microchip me im ready

MICROCHIP ME IM READY

if you have a loved one you are caring for at home who has dementia you know it crosses your mind
will they slip out the door when im not looking and escape

each year in the los angeles area there is a family who talks at the alzheimers walks about their mom wife sister neighbor who wandered off never to be seen again
no
we you dont want that to happen to our loved ones
right

when i did my alzheimers panel in santa monica recently as i was sitting at the panel table with an alzheimers couple she the caregiver he the patient i noticed this bracelet he had on
the kind you have to have cut off to remove
you know like the home arrest folks wear on their ankles

this one he had on was obtained from the local police department for a monthly fee
it has a gps tracker on it that gets activated when the need arises
the police can turn it on and track the person down

so
with interest i read the article about how folks are microchiping themselves in sweden
thousands of folks
its a tiny rice size chip that gets placed under the skin above the thumb
flash you hand across the scanners to get in a building in your home buy a starbucks and more

it has no batteries to be replaced since scanners pick up the data like off a credit card

now
what i would like to see is someway that could be converted to a gps card that a person could be tracked

thats what i would like to see
an implantable gps microchip to track me down when my time comes

when they gets invented
i say
microchip me now
im ready

the organicgreen doctor

the boinnnnnngy thing

THE BOINNNNNGY THING

this thing above made the cut when we moved
its interesting when you decide to only move across the country those things you can stuff into two cars
one car a small one
this boinnnnngy thing it made the cut

it is made of a gourd
half of the bottom was cut off
a clear plastic circle was inserted in the opening
a long spring was attached to the plastic
the outside of the gourd was decorated with paintings
over time the paintings have faded from weather exposure
i expect it was an african painting or a native american painting or a seashore painting
i thought of them as hieroglyphs like you would see in some cave out west

when the wind blows
the gourd sways back and forth
the wire spring wiggles opposite of this movement
this makes this boinnnnngy sound
like a distance african drum sound or a distant native american drum sound
it use to be louder but now over time its gotten quieter

now the sound is more subtle
you have to listen real hard to hear it
it sort of calms you down inside

you have to get real quiet to hear it
i think thats why it relaxes you
you have to almost be meditating to hear it

have you ever been in the wilderness
stopped
got real quiet
to hear the sounds you can hear
i always feel that way when i listen to the boinnnnngy thing make its sound

now our friend susan gave this to us
im sure she knew we would enjoy it
she left something with us to remind us of her long after she is gone
having been taken away from this earth much too early

yesterday i sat on our patio overlooking our condo courtyard
now we hung this boinnnnngy thing at the corner of the patio
where it catches the wind which is either down off the mountains
or
on from the shore

its interesting the sound you hear changes based on which direction the wind comes from
i think and i thought as i listened yesterday
i swear in the wind and the boinnnnngy thing sounds
i could barely hear susan whispering to me

yes
i think i did

she said
i miss yall
hang in there

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-am i there i hope so

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-AM I THERE I HOPE SO

thats me holding up that blue flower at last years alzheimers walk here in santa barbara
i talked just a few minutes about my diagnosis and my familys battle with alzheimers disease
yes i choked up when ms b who was in the audience cried out grandaddy grandaddy
sorry thats when i lost it

my goal in all of this is to see ms b grow up and know who i am
i want to see her graduate from high school
i plan to enjoy her until then

i want to see mr h get his kidney transplant next year when he is one
i know he will be a healthier infant when that happens
he will be able to have a good life expectancy and a good life doing things every other child does
except maybe not football
i want to see him graduate from high school but i know that may be pushing things a little
i would be 76 which if this stuff im doing doesnt work i know thats not going to happen

i want to see my sons become grandparents
i know if this stuff doesnt work i wont get to see this happen

i want to grow old with my wife she
i know thats going to happen if this stuff works or not
it will just be a real bumpy ride for her and my family
ala my younger brothers family

so i am about to listen to a webcast in a few minutes from the clinical trials in alzheimers disease from barcelona spain on how well my drug aducanumab appears to be working
in a few minutes
i well
will sort of get my fate
did all this ive done the last few years
is it going to let me do those things above
i will get my preliminary answer
i will report on the results at the end of todays blog

