta amyloid in the brain
now ive had one but its protected by the study

if i qualify for the new treatment study i will get one but
in this study you will know its positive if you get accepted
in the study since they are only taking patients with
positive tests
if i dont qualify for the treatment in the study
ie my memory has improved back to normal
then i plan to pay to have one done
the amyvid pet scan is the missing link in my final
diagnosis
if its negative i may have been spared
if its positive i wasnt spared

i should know earlier this year one way or the other

an interesting year is in front of us

then
i do miss my patients
facebook twitter instagram email have allowed me to
keep in touch with them
i especially enjoy watching the kids grow up
graduate go to college get married start their careers
i do dream frequently of being back in practice
at least weekly

i continue to do alzheimers presentations
i do lots of volunteering with meals on wheels
habitat for humanity
school gardens

so i am contented with my life
im happy
im busy
im a granddaddy

what more could you ask for

so
i would say for this year
happy anniversary

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-good and bad

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-GOOD AND BAD

first the bad news
lets just get it out of the way first

the number of cases of alzheimers disease just increased by
10% last year
if the rate continues like that
then our health care system is in trouble
ie
medicare
it be expensive to take care of an alzheimers patient over
the years of their disease
i think of the medical issues my mom and my younger brother
had as they coursed along on that awful downward course
it was an expensive journey

now the rest is just good news
congress it looks like will give alzheimers research
a 50% boost in funding
that is a long time coming
if we had done that years ago
we might have a treatment available today

we i mean congress waits until things start getting
bad before they pour money on things
sometimes not before its too late

lets hope the new research money will jump start
some needed research

there is a lot of promising research studies
by that i mean treatment studies
ongoing now or about to start up


eg
im hoping to get into a new treatment study at
utsw alzheimers research study in early 2016
using biogens new alzheimers vaccine
aducanumab
its given as an infusion to bind the bad stuff
beta amyloid in the brain
hopefully to slow down the disease process
it if works it could be available in 3-5 years

there are several other of these vaccines available
via research that being studied as we speak
the results will be out over the next 5 years
if they work the public will have access to these treatments

there are a lot of ongoing animal studies

if they work then they will be done in humans
the new research money from the federal government
should speed this process up a lot


eg
microglia are the scavengers that come in and clean up
damaged cells and debris in the brain
they also fix things up
there are lots of microglial studies in animals that
appear to be promising


muse labs

i am on a protocol from ucla called the mend protocol
just google mend protocol to learn more
a new software package will be out soon
where you can enter all your information and data
and
a regimen will be outlined for you
eg
your sleep history your cholesterol your blood pressure
your bmi your b12 level your vitamin d level your other
medical history your physical activity your genetic profile
your family history etc etc
using the ucla protocol from dr dredesen a recommendation
is done for you

now i didnt use a software package
i used his article
worked my way through his protocol
set myself up a regimen that i have been following
for over a year now

warning
dont just jump on this protocol
eg
i cross checked every supplements with my health history
and my present medication to make sure there
were no contraindications to taking the supplements
i also discussed them with my primary care doctor
and my neurologist
you should do the same thing before trying it
eg
a relative of mine had several contraindications to taking
several of the recommended supplements

for me
something is working
i am definitely better based on objective memory testing
and
based on what i notice personally

ie
my memory seems to close to where i should be
based on my age
you know as you get older
its normal to have some things you notice
that arent abnormal

so i think in re to alzheimers disease
that this next year the good may far outweigh the bad

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-more prep and produce

COUNTRY N NEWS-MORE PREP AND PRODUCE

this is the time of year when i start prepping my garden
for late winter and early spring and even early summer
if you get all your beds ready weeks ahead of time
then as it sits it is like a good stew or soup or pot of beans
it tastes better as it ages
or
like a good wine or beer or whiskey
aging makes it better

so it is with the soil

here is my bed for my onions which i will plant in
late january
i start with young onion plants
you know the ones you get i a bundle of about 25-50

this bed was the bed for my potatoes i planted in feb
and harvested in may
then i planted blackeyed peas which we harvested
shelled and have frozen in the freezer
we plan to have them for new years day
for good luck the rest of the year

then in mid july i planted my summer tomatoes deep
into the growing blackeyed peas
later when the blackeyed peas started aging
i covered the bed with a thick thick layer of leaves
your leaves of course that you gave me

then just before our first freeze we picked all the
tomatoes
wrapped them in newspapers

as of yesterday heres the ones we have that have ripened
looks like we will have tomatoes for christmas

note those are poblanos in the dish in the upper right

then i added the stuff below like on my spring bed
covered it all with a layer of pine straw
it insulates allows water through keeps weed seeds off the bed
keeps in the heat

as all those goodies i put in there percolates

then i attacked the bed that will be used
for my spring summer fall garden
bell peppers jalapeno peppers sweet banana peppers
poblano peppers eggplants basil

this bed was where my spring tomatoes were
i removed all the debri like old plants
leveled it off
added the soil that i dug up from my 12 inch trench
on either side of the bed

now that was half old leaves and soil
raked it out
then
added a 4 inch layer of compost my chicken compost
my oh my it smells good almost sweet
no i didnt taste it but i wanted to

added my organic fertilizer
added my cottonseed meal
added humates and molasses
then covered it with a thick thick layer of your oak leaves
then between the beds on either side
i laid 6 inches of native hardwood mulch
then 6+ inches of your oak leaves

later this winter
i will dig up two long trenches a foot deep
in my bed
lay in a 3 inch pvc line with holes in it
connect them to a elbow of pvc
where i can water deep into the soil especially in the summer

here is a picture of what it looks like on the right
i even took my stethoscope
listened to the surface of the leaves
you could actually hear all the activity under there

no i just made that up

so when i finish doing all my beds and the walkways
my garden will look like 900 square feet of leaves
some covering my beds
the rest filling up the ditches i dug
for next year garden
i calculated those ditches will hold close to
500 gallons of water
which will help keep the undersurface of my garden
moist even in the summer

im getting the garden where i want it to be

yes it is time to get your garden
ready for the spring
do it now
the soil will be richer for it

the organicgreen doctor

soil is our lifeblood

SOIL IS OUR LIFEBLOOD
2015 is the international year of soils

now its taken me several years to realize this
when it comes to gardening

an alive soil is the backbone the heart of
good gardening

here is how ive done it at the country n
when i start a new bed
i go to a good reputable garden soil place
and buy their premo garden soil
i dont skimp here
around here it cost $50- 75 a cubic yard

if you arent spending that much when you buy soil
then you will need to add a lot of stuff to make
it primo

just spend the money in the beginning to buy
the good stuff

then at the end of each season
i replace stuff in my new soil
i add compost about 3-4 inches
i add green sand to get minerals back in the soil and iron
i add organic fertilizer either lady bug brand 8-2-4 or
medina growin green fertilizer
dont use the non organic stuff in you garden
it accumulates salts that inhibit plant growth

then i add some liquid humates once a year
and
i add liquid molasses the food for all the microorganisms
that make our soils alive

now the garden guru guy
the dirt doctor
now i dont agree with everything he does
posted this quiz on dirt

it takes just a few seconds to do the 15 question quiz
as you answer it gives the correct answer and explains
why the answer is correct

when you get through
it makes you want to take care of your dirt better
our food our lives depend on it

yes folks it ranks up there with the bees


heres the link to the quick quiz

a healthy soil quiz

no i didnt get them all correct
which means i learned something new about soils

the organicgreen doctor