alzheimers news-ted talks

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-TED TALKS

my wife she posted this ted talk on facebook this week
i clicked on it and watched it

the person doing the ted talk
is
lisa genova

a neuroscientist
the author of the book
still alice
which was made into a movie
julianne moore won an oscar for her part

in this well done easy to understand ted talk
she explains alzheimers disease
how it develops
how we are trying to treat it
how we can prevent it

those of you who attended my talk last week
or
have heard me talk before
should recognize that all this seems real familiar
as
its what i talked about
maybe without the great slide presentation she used

folks
the more you understand about alzheimers disease
the easier it is to handle the diagnosis
in a loved one
or
yourself

so watch this
is if you want to understand how alzheimers develops
how you can SLOW it down
or
maybe PREVENT it

i am a week out from my last infusion in the aducanumab study
the only side effect i have noticed is an extreme fatigue that
seems to hit me in the afternoon and evening
i know i know
i have always fallen asleep on folks
dating back to my early 20s
but this seems different

i am hoping its due to the drugs effect
and
not some placebo phenomena

also
i am in the processing of getting a transfer to another facility
in california to finish the study
so that i wont have to make those trips back to dallas each
month for 4.5 years
i am hoping for ucla

i should find out soon

we my wife she and i have made the decision that
this drug has too much potential for me and others
that we will do what it takes to finish the study

i will be doing the
alzheimers texas walk in georgetown texas
on saturday september 23rd
team name is organicgreendoctor

i also will have a team in the
santa barbara walk to end alzheimers 
on saturday october 28th
team name is organicgreendoctor

join us

the organicgreen doctor

the last times

THE LAST TIMES
we are having a lot of these this month
some are peaceful
some are not
some are tearful

yesterday
i did a talk to a group of about 20 people
telling my story and talking about new clinical research
on alzheimers disease

as i was standing up there talking
i looked out over the group
some ive sat on the alzheimers committee with
some were my patients
some have heard me talk before

i realized this would be my last time to do
an alzheimers talk in texas

i recently attended this years committee meeting
for the williamson county alzheimers texas walk in georgetown texas
on september 23rd
i realized it would be my last meeting

however
if you have walked with me in the past or want to
in the future
i will have a team in the walk
the organicgreendoctor team
yes
it will be my last time to do the walk
so
put that on your calender

the other day i went to heb grocery store
as i was shopping
i stopped and looked around
thinking
this is my last time to shop here

there is no heb like store in santa barbara
i thought to myself
ill probably have to shop at 2 or 3 places just to get what we need

we plan to have a last run on chuys
one of our favorite mexican food places

i recently did my last landscape at habitat for humanity
it was my last time to work there
man
i sure learned a lot over the last few years

this last homeowner was fun to design her yard for
remember
this is done with not much funding

she wanted herbs in her front bed instead of shrubs
so i added oregano mexican oregano lavender rosemary
i also added a raised veggie bed that can easily be
expanded

i later went back alone
stood on the street
taking it in
this doing these habitat builds sure makes you feel good inside

this week on friday
i run my last meals on wheels route
some of the folks i have been delivering meals to for
5 years
ill say bye to each of them
another feel good inside volunteer opportunity

they desperately need volunteers to deliver meals
you can pick a day a week
or
be a sub when someone cant deliver
or
some folks just do 1 or 2 days a week

you want feel bad about it if you do it

here is the link to how to volunteer
they need your help

soon
our old dog maverick
he is 15+ years old
he is in poor health
some days he cant hardly get around
some days he acts like a puppy
last winter i thought he was agoner more than once

we have decided
to have him put to sleep
here at the country n
where he has had a good life
protecting the place
protecting my wife she
who says she always feels safe knowing he is protecting her

this may be the hardest thing about moving
but
we know if he could talk he was say
i am ready
i want to go here not at some other place

so
some last times are feel good
some last times arent

but
we must move on
we have our memories


the organicgreen doctor

the others arent good enough

THE OTHERS ARENT GOOD ENOUGH
i think we need some to be from other places

all of our supreme court justices either attended
harvard or yale law school
which
i think is not good
to have such influence from those two schools
on matters that can last a lifetime or forever
and
have a lot of influence on all our lives

i think that
the next justices that get appointed
need to be from somewhere else

maybe
what needs to be done is that they have to be
appointed from regions
like they do with the representatives to the house
so
we dont get all this concentration of power
to one region of the country

