december 22nd 2010

DECEMBER 22ND 2010

that day will always be important to me my family my friends my patients as it was the day that my life changed from where i was at that day to where i am now

not all folks can pick a day that deflected their life in another direction

its been 8 years since that day
a few weeks before as i volunteered to be in that normal control group of the alzheimers research study i was happy i was doing my part to advance alzheimers research even it meant being in the normal study group
then
the deflection came like a rock on an incline where a ball rolls down
hits the rock
careens off in another direction
so
it was that day

i sat there staring sweating almost woozy like as i couldnt answer their questions correctly
i knew it would be coming for me i just didnt think it would be this soon
my mom had just died with it a few months earlier
my younger brother was in the throes of it when i sat there in that chair
yes
as a doctor and a family member of those affected i knew what it meant when i couldnt answer those questions correctly
yep i knew

yes the next morning as i sat at my computer i cried
i can remember the tears dropping down onto the computer keyboard
i didnt wipe them off my face or the keyboard
i just let them dry in place

yes
i sat there and planned what i was to do
so
after receiving that phone call giving me my final report
i knew i had 3 weeks to plan what happened next
so
i slowed down my practice a lot
starting seeing folks early for med refills doing well child exams and physicals early
i said bye to a lot of folks they just didnt know it at the time

the last patient i saw in practice was an employees sons 2 year well child exam
i had called her a few days before and asked her to bring him in for his exam
i knew he would be the last patient i ever saw

that afternoon the clinic supervisor said
you arent coming back are you

i deflected like that rock did with my answer
i thought to myself as i drove home
thats it

i met the neurologist the next day
got my official diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment probably due to alzheimers disease
i got my prescription aricept (donepezil) which might slow down the disease maybe

i decided to not look back just forward
i never returned to work
i gave up my medical license
i entered a new world

as i look back over the last 8 years and look at where i thought i would be on december 22nd 2018 and now where i am on that date
i am pleasantly surprised and happy with my health and my life

since i had seen this disease up close and personal i thought i knew where i would be in those 8 years
i really expected a slow decline in my memory and physical symptoms over this time
so that i wouldnt be driving or writing or doing things independently today
but
here i am writing my blog for eight years
i just scheduled a 5 day vacation and trip to new orleans for my sons wedding
no my wife she lets me do all that
i just did our budget for the next year
i just reallocated our investments myself
i just did a preliminary assessment for our taxes next year
i think nothing of hopping in my car and driving to ucla for my infusions or scans by myself
granted my wife usually tags along
in the last few months i have done 3 alzheimers presentations to large groups and did an interview for the alzheimers grater los angeles to use in a day long seminar for doctors and nurses and health workers on what its like to be a patient and what they should do better
yes i spoke from the patient side and the doctor side
yes i like the doctor side much better

yes
my life my status is so much better than what i expected i it to be back in 2010

if i have one health issue i could fix it would be my sleep
the aricept (donepezil) interferes with my ability to get enough sleep each day
luckily i am retired and can grab a daily nap when i can
an event i enjoy each day

as i have improved over the last 8 years i know that part of that improvement may be due to the aricept (donepezil)
so
i am willing to accept the side effects of lack of sleep and the blurred vision the nausea the dizziness it sometimes causes
i am afraid to discontinue it
i know if i stopped it my sleep would return to normal and those other symptoms would go away
but
if it is helping its just delaying symptoms since i know it doesnt really stop the disease
i understand that
but
im afraid if i stop it i will go down into the abyss
a place i want to avoid as long as i can

why am i better
why are my memory scores better
answers
the aricept (donepezil)  i started it real early my mom and two brothers stared it much later
i take better care of my health than i did 8 years ago yes getting this diagnosis wakes you up some about your health another reason to get an early diagnosis
i discovered i had a low b12 level and a low vitamin d3 level and an abnormal homocysteine level
these are corrected with supplements
i take 12 supplements a day that may help slow down the disease  even though they havent been absolutely proven to help
i am willing to try them hoping that one or more might make a difference
i stay busy social mentally and physically
my real only issue i have is my sleep issue

so
when i look back
i am so thankful to be where i am today
being surrounded by my family
staying active
being able to receive the experimental drug aducanumab at ucla each month that might also be slowing down this disease

i really cant complain for where i am today
eight years later

i want to wish the readers of this blog my family my friends
a merry christmas
and or
a happy new year
and or
a happy holidays

