alzheimers news-i am not sure

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-I AM NOT SURE

after doing several talks on alzheimers and on treatment trials

for alzheimers

some folks have gotten the impression that i somehow cured

my alzheimers disease

i didnt

i dont know if i have alzheimers disease

i think i do 

you can only diagnose this disease 100% when you die 

and they autopsy your brain

yes they can tell your family he had alzheimers disease

now you can look at the downfall of a persons memory 

and

his physical condition that is typical for alzheimers 

to say with some degree of accuracy that

yes he or she had alzheimers

so i can say with some degree of certainty that my mom 

and my younger brother had alzheimers disease

not many things cause the course they took

did my dad have it 

i think so

he was starting down that path when he died 

does my older brother have it 

i think so based on some of his testing

time will only tell if thats the case

do i have alzheimers disease

i think so 

but time will only tell if thats true

did i cure my alzheimers disease

no

if its whats wrong with me

i have only pushed the symptoms of the disease down the road some

but

it will i said it will raise its head again and strike again 

and take over

unless there is a new treatment that becomes available soon

real soon that stops it 

right now that does not exists

so whats my explanation as to why my memory is now normal

my memory loss may not be due to alzheimers disease but may 

have been due to something else

like stress not well controlled blood pressure not well controlled cholesterol

maybe a super ministroke in the wrong place

that caused my memory loss that over time healed itself 

and now my memory is normal 

see i dont know

or

what may have happened

now this is what i think happened

i developed subtle memory loss real subtle not detectable to anyone

but me

it was well documented to be normal then three years later it was abnormal

then five years after that back to normal again 

i think i do have alzheimers disease and am either in that

category called preclinical alzheimers 

or 

in early mild cognitive impairment

here is why i think so 

i have normal lab workups except for low vitamin b12 and 

low vitamin d and high homocysteine

those are risk factors for memory loss but are not the cause

of my memory loss

i have corrected all three of those

i have normal mris of the brain except for things two of them called

white mater hyperintensities that are like tiny tiny tiny tiny strokes

if you have 7 or more you may be at risk for alzheimers or stroke

but 2 doesnt mean you have either one

they have not changed over the last 5 years 

i do carry the apoe4 gene a double version or homozygous that puts

me at higher risk for developing alzheimers disease

but it doesnt mean it causes the disease

how i take care of my health determines if it has an effect

the risk is 5-20 times increased according to which researcher

you read

i have had two normal glucose metabolism pet scans which if you

are far enough along with the disease it will be positive

it could be if i am just real real early that the test is not positive yet

since not enough damage has been done

i have had a spinal tap for the bad beta amyloid and the tau protein 

which are implicated in the present theory of what causes alzheimers

my levels are indeterminate

they are not normal but they are not in the dementia level

this correlates with my diagnosis of early mild cognitive impairment

that stage right before you get alzheimers disease

the stage right after preclinical alzheimers where you have

some abnormal testing but no symptoms

whats missing from my workup is the new beta amyloid pet scan

called amyvid pet scan 

it will show if the beta amyloid has accumulated in the brain 

if you have alzheimers it will be positive

however

like most medical tests it is not 100% accurate

as a normal person can have a positive test as can other diseases

cause a positive test

but

when added together with the history spinal tap family history 

if my amyvid pet scan is positive

i like possibly maybe could have alzheimers disease

im sorry but that is as close to making the diagnosis for me

that i can get

if my amyvid scan is positive i plan on moving forward with 

the likelihood that i have the disease

and 

will plan my life accordingly 

so if i have alzheimers disease

no i didnt cure it 

i only delayed its symptoms by 

taking aricept (donepezil) which works for awhile but eventually

doesnt work well 

not all neurologists agree in using in the diagnosis of 

mild cognitive impairment

my neurologist does believe in it 

so do i 

thats why i suffered through with its side effects

if my amyvid scan is negative i plan on discontinuing it 

by correcting my abnormal labs

low b12 low vitamin d high homocysteine high cholesterol high blood pressure

by doing all the healthy things that are recommended you do for your

memory 

avoid stress avoid meds that affect the memory treat depression 

and anxiety get adequate sleep treating sleep apnea restless legs etc

stay very active socially mentally physically 

meditating or yoga something to make you pause and reflect inside

then i used the protocol from the article by dr bredesen called

reversal of cognitive decline

you can google it if you want to read about it

i very carefully looked at it 

matched the vitamins and supplement against my medical history 

and my medication

some i could take many i could not 

i got the approval of my family doctor and my neurologist before

i took any of them 

there are side effects from them i could not tolerate

some interfere with heart medicine and blood thinners

so dont just read this article and start taking stuff

i looked at each closely

i personally think if what i am doing has helped it is 

the aricept (donepezil)

aggressively doing the healthy things i mentioned above

correcting my abnormal labs

maybe the supplements have helped some

that i cant be sure of 

so 

do i have alzheimers disease

i am not sure

but

i hope to know soon as close as you can know 

i hope this is useful to those who have contacted me hoping for a cure

im sorry 

but

there is not one

yet

the organicgreen doctor