maybe
one from the south
one from the far west
one from the midwest
etc

i really hadnt thought much of this
until i saw an article in business insider
that wrote about this

eg
a midwestern conservative from say idaho
they dont think like one from say new york

a far west liberal from say oregon doesnt
think quite like one from say new york

now i know that those law schools throughout the us
like say stanford ucla texas eg they produce good
smart lawyers that could be on the supreme court

like i use to tell folks
you know what they call a person who graduates
from harvard medical school
and
one who graduates from arkansas
yep
you got it
they are both called doctors

most patients eg dont really care where they come from
as long as they are pleasant and competent
the same should be for the lawyers on the supreme court

hum
maybe thats the problem
having lawyers on the supreme court
maybe
they need
moms
school teachers
firemen
policemen
construction folks
maybe a doctor
maybe a pharmacist
then
maybe the right decisions could be made by common regular folks
for a change
we know what needs to be done
we live it every day

we need to change this system up some

nope
thats right
the laws are made by rich lawyers

guess
we will just keep having an ivy league supreme court
bummer

the organicgreen doctor

aint doing that again

AINT DOING THAT AGAIN

thats what i told my wife she
were done
never ever again

as we readied for our moving sale
we looked at the hundreds of things in the house
in the garage
on the driveway

we both looked at each other
how in the world did we collect all this stuff

now last time we moved here 15 years ago
we moved from austin to the country n
slowly over 3 months
since we sort of lived at both places for awhile

we didnt feel like we had as much junk
i guess cause my wife she put it all in our big room
in our barn
which i cleaned out 2 years ago
thank goodness
of about 4-5 truckloads of junk
some trashed some recycled some wrnt to charities

im not sure we would have made it if we hadnt done that
2 years ago

i researched moving sales
how to price stuff
i did get er done pricing to move the stuff
my wife she she hemmed and hawed coming up with prices
i mostly priced the stuff
i knew that unsold stuff would have to be moved
by that person i saw in the mirror each morning

yes
one lady was upset that i sold an antique piece of furniture
so cheap
i think if she would have wanted to buy it
well
she should have gotten here earlier
ok
so i did a special price for that person
even knowing after research what it was probably worth

our view was that some of this stuff we have enjoyed
having in our home looking at it every day
each piece has a story
we told it to folks if they wanted to hear it

if it gave folks pleasure owning the item
it was worth it to us

the only hiccup we had all day
well thats an understatement for sure
it almost ruined the whole weekend
our lives
our friends lives

a friend came to say bye
they also wanted something to buy of ours
as i was showing him the barn
he got stung by a yellowjacket
20 minutes later he had a severe anaphylactic reaction
to the sting
lucky for him there was a doctor and his former nurse there
as a doctor you are use to having everything you need
to treat an emergency right at your fingertips
well
at the country n
we had none of those things
we managed to get a ton of benadryl down him
before he crashed to the floor
we all thought he was gone
however
he had gotten enough benadryl in his system that it started working
to counteract the severe reaction
one that i have not seen often
even in the office or the emergency room
as
those folks who react like this never make to the er

within the hour of crashing
he was sitting up
alert

one lucky guy

the next day he felt fine
he was out working outside in the morning

i knew though
if he had been by himself
he wouldnt have been here today

a lesson to those of you who have a history of reactions
to bee or wasp or yellowjacket or other stings
make sure you have in your pocket on your person
what you need to counteract a reaction like this
please

after that
we were toast
we were done

as we sat in our hot tub later
with a margarita in our hand
no we had at least two apiece

we looked at our two full cars
our almost empty house
realized that we had selected those thinks we owned
that were important in our lives

after that todays event
we realize life is too short not to enjoy each day
realize that possessions
really are transient
and
dont mean a thing
when you get right down to it

thank you to our friend
for responding to the meds
we
our lives would not ever have been the same
two familys lives would have been ruined forever

it makes for a lot of soul searching
for sure

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-its near you

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-ITS NEAR YOU

yesterday
i went to the alzheimers disease center at ut southwestern to get my
third infusion of the aducanumab drug from biogen
if it works or if it partially works
it will slow down the disease some

yesterday
i discussed with the center that i would be moving to santa barbara soon
they said i may have the option to switch to a site in california that is
participating in the study
eg like ucla