i feel quite merry and happy today on my anniversary

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-a familys history

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-A FAMILYS HISTORY

when my historian brother saw my family tree in this blog i wrote called
alzheimers news-my alzheimers family tree
he called me to do a little correction like he was grading a term paper
no in a friendly way
he still said he would give me an a though

he started telling me of a branch that i had left off
one of my moms brothers who had died with alzheimers had a daughter
that would be my first cousin who died in the last few years with alzheimers disease
she being diagnosed in her early 50s

this little family branch i wasnt that familiar with
i remember seeing my uncle and hearing him when i was young
he was a preacher that had this what i call a preachers voice
the kind you could listen to all day
real soothing voice
and
he was a handsome man also

he went to college during the depression with my dad
neither had any money but they made it through
he went to a seminary in kentucky i think a sort of masters degree thing they did
he and his wife and two daughters ended up in missouri for the rest of their lives
i only have memory of seeing him once and dont remember his kids or wife
my older siblings had more exposure to them

so my historian brother said you know her daughter wrote a book about our first cousins battle with alzheimers disease
my historian brother is a true historian when he does ancestry stuff
he obtains all he can find on a person
thats how he found the book about my first cousins journey with alzheimers disease
lets call her pw

as i heard pws story i realize it somewhat seemed to be close to the journey my younger brother took
he said you can order it from amazon
so i did
it arrived in 2 days and i started reading it
it only took me a few days to finish it

it was sad real sad but funny
as she said sometimes you have to laugh at these things you know
yes i know having laughed before with mom and my younger brother
i hope folks laugh with me when my time comes
making it easier for them to get through the journey

its interesting to read about pw
i saw a lot of family traits in her that many of us seem to have
ocd persistence latching onto something and not letting go of it
ask my wife she about that one

now pws journey was similar to my younger brothers
but it was longer and more drawn out
making her family have a more prolonged experience with this disease
none of it enjoyable

they both were diagnosed young and died young

i did say to my wife she as i read this book
please dont take any pictures of me when i get worse

the part that stuck with me the most when i read this book
the part that made me stop
sit here in my living room late one afternoon
just staring out the window
as the sun went down in the distance
the room gradually darkened until i couldnt see anything around me
i just sat there
with tears in my eyes
as i read about her ending
her long long prolonged goodbye
as hospice made her comfortable
she lay there with her eyes closed
then opened them and said her goodbye
that was it

the journey was over

i sat there after finishing reading this
yes i cried then yes i cried again
thinking of her and her family
thinking of him and his family
thinking of what my time will be like for myself and my family

i do feel lucky that i am able to read and write about this
to think this through for myself

she and he didnt get a chance to do that

i wish it alzheimers in our family could all end with her he and me and not go forward

hopefully a cure and treatment will be here soon

the organicgreen doctor

i said worm juice

I SAID WORM JUICE
they asked what were we going to do today
i said
worm juice

yew yew they got that look on their faces

they knew what worm juice is since i show it to them almost every week when i volunteer with these 27 kindergardeners in their garden
yes i spelled that right kindergardeners

thats what im trying to get them interested in
being veggie gardeners
so the play on words

here is the blue worm bin that has holes drilled all around it
including the bottom
added to the bin is lots of leaves lots of newspapers lots of food scraps
the kids save their veggie scraps to put in the bin
they have a small bowl they put them in so they can be transferred to the worm bin
oh
also lots of worms have been added

so today
we opened up the bin
looked at the big winter squashes we left there for the worms
the worms were happily eating away at them

then
i explained how we make worm juice
so i said you know the worms eat all that stuff you put in there
they poop it out
they always laugh when i say that
kids never change do they
we add water to the bin to keep it moist since worms love wet stuff to nibble on
this stuff that oozes down the bin through the holes in the bottom
drips slowly into a metal tray my wife she got for this reason from a thrift store

in the tray
is this dark dark liquid
full of all kinds of nutritions
nutrition stuff that plants absolutely love

so i explained that today
we would take this worm juice
put it in this jar
then
take watering cans

fill them with the rainwater from their rainwater tanks
add the worm juice to the rainwater till it got slightly discolored

what we have is sort of a worm compost tea

i asked the kids
you ever had a veggie smoothie
they all said yes
well
you just made a worm smoothie for your veggies
your carrots peas swiss chard lettuce several kales onions citrus lots of herbs