yes im anxious as i ever get
yes im all teared up
whenever this happens i wonder did my mom and brother have these moments
or did it just sneak up on them before they could understand what it all  meant

as i walk up onto the stage next weekend carrying that dam blue flower
ive had to limit what i say because as i stand there looking out in the audience i will be seeing all those that i talked about in my family above in the beginning of this blog
if i try to say all i want to say i know that i wont be able to finish
so
as i compromised
here is what i plan to say

i am holding this blue flower today representing those of us who have alzheimers disease
now i have seen alzheimers disease up close and personal
its an awful ugly disease

i have three reasons why im walking today

i am walking for my family
my mom and my younger brother died from alzheimers disease
my dad probably had alzheimers disease when he died
my older brother was diagnosed with mild alzheimers disease a few years ago

i am walking for myself
i was diagnosed 8 years ago with early mild cognitive impairment thats turned out to be due to alzheimers disease
i take the alzheimers drug aricept that slows down the symptoms
i am in a clinical trial of a new alzheimers drug that i receive as monthly infusions that shows some promise to slow down the disease

then finally
i am walking for you your family your loved ones your friends who have been affected by alzheimers disease

we need a treatment or cure for alzheimers disease

my hope is that some of you will see the time when no one will have to stand up here and hold this blue flower

thank you


now for the results about my drug aducanumab
the results reported was on the original study called a phase 1b study
it has around 197 folks in it
after a year it converted to a long term extension study of at least 3 years

the results presented from the original study is where my study will be in 2 years
so what they report will be about what will be reported when my study ends in 2 years
but my study will be more accurate since there are 10x more participants
1605 vs 197

so what they reported just now in barcelona about 10 minutes ago will probably be what they will report in 2020 when my study ends

here is the link to listed or download all the presentations
www.ctad-alzheimers.com 
unless you understand the research stuff and medical jargon it may be hard to understand the results

this is where i come in
i speak the language
i am from both sides the medical side and the patient side
so ill try to put into regular how we speak language
you know like regular people talk

here are words ill define for you

aducanumab is my drug thats an antibody against the bad amyloid in the brain
amyloid is the protein that accumulates in the brain that starts the alzheimers disease process
amyvid is a pet scan that shows the amyloid in the brain
mmse is an in office memory test that doctors use to access memory loss
it takes about 20 minutes to administer
placebo means you dont get the real drug
apoe 4 is the gene called the late alzheimers gene that makes you at a higher risk to get alzheimers
i have the apoe 4 double version of the gene
aria stands for amyloid related imaging abnormalities
i think of them as microbleeds in the brain as the bad amyloid plaques are removed from the brain

the way aducanumab works is its given as an intravenous infusion once a month
it is an antibody against the amyloid that grabs the amyloid plaques in the brain and removes them
it also removes amyloid floating in the spinal fluid in the brain
it also fights the inflammation reaction the body use to attack the brain damage from the amyloid

my study has 1605 people in it and is done at 360 sites in 20 countries
they had to screen 12,500 people to get those 1605 of us that qualified
thus volunteers for this and other studies make alzheimers research happen
find studies at clinicaltrials.gov or at www.alz.org

the study thats reported on is a phase 1b trial of over 100+ folks
at the end of the first year the results were promising enough that the fda allowed the biogen company to skip phase 2 studies and go right to phase 3 studies
phase 3 studies happen right before a drug get fda approval

in my study there are folks with
preclinical alzheimers-those with normal memory but positive amyvid pet scans
mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease
mild alzheimers disease

it seems if your disease has progressed further than these three then these drugs may not help
thats why early testing is so important especially as new treatments are found

so here is what they reported at 630ish cdt from barcelona spain
i watched it live and took notes

aria occurs in 25% of the participants
about 50% of those with the apoe 4 gene got aria
so i probably had aria

aria and its headaches occurred most commonly after the first doses and in the first 6 months
rarely was someone removed from the study if they got aria
i think of it as a side effect from the aducanumab doing its job
grabbing those plaques from the brain tearing them lose
bleed baby bleed is what i say
then it all settles down