so
we are thinking about changing if its approved by biogen
if not
we plan to continue going to dallas each month to get the infusions
this study
for me
is too important not to do all i can to get this drug
it will be the only chance i have
to get something to help slow down the disease
since
when the drugs that are in the works now get here
my disease may be too far to take something to stop it

ie
now is my time
i have to maximize things

all this made me think of
those who have contacted me in the last month
via this blog or after my talks or in random encounters

the jest of what that say is
my family has alzheimers disease
i dont have any symptoms
i know i am going to get it one day
can i get in a study like yours

my answer is yes

for research folks are classified as
prodromal or prealzheimers-they have normal memory but have a positive
          scan called amyvid for the beta amyloid and positive spinal fluid
          levels of beta amyloid and tau
          this means they will probably develop alzheimers disease

mci or mild cognitive impariment due to alzheimers disease-they have
          mild memory loss and these biomarkers ie postive amyvid scans
          and positive spinal fluid levels of beta amyloid and tau proteins
       
alzheimers disease-they have more advanced memory loss and their
          biomarkers are positive

then
alzheimers disease is either mild moderate or severe
          or early mid or late

most of the new treatment studies are looking at
prodromal
mci or mid cognitive impairment
mild alzheimers

these are the three levels that may benefit the most since
there is not as much damage done yet in the brain
so the treatments may work to slow down or if we are lucky
to stop the disease

so those of you who have asked me
is there one of these studies i can get in to get treatment
even though i am not having symptoms

yes there is
you have to willing to know that you will probably get alzheimers

most of my readership lives in arkansas  texas  california

so if you live in these states
its in your family
you want to know if youre next
you want to be proactive and get pretreated
then
heres the links below for each state

there are 3 companies
there are others that are on the way

lilly  solanezumab-the study is called A4

genetech/hoffman-la roche  crenezumab-its the drug that was on
          60 minute and pbs recently

biogen  aducanumab-this is my drug    it will be doing studies soon on
          those with prodromal alzheimers disease

you can go to www.clinicaltrials.gov to search for these studies
or
click on the links below

in arkansas
look under arkansas near the bottom
there are three sites
jonesboro little rock and fayetteville

crenezumab study


in california
look under californa near the bottom of the page
there are multiple sites

crenezumab study

solanezumab study or A4


in texas
look under texas near the bottom of the page
there are multiple sites

crenezumab study

solanezumab study or A4   

if you are interested in being proactive
call the sites even though they may be listed as
not recruiting yet
sometimes they really are

good luck

our moving sale is happening tomorrow
rain or shine
everything is for sale
unless its a heirloom item that stays in the family
or
if the new homeowner has bought it
or
if we can stuff in our two cars

if you are a lover of chicken stuff or donald duck stuff
there is a lot to pick from

everything is priced to sell

here is the link to our rain or shine moving sale on saturday may 20th
country n moving sale

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-prepare for landing

DEAR MS B-PREPARE FOR LANDING

ms b
look out
this jet plane is going to land where you live
in a few weeks
it will have your gma and granddaddy on it
well
it will be in our his and her cars
you know
you rode in them when you were here for a week

heck
we still have those car seats in them
since
we dont want to take them out
since
we will never be able to get them back in if we do

you know
your dad was saved by one of them when he was about
your age
yes
his was much easier to get in and out

i even ran across the photo of that wreck recently
got real nauseated when i saw the car
knowing how lucky he was and gma was to be here today

without that seat
well
ms b
you wouldnt have existed

on to better things

so when we land in your town
our lives just got a little better
despite leaving a place we loved living at
but
we are going to a place where many of our loved ones
live
preparing for the future

youll understand all that one day
hopefully i can explain it to you one day

what i want you to do
and
what we both intend to do
is enjoy each day forward the best that we can

yes
youll help that a lot being around us

oh ms b
it looks like i may have my garden plot which is 200 square foot
in size
and
its attached to your new preschools garden
so
when you are outside playing just look back into the large gardens
and
hopefully you will see me in my floppy hat
working in my garden

now
i plan to design an edge of that garden plot
to be labeled
ms bs garden

you decide what to plant
under my guidance
and
you get to plant it

also your school
your class
will be able to work in your own classes garden

life cant get no better than that

then
ms b
remember that elementary school you went to
with gma
where all those kids were playing and you played with them
i might even help them with their garden

