THERE MAY HELP
the clocks aticking
i realized this this week
when an alzheimers wife called me about her husband
listening to his story i realized that he is past the halfway point
on that downward slide that doesnt end well
it that slide will intensify over the next several months
then he will fall off
he was diagnosed the same year i was
he was a working professional forgetting things
he has now reached the edge and will soon start that fall
when he and i were diagnosed
i really expected to be where he was today
instead
here i am giving advice to an alzheimers wife who
when you look at her you see the fatigue dripping from her face
that tired tired walk she has
he is taking her down with him it seems
not on purpose though
its part of the disease
this caregiving thing
she was asking me about getting him into research studies
i thought to myself
its too late way too late to do anything else for him
but love him and care for him
and
get yourself some relief and help
i didnt encourage her to seek research help
it would be fruitless
this last week merck the drug company is publishing results
of its study on its new bace inhibitor
that blocks the production of the bad beta amyloid that gets
deposited in the brain in alzheimers
in the study it worked but the folks didnt get better
maybe because the folks were like the above guy
too far along in the disease
now
the long term studies that are being done are done on folks
who are early in the disease or have no symptoms at all
ie they have positive scans for alzheimers
but who have no symptoms
those are the ones that may be helped by these bace inhibitors
they dont remove the stuff the amyloid and plaques like
the infusions that i am on
my infusions remove the amyloid and the plaques and stimulate the
garbage cells to clean up things
the bace inhibitors only stop the amyloid production
doing that after the fact doesnt undo whats been done
so for me and others my age
the drugs like the aducanumab is our last hope
if they dont work or the bace inhibitors dont work
the next wave of drugs for this awful disease is meant
for those in the generation behind us
if this stuff fails all we have to work with is maybes
like
eating a mediterranean or mind diet that may delay things if done
long term by a few years
looking at the 36 point plan outlined in dr bredesens reversal of
cognitive decline article
highlight the above and google it
i am doing all those things he recommends if i can tolerate them
no
they arent proven to help scientifically
they many of them are maybes
well doing all the healthy things on the list are almost sure to help
the supplements are maybes
but
my and our choices are what
there is not one if the aducanumab like drugs dont work
we are left with the maybes
we as a generation missed the ride to the cure
now i do feel like that something im doing has slowed things
down a lot
im not sure what it is
but
i plan on continuing what im doing
and
adding any maybes that may appear in research that
wont cause me harm or interfere with my medications
my most recent maybe is
cbd oil
ive found the research that says maybe
maybe
i know what dose to take
i plan to take it
just
when i come to visit texas or arkansas this summer
i have to leave it at home since i could get busted with it
in my possession
how does it work
it seems to help remove the bad beta amyloid in the brain
well why dont they just do the research to know if it does
for sure
the federal government makes it almost impossible to do the
research
so
i cant wait on this maybe
at least
i live in a state that allows me to purchase it legally here
and
not feel like a criminal
i can see it now
retired austin doctor arrested at the airport with illegal substance
so
im getting ready
if my aducanumab fails
starting now
to take my maybes
that maybe helps
maybe
ive told several well all of the doctors that i see what im doing
they give me that look
i know it cause i use to do the same thing to patients
but
i really have no other choice
other than do nothing
i know thats not going to help any
the organicgreen doctor
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