yes i had bad headaches after my first infusion 19 months ago that lasted one week
placebo dont cause that

at the end of 1 year and now at 3 years those who got the high dose and a titrated up dose have mainly clear amyvid pet scans which if read would be read as negative
remember to get in this study that amyvid pet scan has to be positive
so that means my amyvid pet scan was positive 20 months ago

if im getting the higher dose my amyvid pet scan will be negative today

at the end of a year and now at 3 years the placebo and all doses of aducanumab had a continued decline in memory
the placebo folks had a more rapid decline like you would expect to see
the higher dose and titrated dose folks had a much slower decline in their mmse or memory
its a significant difference
for me
my memory has trended down since i can score myself as i take the test plus ive seen my last several mmse scores done in another study
so mine is better

thats the true measure of is this stuff working
not if its all removed
but
does it make the memory loss better

yes
how much better we will find out in two more years

it sure makes me more hopeful now

no its not going to be a cure
just a treatment that along with everything else i am doing will slow this disease down for myself and others

i wonder what ms b wants for graduation
im stoked
there may be some hope for the future

we need two things to help us find a treatment and cure

money
volunteers

you can help with both of those



here is the information on our team for the walk to end alzheimers next month

my team in the santa barbara walk to end alzheimers on saturday november 3rd is called
organicgreendoctor

click the link above and donate and or walk with us

organcgreen doctor

sb country n news-back at it again

SB COUNTRY N NEWS-BACK AT IT AGAIN

last year i volunteered one day a week at an elementary school helping them with their veggie garden that had been dormant for awhile

i instantly discovered the varmints loved all the veggies so i had to make pvc wire cages to cover the garden beds
without the cover the veggies were all stripped to the ground

the varmints identified were squirrels birds big ones and small ones voles gophers and a another small squirrel all of which had a great fall last year in the garden until we figured out how to keep them out

so far knock on wood this year the cages are working

one of the first thing we planted was lettuce
i got some lettuce transplants and the kids planted them
i seeded a lettuce mix around the transplants so we would have a continuous crop of lettuce all year
as the season progresses we will plant more lettuce seeds

we restarted our blue worm composter
we obtained worms from the teacher and from my garden that i work in
to the composter we added
a layer of newspapers
a layer of wet soaked leaves which becomes the worms home
torn up newspapers wetted real good
worms love wet newspapers
then we added handfuls of wiggly worms
lots of food scraps were added
a rotten pumpkin was added
yes the worms ate it
a large daikon radish was added to see if they would eat it
the kids will be monitoring the radish each week

then
we put a worm tower in a whiskey barrel
we used a 5 gallon bucket with holes in it
we added leaves newspapers compost worms food scraps
these worms can move back in forth from the bucket into the barrel via the holes in the bucket

all this compost will be eventually added to their garden

planned plantings are carrots kale swiss chard parsley cilantro sweet peas
things the kids will eat
we are just finishing the last of the sungold sweet yellow tomatoes that i oversummered

yes
they get their hands dirty
they pick up the worms
they eat what they plant

they are back at it again

the organicgreen doctor

how to lower your cancer risk

HOW TO LOWER YOUR CANCER RISK

these are called christmas lima beans
i grew them in my garden
while volunteering for a seed swap i had to clean up at the end of the day
there were these seeds laying on the floor
i scooped up about 10 or so of them since i had grown them before in texas
the flavor of these beans are almost meaty tasting like they were cooked in ham
some call it a chestnut flavor

this spring i planted these 10 beans in my garden
i prepped the garden site by digging down about a foot and a half
removing the soil which was mostly clay
into the deep hole i added cardboard newspapers lots of mulch compost and soil
i did this in layers until i got about 6 inches from the top then i added just alternating organic compost and soil until the bed was filled up
the resulting bed was much higher than the surrounding garden
but
over the last 6 months the height has slowly decreased as all those goodies have composted itself into a rich rich organic soil
i also had added to these layers some organic fertilizer with good germs in it and molasses and seaweed solution and fish emulsion

yep its real rich organic soil

as the seeds which ms b planted for me grew i never ever used any products on them that was not organic
never ever never ever would i