you wanna help

yes
fun and adventures are about to start for us
and
for you

we both look forward to them

here is the link to our rain or shine moving sale on saturday may 20th
country n moving sale

organicgreen doctor

country n news-moving sale

COUNTRY N NEWS-MOVING SALE
we really werent looking to move so soon
we tentatively were looking to move out mid july
but
thanks to the drone guys friend who saw in our place
what we saw
the place had a contract on it before it went mls

now its sold if all goes through ok
thats good

now we have to move sooner than expected
thats bad

lucky for us this is a decision we have been working on for months
so we have been preparing for it for those months
both mentally and financially

now its here
now we got to get it done

so the moving sale
to unload everything we have
basically
if we cant get it in our car then its not going with us

some of the stuff is heirloom stuff
from my parents and their ancestors
all that goes back to arkansas where we want it to stay

then
the rest goes

it seems each large item has a story
some the new owner bought already
which is ok with us
he doesnt have to move it
we dont have to move it
a win win right

the duct tape chair is the one i hate to lose the most
my wife she bought home this ragged ole dirty chair
ok i ignored it for a long time
then i read online about doing duct tape furniture
i bought two big rolls of duct tape
put it all over the chair

its my favorite piece of furniture in the house
my granddaughter loves it
i think she thinks it a park play set
it twirls easily in circles
it rocks like a bucking horse

once my billfold fell down the sides and stuck itsself on a bar
under there
hiding itsself from us for weeks
it not having my billfold almost ruined our vacation

you ever took a vacation with cash only but all your cash
wasnt accessible
or
your credit cards
we did
to nashville
$20

then there is this hutch
one of my best friends mom was having to move after her husband died
so
she was selling this hutch
now
we gave her husband a dog
a min pin
whom he loved
he named her maggie

after he died
she contacted us
if you will take maggie i will give you the hutch
it matched our kitchen table
so we took it
$100

my older brother use to do auction stuff
back in the 80s he contacted my wife she
i think you will like this
she looked at it
she liked it
she bought it
then she told me about it

its been with us since then through 5 moves
$250

then theres this day bed with a trundle bed
that when you pull it out
it pops up

i will say that when we have a large group staying here
i always chose the trundle bed to sleep on
its the  most comfortable of the sleeping spots of them all

my wife she got this idea from somewhere
to take an old antique metal bed frame
then turn it into a day bed

she got a welder to build it for us
uh i should say
for her

it sits in our kitchen area
folks just seem to be attracted to it
i think it has a magnet that influences your brain
its a definite lounging spot

a lot of good conversation have happened there

it use to be in an extra bedroom we called the cave
in the afternoon you could lay on the bed
turn on the tv
close the blinds
turn on the fan
then
you were gone for a few hours

a great place for an afternoon nap
$75

this swing belonged to a friend
when her daughter out grew it
my wife she
like she did on all these things
just made it appear in our yard
of course
it was all taken apart

now
we had annual clinic parties here
she wanted it for the kids to play on
but
i think in the back of her head
she was thinking
its for our one day grandkids

well miss b
when she visited for a week
almost wore this swing set out
and
her grandmother

the yells and laughing could be heard over the property
more please more more
wheeeeeeeeee
$25

back in the mid nineties
we decided we wanted to invest in some bedroom furniture
that would be new
would be built solid
that would last forever
so
we bought this king size bedroom suite from north carolina

if we werent moving
and
downsizing
we never ever would have even consider selling this
bed and mattress and dresser and side tables

we had planned to maybe die in this bed one day
when our times come

but
its time to sell it
$350

then there is this thing
now its been here a long time
i just thought it was a table my wife she sat at to put her
sewing machine on

then as we were getting ready to sell stuff
there it was
an old antique kenmore sewing machine from the late 40s
or early 50s

a friend who knows antiques and sewing mahines
looked at it
no you cant sell it for this much
its worth a lot more
i have a friend who buys these
i sent a picture and details to her
she will probably drive here to buy it

nope
the clocks ticking
on saturady morning
its going for the price below unless we hear something different

now
the story
my wife she bought this old sears machine that was silver plated
when i was in residency
i painfully refinished it
it even worked