they
i said
the veggies
love worm juice mixed with water
the veggies call that
their worm smoothie

so
it seemed each kid understood what we were doing
feeding the veggies and herbs their smoothies

they happily walked around and watered all the veggies and herbs
in the garden

yes
they got some worm smoothie on their hands and clothes
but
you know
they seemed to not mind at all

yep
good kindergardeners

the organicgreen doctor

dont mess with a nerd

DONT MESS WITH A NERD

this morning i saw this video popping up on facebook
like i usually do i ignore these things but i noticed the folks posting it
they usually posted good stuff
so i clicked on it

i must say that belly laugh i had this morning sure felt good
ill be good for the day
ill be in a good mood all day
ill probably get caught laughing while driving while waiting in lines while just sitting around
hope no one thinks im crazy when i do

each year for the rose bowl those cal tech students figure out how to do some techno surprise
like messing with the scoreboard so it read cal tech 38 mit 9
no cal tech was playing a game but it wasnt football
another time they changed up the instructions for washington fans signs so the signs when held up said cal tech
theres more

so i always like those shenanigans cal tech did
those nerdy engineers tricking us
making us laugh
making us smile

so thats what this nasa engineer did when he decided to trick folks who stole packages off his porch
and others porches

this stealing stuff off folks porches is getting more prevalent

so if you want a real good laugh this morning
watch this engineer devise a package that hits these robbers in the nose
youll just have to watch it to understand
be sure and watch the repeats where he does it over and over again

just dont do this where your laughter will bother others

the organicgreen doctor

use another method

USE ANOTHER WAY

this npr article on vaping is a good one to read

when i was looking to use cbd in my battle with alzheimers disease prevention i was given several options to use to take it in
smoke it
vape it
use edibles like brownies my first choice of course or gummy bears
use a patch with it embedded in it
take a capsule

the reason you would smoke something or inhale it is that it gets into the system real fast
the same thing happens with sublingual medications where you put in under your tongue
ie nitroglycerin under the tongue can rapidly stop chest pain

taking it in orally and swallowing it can take longer for the drug to get into your system
since it has to go into the stomach to get degraded some before it gets absorbed
the effect from the oral version takes longer

using a patch gives you a steady state of medicine all the time
blood pressure meds hormones alzheimers meds nitrogycerin meds etc are used this way so there is no ups and downs of the drug in the body

now i didnt want to vape
i didnt want to suck stuff down into my lungs when i didnt have to
some meds like asthma meds work better that way ie asthma inhalers
i guess folks vape marijuana since it hits you faster

ive seen on the news lately where the vape pins all flavored up seem to be real popular especially with young folks
it does look cool to suck in that vape and blow that smoke out whatever that is out into the air
real cool looking
and
it taste goods

when i was young it looked real cool to puff on that cigarette like james dean did
hold it in for awhile
relax
then blow the smoke all out
heck i learned how to make a train of smoke rings even getting a small one to float through a bigger one
man that was what cool looked like

is vaping better than smoking it like a cigarette or a blunt
yes it is better
i guess
but
the addiction is still there
there is a risk of long term damage to the lungs ie popcorn lungs
that doesnt sound good does it

why if they want to look cool and still get all that nicotine
just chew the gum
or
use the nicotine patch

they could wear the patch like a tattoo
maybe even draw on the patches to make them look real cool like

i watch those kids vaping
i see most are using one called juul

juul must be making a lot of money off those kids
hooking them for years to come

i guess we will have to wait a generation to see what damage has been done to those kids lungs
before anything gets done

so we may be raising a generation of kids and adults who have popcorn lung
have you ever seen a baby get a bad rsv infection
they develop the infection in the small tiny airways called bronchioles
the infection is called bronchiolitis

they have like a severe asthma symptoms of coughing shortness of breath wheezing

so popcorn lung is caused by a chemical in vaped cigarettes called diacetyl
its called popcorn lung since it was found in factory workers who made the stuff that put a buttery flavor in your microwave popcorn

so
vapers of cigarettes and i guess marijuana are at risk of developing popcorn lungs
its like a permanent version of bronchiolitis the babies get
except it doesnt go away or get better
it becomes chronic
sort of like
emphysema does from smoking cigarettes
emphysema affects the larger airways and air sacs
popcorn lung gets the tiney weanie airways