why
well
i grow all my veggies which we eat a lot of in a total organic fashion
no chemicals
no pesticides
nada
nothing
i even rarely use any organic products pesticides or weed killers
rarely

so when i harvested these christmas lima beans
they were pure unadulterated organic christmas lima beans
no cancer causing chemicals on or around them

here is my giant organic daikon radish i recently planted in my garden a few weeks ago
now its harvested
i chose to donate it to the elementary worm composter to see if the worms would eat it like they did the rotten pumpkin
my guess is the worms will love it

that compost like the compost i make in my garden worm towers is pure organic compost

a recent study discussed in this article shows that eating organic food can lower your cancer risk by 25%

why
i think its because eating rainbow foods and organic foods naturally assists your body in fighting cancer eg tomatoes maybe with prostate cancer

not putting all those chemicals in our bodies from contaminated foods has to play a part

maybe but i dont think its proven eating not altered genetic foods ie nongmo might play a part

remember this rule dont mess with mother nature
just look around you and youll see evidence of that

folks who eat organic foods also tend to eat a healthy diet and exercise more

thats what i think may lower the cancer risk

in the meantime
in my fall organic garden i will or have planted organic veggies that will help to fight heart disease alzheimers cancer obesity diabetes and probably more

ive planted things like
sweet peas kales cilantro broccoli cabbage garlic onions lettuce beets spinach bok choy carrots and im sure as the fall and winter progresses ill add more

sure beats chemo

the organicgreen doctor

nor a drop to drink

NOR A DROP TO DRINK

ive been watching all the rain and flooding in the austin area with interest
years and years ago before all the lakes were made on the colorado river
austin would get flooded every so many decades so that it would wipe out
a lot of the city

this recent rain and flood would have been one of the worst ever but for all those dams and lakes and slower downer stuff that have done to the water

one of the lakes called lake travis provides almost all of the water for austin and the surrounding areas
if its low people start getting worried
they have to quit watering their lawns washing their cars cleaning their drives and sidewalks and there is a lot of talk about conserving that water

then when the lakes get full they sort of forget about it

now this flood its provided enough water more than enough water for several generations
the problem is its all running down the river eventually to be all dumped into the ocean

along with all that water is a lot of debris and junk
a friend whose inlaws have a place on the first lake in the lake series well their place got flooded
which is hard to believe that happened
the house was flooded on the first floor
i saw pictures where the water as it rose got higher and higher 
when the lake reached its peak
then the water eventually receded
there sitting on the top of their boathouse is this big old speed boat

that folks took a lot of water to do that
water that was really needed in that area
just not so fast would have been nice

it was needed
probably most of it is in the gulf now
a lot of destruction was left in its wake
several deaths occurred


reddit.com
in austin to get an idea of how bad the flooding is you watch the stevie ray vaughan statue on lady bird lake
if its covered up then it was a real bad flood
it wasnt all covered up
yet


so now austin who has been begging for more water for years
now they got it more than enough
the problem is they dont have enough
and
to make it worse it has to be boiled before you drink it
there is a city wide water restriction going on

say what you say
there is so much debris and contamination it has overwhelmed the citys ability to provide enough water potable water for folks to drink

so if you drink it do at your own peril
it needs to be boiled

plus they cant produce enough water in their plant for everyone in town

so yep after one of the worst floods maybe ever in austin
now they have water restriction

cant water your yard or trees
cant wash your car
cnat wash your sidewalk or driveway
cant fill up a pool or fountain or fish pond
inside they have asked to delay dish washing and clothes washing and to take shorter showers

now my wife she and i would have no issues since we live a water restricted lifestyle even though we dont have to do that

water water everywhere and nor a drop to drink

these are definitely crazy times arent they

the organicgreen doctor

sears

SEARS

usatoday

i sure hate to see it go
i remember when i was younger getting that sears catalog and going through it all seeing the wishmes that were scattered throughout the catalog

yes
at sites that had an outhouse only
i remember tearing those sears roebuck catalog pages out
crinkling them up so they would be softer
yep
done that for sure several times

the catalog was like an amazon search old school version
anything it seemed you wanted you could get there