it was something to always hold onto and never sell

well one day i noticed
it was gone

i guess there was a time we were desperate for money
so she sold it

ok so i never let her forget it
so
i think her buying this was a way to make up for those years
of my harassing her
$40 unless he antique dealer comes through before saturday

so
this weekend
we will sell it all
if you see it
its for sale
it all must go

if you get a chance this weekend
rain or shine
come say bye to us
and
buy something while you are here

in a few weeks when we drive out our long drive
i am sure we will both have tears in our eyes
but
we plan to not look back
looking forward to this new chapter in our lives

here is the link to our moving sale on saturday may 20th
country n moving sale

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-its all gotta go

COUNTRY N NEWS-ITS ALL GOTTA GO

we looked at each other
and both agreed
its gotta go

as we drive out of our driveway in a few weeks
close our two gates
we will look back over these 10 acres
we will leave it all
there

all we will have left of the place will be our 2 cars
full of what we deemed important
as
we make that journey back to where it all started
forty years ago

i think now about what we did
if one of my kids had done that
i would have told them
you are crazy

my wife she was 8 months pregnant
she had just graduated from college
i had graduated a few months earlier
we had no health insurance
i had no job

but
i knew i wanted to go to medical school
my life long dream
this was my best route to get there
was to make this cross country move back to
where i was born

we loaded up our uhaul truck full of all our
beat up and used furniture
dragging my old ford falcon behind it
having a friend drive our volkswagen bug out to us later
as he made his trek back to his hometown
in the east

now
we are doing it in reverse
our decision to move forty years ago
was
as it turned out to be the correct one
as
i finished a 30 year medical career
my wife she is finishing her teaching career
our kids are raised
we have no debt

now
we will head back west
to the next chapter in our life
this time taking only what we can stuff in our car
as we downsize to a smaller apartment or condo

yep
its all gotta go this weekend
as we do our moving sale
selling everything
that wont go into our cars

yep
all my duct tap stuff
my infamous duct tape chair
all my donald stuff
i didnt realize i had so much
someone a friend came through yesterday and bought some
of the donald stuff
oh yes theres more left
thanks
to all those patients over the years that gave me
all those donald duck gifts
especially from disneyworld and disneyland

why i even have a personally autographed donald duck hat
from donald duck himself

yes theres more and more stuff left
consider coming by and saying bye this weekend
and
buy something
information will be posted later this week

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-here we come

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-HERE WE COME

thats what we told our granddaughter as she looked into
the smartphone while face timing with us
she carries the phone around with her and talks to us
well we really dont understand what all she says
usually
but
she seems to understand us ok
when
we said this to her she smiled at us
so
i think she understood

we also told this to our other relatives who live in the area
santa barbara california
where we will be moving in a month

we were ready to list our place our country n on the mls listing for sale
this  last week
but
the weekend before
someone visiting with the drone operator filming our property for
the mls listing
told our realtor
i want to buy it
now
so
two days later it was a done deal
it never got listed
sorry those of you who wanted a chance at it
we decided
we may be on a ticking bomb
like what happened with my younger brother

if this new infusion experimental treatment doesnt work
this disease could accelerate at any time
that downhill fall thats acoming
its like walking along a beautiful plateau
near the edge is a cliff
you make that step and down you go

thats what happens with alzheimers disease
i know that
my wife shes knows that
thats always in the back of our minds when we make decisions

i know my brothers family his wife certainly understands
it seems it went fast for such a healthy looking person
we want to be as ready as we can when that happens

its happening fast
it started back over a year ago when i was giving a talk
at a church in georgetown
afterwards a lady came up to me and said
i dont know what to do
my husband has alzheimers disease
he clings to me all the time
he wanders aimlessly when i am gone

i wish we had moved before all this started

our kids all live in ohio
they want us to move there so they can help me
deal with him as this disease progresses
i am all alone down here

my advice to her
consider moving now
it will be hard to do real soon

as i left there that day
driving home
thats when i decided
this was not going to happen to us
ie
its not going to happen to my wife she

we began talking about it
between ourselves
we both agreed that this was the best thing for us to do
do it now
while we both are healthy
we both can make the transition to a new place
a long time before things get worse
as
change in someone with alzheimers is not accepted well
by that person