are we going to raise a generation of kids with this lung issue
or
are we going to stop it now before it gets worse

at least
get them to chew it or patch it
i dont mean chewin tobacco either
so they can breath as they get older
and
all you are dealing with then is nicotine addiction
or
dont let them start to begin with

the organicgreen doctor

its for roping not smoking

ITS FOR ROPING NOT SMOKING

this photo is from amazon.com

hemp use to be used to make rope especially for ships way back when
president george washington use to grow it
no he didnt smoke it
well i guess he might have maybe he didnt inhale either

hemp and marijuana have the same scientific name
the difference though is they are different strains of that genus and species
cannabis sativa

marijuana tends to have more thc the drug that makes you feel good
hemp has less feel good and more cbd the drug that is more freely being used for different health issues especially neurological ones especially seizures that are difficult to control

way back in the 1930s a law was passed to make it illegal to grow hemp

supposedly because it was when marijuana became illegal to grow and use in the us
some think it was mainly political that hemp got included
something about nylon being made by dupont and there was a push by the power folks
now we call them lobbyists to block the hemp production so to eliminate the hemp competition to nylon
some say this is why hemp became illegal to grow

some say is commonly in the know of whats true you know

when you fast forward a few years
you see the tobacco farmers suffering in several southern states
like say kentucky

in kentucky they needed a new agricultural crop since the tobacco one was fading away
so
the kentucky politicians started working to get hemp oked to grow in the us on the federal level

now
the top politician from kentucky in power in washington
well
thats mitch mcconnell the head of the senate

he used his power and influence to get the approval of hemp production in the us
to be legal
this was all put in the big farm bill that just got overwhelmingly passed in congress
now it just needs a presidential signature

supposedly this will happen
then
kentucky and other states can legal grow hemp
but not marijuana
so federally you can legally grow one but not the other

hemp has a lot of cbd oil and very little thc less than 0.3%
its used to make ropes clothing furniture etc

there will be more cbd products become available now
hopefully more legal drug alternatives can be developed
something thats long been overdue

it does seem strange that when you look at the congress folks that voted for all of this
all were doing it for different reasons
most for the money crop involved
some for the social reasons
some for more medical uses
some hoping it helps open a new opening for legalizing marijuana on the federal levels since over half the states have at least legalized it for medical use

yep
strange bed fellows
money talks doesnt it

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-whats for breakfast

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WHATS FOR BREAKFAST

i like the two cs
coffee
chocolate

in fact i use to eat chocolate off and on all day
until i got put on aricept (donepezil) for my mci due to alzheimers disease 8 years ago
the donepezil interfered with my sleep
adding chocolate to that made the insomnia worse because of the caffeine

so
my compromise on the chocolate thing is if i have chocolate in the house that i need to eat
i eat it for breakfast
well
to stay healthy i eat my breakfast
then eat the chocolate as my breakfast desert
that makes me feel better that im being healthy

im always scouring news reports and research articles for things that may help slow down this disease
i look for things that arent complicated and are based on scientific research

here are two articles
article one
article two

article one
alexander spier spent three years in auschwitz and is a holocaust survivor
he was a multimillionaire who in his later years developed alzheimers disease
he had the type where you escape get paranoid delusional aggressive have anxiety pacing depression
this all worsened his last two years of his life
the antipsychotic meds he was prescribed didnt work well
so
the family moved him to a center that used marijuana to control his symptoms
it helped a lot
if you have had a family member who has experienced these symptoms as they spiral downward at the end then you know what its like
the prescription meds either oversedate them or dont work

after his death the family formed a foundation called the spiers family foundation
which now is financing some of the medical research that needs to be done on marijuana
to prove if it helps or not
the government cant or wont do the research that needs to be done
since marijuana is federally illegal

the only way he would take the marijuana was in edible granola bars

the edible that most people think of is the brownie edible
this is how i would try it as my morning chocolate
an edible chocolate brownie

an aside here
im reading a book written about my first cousins battle with alzheimers disease by her daughter
the biggest issue my first cousin had with her lengthy battle was the symptoms that mr spier had
she was institutionalized for awhile in a psychiatric hospital to regulate her psychotic meds which kept her at times oversedated
i wonder if the edibles would have helped her
knowing her family they probably wouldnt have used them on her

right now
im putting it in writing to my family
if i get all psychotic like she was or like mr spier was
give me my breakfast of coffee and edible brownie please

