this is world alzheimers month
its the 6th leading cause of death in the us
some think its number 4
in the county we are living in it is the 4th leading cause
of death here
there are 5,000,000 folks with the disease in the us
by 2050 there will be 16,000,000 folks in the us with this disease
i read this article from the wall street journal titled
an alzheimers diagnosis-before any symptoms
now i found the article interesting
if you want to know about getting diagnosed earlier
for yourself or your family
you should read this article
heres the link to it
now i didnt need to read this article to learn about
all of this
as
i have lived this the last 7 years
as i have meandered through the private neurology world
then the alzheimers research world as a patient
as i have written this blog researching what i write about
as i have given lectures on alzheimers disease
as i have answered questions from folks at q and a sessions
i have learned all this stuff thats in the article
first hand i must add
i read today about a new research study thats starting up
it will run for 8 years at usc and other universities
folks who are diagnosed with
prealzheimers disease-folks with no symptoms but with positive tests
or
mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease-folks with mild
symptoms but with positive tests
will be given one of these
an infusion of a vaccine like the one i am getting now at ucla
or
a pill that prevents the bad amyloid from being produced and
deposited in the brain
or
those unlucky ones will get that placebo thing
the question of whether identifying folks before they get symptoms
or when they get early early symptoms
then giving them treatment long term
will it make a difference
we will find out in 8 years
although
studies like the aducanumab study i am in or the crenezumab study thats
on going now will partially answer that question in 5 years
we are on the brink
of finding an answer
in this article all the testing they write about
has oozed over from the research world into the private medical world
such that these tests may get done by a private neurologist
seeing you or a loved one for the workup for memory loss
so in 2010 if you could fast forward that to 2017
if when i went to the neurologist
even before i had a memory test done
i could have had
memory tests which would have showed short term memory issues
genetic blood tests for the early onset or dominantly inherited gene
and for the late onset alzheimers gene the apoe 4 gene
spinal tap analysis for the beta amyloid and tau
these levels become abnormal as the disease progresses
an amyloid pet scan that would show if the beta amyloid was present
if you have even early alzheimers it will be positive
if it is negative you probably dont have alzheimers
we are almost there now to be able to identify if you have it
before symptoms start
these studies like the ones i have been involved in will show
if this is true
now
a lot of thought and preplanning needs to be done
before you have these done
especially if you are in the prealzheimers state
it can be i must say quite overwhelming to get the results
i liken it to finding out
that you have huntington disease
or
that you have a terminal cancer
it requires a lot of soul searching and contemplation
to get these diagnoses
the end result is the same
all ending in death from the disease
some quicker than others
this may be the limitation of folks having the testing
for alzheimers
they might not be ready to know
organizations like the alzheimers texas and alzheimers association
and us against alzheimers can help with the process
you
can take care of your health
can get involved in the support of research and education
by
volunteering with these groups
helping us with our walks to raise money to help the fight
go to the alzheimers texas site www.txalz.org to find the central texas
location of their walks
go to the alzheimers association site www.alz.org to find their walks
located all across the us
we cant do it without your help
my walks
alzheimers texas williamson county walk september 23rd
santa barbara walk to end alzheimers october 28th
the organicgreen doctor
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