as we visited santa barbara last year
checking out all the things we would or could get involved
with
for me it was
gardening
volunteering with habitat for humanity meals on wheels school gardens etc
and
continuing my involvement with the alzheimers movement
i will be involved with all those when i arrive there
in fact
i already have a plot in a community garden there
i already have a walk team for their alzheimers walk this fall
i have the contacts for the other things i want to get involved with
the same for my wife she


yes thats a donald duck backpack she has
wonder where she got that

then
we have this beautiful growing granddaughter
that we want to be involved with as she gets older
i want her to know who we were when we are gone

i guess all i can say is
if you are in this situation
the longer you wait to make the decision to make a change
the harder it is to do it
so
we have decided
we lived a good life here
it will always have a special place in our hearts
we wont look back
just forward
to our new adventure
good or bad
we are ready

are you

the organicgreen doctor

trumpcare 2

TRUMPCARE 2

my first thoughts when i read about the trumpcare 2 that
passed through the house was
they the republicans are trying to lose the next elections in 2018
by passing this trumpcare 2 legislation

why
if you take off your politics hat
open you wallet
or
your checking account
be honest with yourself
now leave politics out of this
and
say
how is this going to affect me and my family

now if you make over $200,000 you are making out ok
you are getting a tax cut
you will probably though
lose benefits and especially if you are older
as you will pay maybe as much as 5-6 times for you health insurance

i ran across a bbc article on the trumpcare 2
now bbc
why cant we be like the english
they tell the truth
they just look at life better than we do

here is what they wrote about some big consequences of
trumpare 2

there would be no individual mandate
if you didnt have insurance and tried to get it you pay 30% more
for premiums

the employer mandate would be gone
thats the one where if you have over 50 employees you have too
offer them insurance

gone would be the medicare taxes other taxes like on medical devices
investment income drug companies some high end health policies

insurance for dependents would be kept

the requirement to cover certain things like er visits preventative care
cancer treatments mental health eg is gone
its left up to the states to decide
guarantee with texass record they wont be well covered since texas
has some of the poorest overall healthcare in the nation

now this is the big one
preexisting conditions coverage is left up to the states
again if you live in texas prepare to dig deeper into your wallet
whats preexisting conditions
well
i would say almost all of you have one
i do my wife she does my siblings all do many of their kids do
this one is going to cost most of us a lot of money

medicaid expansion would be phased out over time
the poor just get it the worst it seems in the trumpcare 2 bill

womens care
this will affect at least half of you
there may not be contraceptive and pregnancy care
if you have delivered a baby lately
look at your total bill for that delivery and prenatal care
that now may be yours to pay

insurers can now charge us old folks more
as much as 5-6 times as much
this one will eventually affect all of us

the tax credit formula will be altered
those hurt the most are
you got it
the old folks and the poor ones

now the good thing is that trumpcare 2 has to go through the
senate
where the general feeling is what gets spit out of there
will not look like what the house just produced

i am hoping it will be a more bipartisan effort in the senate
maybe they will finally do a real fix
like what needs to be done

the clocks ticking
the next election is over a year away
what gets passed may determine who has control of congress

yes
politics makes strange bedfellows sometimes

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-what to do

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WHAT TO DO

last week i spoke for about 40 minutes on clinical studies
in alzheimers disease
i reviewed the theory that beta amyloid accumulates forming plaques
then tau protein unravels and forms tangles
both cause brain cell death

i reviewed the adni 2 study i was in for 5 years
a series of diagnostic tests
four that are usually done to work up memory loss
history and exam  labs  memory testing   mri of the brain
the others arent covered by insurance
genetic tests  
spinal tap for amyloid and tau
glucose metabolism pet scan
amyvid pet scan for beta amyloid
then
i reviewed new drug treatments for alzheimers that are experimental
the alzheimers vaccines like my aducanumab study that i am in
the bace inhibitor pills that stop beta amyloid production
the leukemia drug that slows down parkinsons and may slow
down alzheimers

then i reviewed the healthy things that one can do to slow it down

then i answered questions for 30 minutes running over into the break time
but
folks kept asking questions
afterwards i answered question for even longer
folks want answers
sometimes there arent any yet

should i get tested
yes if you have memory issues

should i get genetic tests
no if you dont understand what they mean
especially the apoe 4 gene thats in the 23 and me tests for genetic diseases
its associated with late onset alzheimers disease
if you get the gene it doesnt mean you will get the disease
you are at a higher risk of getting alzheimers though
how you live your life health wise and environmental factors determine
whether it gets you