article two
this article is about coffee
it seems that dark roasted coffee whether caffeinated or decaf has a chemical that is produced in the roasting that seem to possibly lower the risk for developing alzheimers
in the study cited a 21 year study showed those who drank a lot of coffee like 3-5 cups had a 60% lower risk for developing alzheimers
thats good enough for me i say

ok so i was doing that anyway

so
here in a few minutes
i will make myself an extra strong brew of peets italian dark roast coffee
then
pull out my pieces of chocolates + a capsule of cbd
knowing that as i have this for breakfast
that
im fighting that war going on up in my brain
maybe winning a battle just a little up there

the organicgreen doctor

dont do it i said

DONT DO IT I SAID

usatoday

she just looked at me
smiled
and
took a bite out of it

i said dont do it

she said
why

i said
two words why

salmonella
e coli

now if you have read about food lately those are two words that most of us know
if you are one of the unlucky ones that got infected from eating contaminated foods
well
you would said the same thing i said
dont do it
its bad real bad if you get it

so my wife she was making cookies
there are two ingredients that are put in cookies that if you eat it as raw uncooked cookie dough
you can get one or both of these infections

eggs
known to sometimes get contaminated with salmonella
anything you eat from a chicken should be cooked well done cooked

flour
it can be contaminated with e coli
a germ we all have but some versions can make you have the gis real bad
if you are young or immunocompromised it can kill you
as can the salmonella

in my medical career ive seen babies with salmonella meningitis salmonella pneumonia salmonella joint infections salmonella gastroenteritis
ive see babies die from it

i know
ive eaten cookie dough myself
before i knew better
not ever again

i dont like what happens if you eat it and get infected
it can definitely ruin a day and sometimes a whole week
or should i say runs

so
all i can say to my wife she as she makes her delicious monster cookies
is
dont eat the dough
dont do it

cook it first
then
ill take care of them for you

the organicgreen doctor

dear mr h-dont read or watch this until you get older

DEAR MR H-DONT READ OR WATCH THIS UNTIL YOU GET OLDER

mr h you are now 4 months old
please wait until you are old enough to vote before you read todays blog

mr h has chronic kidney failure that is due to an obstruction that occurred before he was born that resulted in permanent kidney damage
this obstruction was relieved in just a few minutes after he was born
but
it was too late to save his kidneys
they are functioning well enough right now but will gradually fail more as he grows this year

now 4 months later
he is being added to the kidney transplant list with an eye to being transplanted some time after his first birthday when he gets over 10 lbs and around 23 inches tall
he has to be big enough to receive an adult kidney
the wait on the transplant list for a cadaver kidney can be over 2 years at his age
an adult may have to wait 10-15 years for a kidney
unless
they get a live kidney donor

mr h takes
medicine 3 times a day to control his blood pressure
two medicines one once a day and the other twice a day to control his high potassium level
a salt solution nacl sodium chloride several times a day to keep his sodium level up
an antibiotic to keep him from getting a kidney infection
he receives a weekly injection of a hormone that the kidney makes that stimulates the bone marrow to make red cells
he takes a multivitamin drop each day

his blood pressure is kept normal
his potassium and sodium is kept normal
his blood count hgb hemoglobin is normal
for those medical folks his creatinine is 2.2

his growth is normal for his age
it is around 50 percentile for his age
he is the product of a tall day and a short mom
this growth needs to be maintain so he can reach his goal of an early transplant hopefully after his first birthday next year

if his kidneys fail sooner he will go on peritoneal dialysis using his abdomen
a tube is inserted into the abdominal cavity and fluid is ran in and out over 12 hours every day
this is done until a kidney becomes available
either by a live donor or a cadaver donor ie someone dies usually tragically and the family donates the persons organs so others can live

i certainly would want my organs donated that way if this happened to me
i cant donate my kidney because of the monthly infusions i receive and my age

an adult kidney can be used but it has to be a small one since it an adult kidney has to fit into a little toddlers belly

lucky for mr h he has blood type ab+ that makes him a universal recipient

lucky for the live donors is that people do just fine with just one kidney
many folks just have one kidney and dont even know it

below is a video of sarah hyland a star from modern family
she talks about her two transplants she has had

mr h will need one now then will probably need his second one in his late teenage or early adult years

ms hyland freely talks about what its like to get transplanted and what its like to be on dialysis
her story is what mr h is facing

yes
for us mr hs family
this video is sobering
but
at the same time it is encouraging