later
all our appliances we bought were sears kenmores
washing machines
dryers
refrigerators
stoves
microwaves

once i worked for a tool company while my wife she was in graduate school
we made the ratchet tools for sears
i must say their quality control was strict
even today ill pick up a competitors wrench and can spot the defects on it
those craftsman tools i owned a lot of

the advantage over amazon was that when you went into sears looking at something you could touch it turn it off and on move it around smell it pick it up
on amazon you cant do that until it arrives at your door
yes
i know amazon is pretty liberal at taking back things
but
thats no comparison to going to sears to see things before you buy them

but
alas
we are in a new world

there are things ill miss not having sears around for

whats a shopper to do who likes to do hands on purchasing

i guess like we always do
well just have to adjust

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-i dont want one

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-I DONT WANT ONE

i am 16 days out from my first for sure aducanumab infusion at ucla
so far
so good
no headaches or side effects have occurred except for fatigue which i always get after the infusions

this may mean that i have been getting the real drug the last 18 months

since when you first get the new drug the first time and if you are apoe4 apoe 4 positive like i am then you are very likely to get a bad headache for a few days

a bad headache i didnt have after the november 3rd infusion
but
i did have one after the first unknown infusion in march 2017
a real bad one for several days

what this means is i might have been on the real drug for 18 months
im sure hoping so


i was reading an alzheimers blog written by a researcher who took care of his mom when she had alzheimers called alzheimers reading room on palliative care

when the time came his mom didnt get a feeding tube
why
he and she had this discussion a long time before she got worse
she didnt want one
she didnt get one

i have been redoing some of my legal paperwork recently to update it
i have a living will
i just did a booklet called what if...workbook
i just did a booklet called five wishes
in all of these documents i wrote like this these words

I DONT WANT A FEEDING TUBE WHEN MY TIME COMES

if someone does put one in me when my time comes
i hope they get struck by lightening and fall into a den of rattlesnakes then get covered with fire ants and roaches and rats

thats how strong i feel about this

its written my wishes all over these documents
i plan to have it tattooed on my stomach
just like i wrote it above in caps and dark ink

my wife she knows how i feel
now so does everyone else

alas though it does happen though
usually in a hospital setting
once its in there if someone objects to removing it
it will stay in until i die

thats when i ask fate to come back and strike the person who put it in me

so
in addition to all these written documents i have
here in black and white on this date in my blog the organicgreendoctor
are my explicit wishes for all to read and have access to

no feeding tube please
togd


here is the information on our team for the walk to end alzheimers next month

my team in the santa barbara walk to end alzheimers on saturday november 3rd is called
organicgreendoctor

click the link above and donate and or walk with us

the organicgreen doctor

bust my budget

BUST MY BUDGET

msnbc.com

each fall i sit down and do a budget for the year
ive done this for a long time

i add up income sources
i subtract expenses
if the number that results is a positive one
well thats good
if the number that results is a negative one
wel thats not good

i have a few choices
increase incoming monies
or
decrease expenses
or
use credit
ie
use deficit spending

now
we have never used deficit spending before
my solution is always
bringing in more money
or
making decisions on what we spend our money on

unless my wife she and i decide go back to work
then our income sources aint changing
now
ive calculated using all kinds of calculations
how much we need to draw from our savings each month
so that our money will last until my wife she is 100
we take that money out each money
no more no less
we dont look back

so
what im saying is
our income is set each year with no additional money expected coming in
well we ie i did get a 2.8% increase in my social security
enough to maybe pay for a meal at a restaurant each month

so
we are left at cutting our expenses
we are over budget by 4.7%

now
we could be like uncle sam and do deficit spending
raising up our national debt higher than expected
by using our credit cards each month to spend that 4.7%
of course theyll charge us a lot of interest for that money

so
we will just cut our expenses by that amount
so
at the end of the year
our national debt here at our home will be
zero

now we could take money from our savings our iras to live a more expensive life
but
we are happy quite happy with the standard of living we have now
theres no reason to steal money away from our future when we get real old

so we wont
well tighten our belts slightly
we wont notice at all
we will be happy