so what do i do if its in my family
for now there is no real treatment
but we are close i said

i would do these things
do all the healthy things on this slide
do the  mind diet or the mediterranean diet
consider if you are high risk or if you have memory issues
the reversal of cognitive decline protocol from ucla
its the one i am on

most of it is on that slide above
the rest are supplements
and
checking levels of things like b12
thyroid levels hormone levels vitamin d3 homocsyteine etc
correcting them if they are abnormal

the results from their studies are promising to slow down the
mental decline
but
i doubt that it totally stops the disease
it just slows it down
but
what if you could slow it down for 5 years
thats a lot of time in alzheimers years
enough
to see a love one graduate or get married or have a baby

i attribute my doing well to this regimen
and
to taking aricept (donepezil)

dont just do nothing
most of what you can do is in
your hands
and
your mouth
and
your legs

get going
now

thats what you do to slow this down

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-millenneal garden

COUNTRY N NEWS-MILLENNEAL GARDEN

this week i was contacted by a local city magazine for
an interview on farming and gardening

i explained to the reporter that we really didnt have a farm
likes some homesteading people do
where they have a cow goats maybe a horse
they tend to drink their own homegrown milk
make their own cheeses
many will have chickens for eggs and for their meat source
most also will garden
canning and maybe selling their excess produce
thats what i think of when i think of a small farm

we here at the country n
took a simpler approach
what do we have time to take care of
what do we like
what do we have space for
so
we decided on
chickens
only for the eggs
all our chickens are allowed to live out their lives here
no meat chickens for us

we also decided to do an organic garden
looking at what we like to eat
what grows when
so
we garden all year round
eg
right now we are about to harvest all our
onions
the stalks have now fallen over
browned some
we will harvest them soon

potatoes
i chose red ones
we have been eating on these taters and onions now
for over a month
our yield this year seems down

garlic
its stalks have  turned brown
we will harvest them next week
laying them out on a covered table to dry for a few weeks
then hang them in braided chains
or
slice off the garlic heads and save in a dark closet

of course we have tomatoes that are starting to produce
it may be a good year for them
we have peppers that are just now producing

our peaches only made on 1 tree well this year
i think it is because of the warm winter
the lack of chill hours prevented the others from making

i read this morning in the texas gardeners seeds newsletter
that 5 million of the 6 million folks who took up gardening
this year were millenneals
why
save money
eat healthy
good for the environment
can grow stuff anywhere even apartments
can be a social activity
can be a challenge
can be an adventure

millenneals
will redefine our politics
as the soon to be the dominant generation
like the baby boomers are now
we need fresh blood in both of these things below

between fixing politics and doing more gardening
i sort of feel a kinship with them

the organicgreen doctor

i would do it

I WOULD DO IT
i use to be an avid bicyclist
riding it for long rides especially on weekends
that is
until i moved to austin

i just didnt feel safe riding there
with all those cars zooming past you
it would just take one of them
to be texting or something
to wander over and take you out

i decided i didnt want to leave this world
that way

when we moved to the country n
i started reactivating my bicycling
it was those big ole trucks that zoomed by
that made me nervous

i even
walked a mile with my bike to the country roads
then would ride on them
dodging
dogs
pot holes
limbs
eventually i decided it was time to hang my
bike up for good
so i did

i never looked back

i switched to more slower modes of exercise
like
walking
hiking
working on the property here at the country n
we even have a sort of nature walk around
our property that is a mile long
you never know what youll see
rabbits
deer
turkey
snakes
bees
lizards
then i added working and gardening to my regimen
working at habitat for humanity
sort of added like
step classes up and down ladders
weight class lifting boards and rocks
so
when it was all added up
i still was getting a good work out every day
maybe
not quite as strenuous as bike riding

so last night as i was watching the news
i heard
you can ride your bike at cota for a few bucks every
tuesday night for the next 10 weeks

i go so excited
then
i remembered you dont have no bike

maybe i could get me an old school bike
like the one pee wee herman rode in his movies
the one that was in the basement at the alamo
in that movie

whats cota
its the circuit of the americas racetrack in austin
where they race f1 cars each fall
whats f1
outside the us its the most popular car racing in the world