 

the organicgreen doctor

the sound was out of this world

THE SOUND WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD

nasa

i remember being glued to the tv and radio during the moon flights
one picture that sticks in my brain is
the one where the astronaut has stuck the american flag in the moon ground
and
the moon solar wind is making the flag flutter
in a slow motion way
but there was no sound with it

it is amazing to me that the space folks can lift off rockets to outer space
then land parts of it back on earth
onto a small area like a barge
like in a space movie

that happened last week when we were walking above the beach
see my blog on that what a way to go
then came the sonic boom later that i thought maybe was an earthquake
or something like that
it was the rocket landing back on earth just a few miles away
then
this happened this week

this is the recording from the insight lander on mars
it has recordings to monitor marsquakes
as the wind blows across sensors and solar panels you can hear the wind
thought to be about 10-15 mph

i listened with earphones and after the inital introductions i turned up  the sound as loud as i could
i swear i could feel my laptop and earphones vibrating in the wind
i felt like i was there

i also turned off all the lights in the condo and listened again
mesmerizing yes mesmerizing it was
i pretended i was there sitting in the dark
on mars
listening to the howling martian wind

its nice to escape this world with all our problems
and
just take a few seconds to forget about it
and
recharge

each time i did it i realized this was sound from our nearest planet millions of miles away
being transmitted via the internet to my laptop
then up into my earphones

just like i could be mesmerized with the moon solar wind on that american flag years ago
i am mesmerized by this mars solar wind

its an out of this world experience

who would have thunk it
right

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-my alzheimers family tree

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-MY ALZHEIMERS FAMILY TREE

yesterday as my son and his wife and mr h were driving down to ucla for mr hs transplant office appointment the topic of apoe 4 came up
i had just a few days before been down to ucla for my 3rd or 21st  infusions of the aducanumab experimental alzheimers drug
it was the 3rd if i was on placebo before
it was the 21st if i got the real drug aducanumab to begin with
again i really feel like i got the real drug to begin with

talking about this with them led to a discussion of the apoe 4 gene and what it means
could he have the apoe 4 gene she asked
he has the apoe 4 gene i answered since i have the apoe 4/apoe 4 gene
he probably doesnt have the double version since his mom my wife she probably doesnt have it
the same with his brother

an explanation is below
also if you look at all my siblings below my younger brother who died with alzheimers disease probably had the apoe 4/apoe 4 gene
if his kids asked me the same question
i would say yes you probably have at least the single version of the gene

should i get tested
no i said
it doesnt really matter yet
just take care of your health and it wont matter much about the gene
dont take care of your health and it will matter a lot

remember
25% of you reading this have the apoe 4 gene
less than 3% of you reading this have the apoe 4/apoe 4 gene

this all made me start thinking about my family ancestry and how much dementia was in the family
so over time i have asked cousins and my two older siblings about aunts and uncles and grandparents and great grand parents if any of them had dementia
i knew there was a lot of dementia in our family i just didnt realize how much

i had never just put into a family tree before

so below is my family dementia tree
the D under a symbol means that the person has or died with dementia
some of the other relatives i dont know if they had it or not

when i looked at this family dementia tree
i worked my way to each one many i knew and many i didnt know
it when you see it like this seems sobering

ok so i cried again as i thought of my brother and mom and dad and aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents that had this awful awful disease
but thats ok if i cry sometimes
right

the eight symbols on the bottom right are me and my siblings
the one with the * and circle is me
yes i got that awful D by my symbol

the one next to me is my younger brother who was diagnosed in his mid 50s and died in his early 60s
the one on the end on the right is my older brother who was diagnosed a few years ago with mild alzheimers and now is fairly stable on his minimal symptoms
all the other siblings have been memory tested and are in the normal range for now

both my parents had alzheimers disease
my dad wasnt officially diagnosed but he had it when he died
my mom probably had the double apoe 4 gene
my guess is that my dad had a single apoe 4 gene
since i am double apoe 4/apoe 4 i got a gene for each parent
if my parents genes are as above then each of my siblings will have the apoe 4 gene
some will be like me and probably my younger brother and have the apoe 4/apoe 4 gene