why cant uncle sam do that
not by stealing money away from our medicare or our social security or our schools
but
maybe they could increase our nations income by cutting back on some of those tax breaks

when you look at that deficit graph you can see we were headed towards a smaller and smaller deficit then those tax breaks went into effect
and
it is starting to get larger and larger

i read where our president benefited by $20-40 million on the tax breaks he got from the new tax law
then looking at all those leaders on both sides of the aisle
all rich
all benefited greatly from the tax breaks

i suggest that uncle sam do like we do
maybe cut some expenses except they could try increasing their income
by increasing the taxes on folks like our major leaders and the top 1%

dont steal from us any more than you are now stealing from our kids futures with this huge deficit

my wife she and i are doing our part
why cant they

the organicgreen doctor

open enrollment is acoming

OPEN ENROLLMENT IS ACOMING

here is my new motto

and

message to mr mitch

i will give you my medicare card when you pry it from my cold dead hands

thats my message to him and those who want to change or even get rid of medicare

i would include social security in there also

i have been on medicare now for about 8 years

i must say its been the most efficient insurance i have ever been on 

i have had only two issues in 8 years

proper coding for a b12 blood level

leaving off a code for a recent doctor visit

both minor

both not medicares fault

if i was chosing between say private blue cross or aetna or humana etc plans and medicare well i would chose medicare every time

pirvate insurance should take lessons from medicare

now your medicare premiums on regular medicare and your medipak or supplement and your drug supplement are all income based

my premiums have varied a lot based on my income tax returns

so i like regular medicare

i dont like medicare advantage or disadavantage i call them plans

the medicare advantage plans may or may not be a good choice 

its all based on where you live

i personally like to chose my doctors and hospitals

so i stay with regular medicare

for the supplement im pleased with my carrier i have had for 8 years so i stay with them

for my drug plan i look at the price per month and i put in the medicare.gov drug plan locator all my drugs i take to see what price ill pay for my drugs each year

i selected aetna since the price was cheaper at $19+ a month

most of my meds have no copay

im pleased

ive used them now for several years

remember this is what i chose based on my experience my location my drugs 

this plan or one like it may not be the best for you

my wife she was on trs retirement and was scheduled to be on a medicare disadvantage plan in the austin area which since we live out here would not work real well

there were just a few providers in this area

so

she chose to be on the regular medicare and supplements i am on 

the price is slightly less a month than the trs medicare disadvantage plan

shes pleased so far

as i say a happy wife is a happy life

now back to mr mitch

i dont see medicare and social security as entitlements

i paid taxes a lot of taxes over the years into the system

for my medicare 

i pay a lot of money each month since its adjusted for income for my coverage

my advice to you

mr mitch 

is 

you really want to lose an election

try prying our medicare card and our social security card out of our hands

this is something all of us over 65 can agree on 

probably close to 100%

the organicgreen doctor

keep it clean

KEEP IT CLEAN

this isnt about politics
its about my laptop

each morning i pull my laptop out of its hiding place
early each morning
i rarely use my laptop during the day
since i do all my computer and social media and blogging
before the sun comes up

so
i usually am working on my computer in a somewhat dim light
so i can sort of see my screen better
it just seems to show up better in that lighting

now when we travel i usually take my laptop with me
as a carry on i keep under my seat
i like to look at my social media and emails on the laptop
since i seem to not miss as much as when i just use my cellphone

i ran across an article on how to clean your computer
so
i got to thinking
ive not cleaned this thing in a long long time

when i say its been everywhere i mean everywhere
yes
its been in the bathroom more than once

my old computer got a broken screen from a mishap in the bathroom
ill spare you the details

so i took out my laptop after reading that article
used the spotlight on my iphone
looked at it real real close

oh my i thought
thats almost disgusting
all those crumbs and dust and prints and smears
whatever is that on my screen
ok so i do sneeze a lot in the morning

so i reread that article
i knew i had noticed my laptop had slowed down some lately
i know its getting real old
not as old as my rainwater brothers
his laptop looks like something you would dig out of the dump
but
i still get emails from him off that computer
granted like many of us he uses his iphone a lot