the cota event here brings in thousands of visitors each fall
and
millions of dollars to austin

to get to ride a bike on there would be exciting
zoom down those straight aways
lean far far over to make those sharp pin curves
then
put the pedal to the pedal on the next straight away

now
if i had a bike
i might just consider
making that drive
to
having a thrill not available anywhere else in america

anyone got a bike for sale

the organicgreen doctor

teacher gonna teach

TEACHER GONNA TEACH

yep
thats what they are gonna do
teach
and
do it well i must say

here is the link to the article some of this info was obtained from
if you are a texas teacher
you should probably read it

texas is if it was a country would be one of the largest economies
it has 6 of the top 50 fortune 500 companies headquartered
in our state
it has 51 of the top 500 fortune 500 companies headquartered here
texas is third behind new york and california

it has more exports than california and new york
if it was a nation it would be the 12th largest economy in the world
based on gdp

it is ahead of south korea and australia
however
south korea is number one in education
australia is number four in education
the us is number seventeen in education
texas would be way down at the bottom if it was a country

so texas is a wealthy state
it would be a wealthy country

right
well sort of wrong

it ranks 43rd in education in the us
it ranks almost at the bottom for childrens health
thank goodness for mississippi

it ranks at the bottom in overall health care for its citizens

its a bottom feeder when it comes to childrens poverty

some of this is almost 3rd world like
no it is 3rd world like

seems shameful

north of texas and northeast of texas
are two states
that well those folks there in arkansas and oklahoma
well they dont really like texas much

so it seems
that texas dont like their teachers either

if you retired as a teacher in 2000 at say $1000 a month
you would still make in 2017 the same $1000 a  month
their buying power would be greatly reduced
there is not a cost of living adjustment provided
inflation slowly like a cancer eats away the teachers retirement

add to that
the fact that most districts in the state dont pay into social security
which means
those teachers may not get any social security
or
if they do it will be greatly reduced

my wife she will get less than half the social security that she
would have gotten if she didnt teach or lived in those other states

yes those texas hating states around us
their teachers get all their social security benefits

their state legislators did their jobs
they took care of their teachers

texas is a wealthy state
it has no excuse

now
they
the state of texas
plans to remove the pensions all together
to change to a 401k program

now i realize that that is what is happening all over the country
its probably going to happen
but
hopefully at least they will reinstitute the paying into social security
requirement for all the school districts

at least the blow
the amount of poverty that retired teachers will live in
will be blunted some

a teachers gonna teach

lets take care of these important folks in our lives
our kids lives

the organicgreen doctor

make earth great again

MAKE EARTH GREAT AGAIN

thats what i was thinking last weekend
saturday april 22nd
earth day

now that should be the slogan for all of us
we only have one of them
it cant be replaced
we cant leave and go somewhere else
if we mess this one up

yes i know we think we want to go to mars
billions of folks arent going to fit on that planet

so we are stuck with this one
there will not be another one
so
we need to do what we can to preserve this one
so our future generations
can survive

i remember as i have written before my first
time to see smog
i thought it was just some weird cloud color sitting down
on the los angeles basin as we drove for the first time
over the cajon pass down into that basin

my historian brother who was driving
said
no thats not a cloud
thats smog

it burns your eyes
makes you wheeze
makes it hard to see things at a distance
sucks to have asthma and emphysema
and
live down in this sewer of air
i thought to myself

now thanks to laws and rules
environmental ones
the air is better down in that basin
and
elsewhere

my dad told stories of fishing on a river near where they lived
they had a houseboat on it
then
the oil industry polluted the area
ruined the streams and rivers for generations

it took laws and regulations to stop all of this
pollution

when it comes to the earth
we cant take our foot off the pedal
we have to aggressively take care of this one
there will not be another
make this one uninhabitable
then
we are done

whatever you call whats happening
whether you believe its man made or not
its happening
the glaciers are melting
i dont see what we are doing polluting this earth
is really helping it
at all

private industry is not going to do it themselves
they have proven that for years
it takes our government enforcing rules
to make them quit dumping all that stuff in the air
in the water
in the ground
that
can ruin our one earth
forever

this
ruining our planet
may be our worst threat to our country

lets
take care of it
each of us
the best we can to keep it unpolluted

if not
we are in trouble

make earth great again

dont pollute
recycle
plant a tree


the organicgreen doctor