so my laptop is old
so my laptop is grungy

i linked the komando article on cleaning your laptop click here

here is what i did
i took some alcohol pads
wiped down the screen using multiple pads
that was dirty at first then got more white the more pads i used
i did notice all those periods on my screen are now gone

i then used those pads on my keys and my touch pads
oh my
the alcohol pads werent white after the first cleaning or the second
but eventually the keys and touchpads were all greaseless and crumbless and shiny

then i got some of that spray stuff for your computer
you know the stuff they keep locked up
you have to be either 18 or 21 to buy it
ill need your id the clerk said
excuse me
see all this grey hair
an id
yes an id she said
you want this stuff
i need an id
so
i gave her an id

then i sprayed all over the laptop
if  there was an opening it got sprayed
all this material come flying out from around the keys

at the end
the laptop felt lighter
shiny
not slippery when i picked it up
i could see the screen better especially without all that punctuation on it

. now i tired to wipe off this one at the beginning of this sentence
but i finally realized that was really a period

i turned on the computer
it hummed just like a car would if you washed it
you know how a car drives better after a car wash
well
thats the way my laptop seems to be running now

now
ill keep it clean
i promise.

the organicgreen doctor

i voted will you

I VOTED WILL YOU

sometimes elections dont mirror the will of the people
why
folks dont vote

here its simple to vote
we have chosen to do it by mail
usually in texas and arkansas i use to go to the voting locations to vote
i just like the feel of waiting in the line and voting on the machine
it seems like i have more power when i vote this way

alas
times change
we vote by mail

in comes to our mail this envelope
out pops the ballot
i make my marks
close the envelope
sign the outside
put on a 50 cent stamp
drop it in the mailbox a block away
so i did get a little exercise in this activity
done
i voted
i got this sticker
i can wear it to show off that i did my duty as a us citizen

now if you dont agree with the way i voted
first if you dont vote then dont discuss politics with me
if you do vote then youve done your duty
youve earned the right to discus and or complain about politics

not enourgh of us will vote this time or most times
we let the minority of the electorate sometimes decide the things that matter to all of us

the economy
our healthcare
immigration
medicare
social security
and
all those other things we all argue about

so
please vote
its the only way our system can keep working

i did
i always do
i have the right to complain now
do you

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-should i get tested

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-SHOULD I GET TESTED

every time i do an alzheimers presentation i get asked this question

this week i spoke to about 20 folks who live at the valle verde retirement community here in santa barbara
my talk was on my story using it as a vehicle to talk about what workup needs to be done for memory loss and what research is ongoing that may lead to a treatment or cure
of course focusing on my study as a vehicle to talk about what its like to be in the study

i always mention my apoe 4 status since i am apoe 4/ apoe 4 this being the risk gene for late onset alzheimers disease
notice i wrote risk gene
it just means i represent 3% of you and that i have a 10-20 times increased risk for developing the disease

compare that to the early onset risk gene which is 100% sure if you have that gene you will 100% get alzheimers disease

yesterday i wrote this blog on preexisting conditions
a former young patient messaged me about whether she should be tested for the alzheimers genes

i wrote her my answer but i thought more about it later after i also ran across this excellent article and this podcast on getting tested for the alzheimers genes

so my answer for her would be
i understand why she is asking
its in her family
like many of you

yes
and
no

yes
once you know it really stimulates you to maximize your health
now while you are young
if you can max your health while young many people including myself feel like you can defeat the alzheimers or at least delay it enough so you will die from something else

however
as this article talks about and this podcast talks about you should know what the test results mean before you go having the test done

no
some folks cant handle the answer
they dont understand what it means
if it gets on their preexisting list of diagnoses it is there forever for all to see like health insurance disability insurance life insurance maybe some employers the feds the military eg

so my suggestion to her before she gets tested is read this article to understand what the testing means
and
listen to this podcast of a young person who was tested before she really understood what it meant

which answer should you be given
read this article and watch this podcast then decide for yourself



here is the information on our team for the walk to end alzheimers next month

my team in the santa barbara walk to end alzheimers on saturday november 3rd is called
organicgreendoctor

click the link above and donate and or walk with us

 the organicgreendoctor