should they be tested
no and yes
no it doesnt matter just take care of your health is the recommendation
yes if you want to know and if you really really really understand what the results mean
knowing does cause a momentary moment of melancholy but it did at least for me make me more aggressive in taking care of my health since the single gene increases your alzheimers risk by about 3-5 x
a double gene increases it by about 15-20 x

i had this momentary melancholy after i got my genetic results
and
again when i got my amyvid pet scan even though i knew it would be positive
then i moved on

have any of my siblings been tested
yes two of us have

if you look at my tree you will see that all my moms 4 siblings died with dementia
her mother my maternal grandmother died with dementia
her grandfather my maternal great grandfather mggf died with dementia

if you look at my fathers side you will see that at least two of his siblings died with dementia
some of his siblings i dont know their history
his mother my paternal grandmother died with dementia
he had two nieces and a nephew my paternal cousins that died with dementia

so you look at all the Ds in that graph you will see a lot of folks have dementia or died with dementia

why
it has to have a genetic component
my guess its the apoe 4 gene sort of known as the late onset alzheimers gene
it puts you at greater risk for dementia than those without the gene
the single apoe 4 gene risk is about the same as someone with diabetes who doesnt take care of their diabetes

things that accentuate the risk if you have the apoe 4 gene or the apoe 4/apoe 4 gene are
not controlling high blood pressure cholesterol diabetes weight exercise diet sleep stress etc
not controlling these if you have the gene makes it more likely you will get alzheimers disease
controlling these makes it more likely that you wont get alzheimers

if you have the double version it is even more important to be aggressive about your health

also smoking which was more prevalent in past generations also accentuates the risk for alzheimers especially if you have the gene

now
there are other genes that are being identified and will be indentified to put you or us at risk
these will eventually be available for testing in the future

for now
my recommendation is
should i get tested you ask
only if you are ready emotionally socially to handle it and understand what it means

i must say having my diagnosis and knowing i have this gene sure motivates me everyday

as i was writing this blog and reading about new blood tests for alzheimers disease i realized that my blood from the adni study and now with the aducanumab study is out there being studied at universities all over the world
i think since it makes me feel good if its true that somewhere in some university lab they have my dna or my rna or my blood serum and they are doing tests on it that will help discover either a test for alzheimers that we all can have done to tell us if we have it or if we will get it
or
they will discover some treatment for alzheimers that we will all get to use one day

that would make it all worthwhile if it was my dna rna or serum they used to make these discoveries
of course
i will never know if it was mine that was used

the organicgreen doctor

new treatment maybe

NEW TREATMENT MAYBE

this drug that has been around for years is approved to treat this list of diseases or conditions

- Cancer associated with severe/chronic pain, nausea or severe vomiting, or cachexia or severe wasting
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Tourette’s syndrome
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Seizures, including those characteristic of epilepsy
- Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis
- Inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease
- Terminal illness, with a probable life expectancy of less than one year
- Intractable pain
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Autism spectrum disorders
- Obstructive sleep apnea

this drug just got approved to also treat alzheimers disease since its been shown is some early research to possibly slow down the development of alzheimers disease
my approach with all this is if it shows promise
and
it wont kill me
it might help
well
im going to take it
the option is well right now theres not one

so
they approved its use for this condition
alzheimers disease

well
i guess you are wondering whats this drug that just got approved for use in alzheimers
well
it was marijuana

where
in minnesota since its passed its new medical marijuana laws which allow medical marijuana treatment of these conditions above

more will be added later

the ones that ive seen patients or friends use medical marijuana are
glaucoma its been used for this for a long time
pain if you talk to pain folks you will find that many of them have added marijuana to their treatments
chemotherapy side effects
seizures
loss of appetite especially from chemotherapy hiv aids
multiple sclerosis symptoms
als
anxiety
sleep

if you look closely at these diseases
many of them are neurological
many are terminal or potentially terminal
many have inflammation as their cause
one pain has lead to opioid abuse which is the main reason our longevity in the united states has decreased the first time in modern history and has lead to the largest source of organ donations mostly from young adults

now
we need the federal government to get on board so that the research that really needs to be done on this drug can be done

in the meantime
what harm will it cause if you treat some of these diseases with this stuff
the alternative
well
there may not be one right now


addendum
i live in california
i obtained this bottle of marijuana softgels with 10 mg of cbd oil in them from a reputable company
thanks to california laws the regulation of this drug has made it easier to accurately dose this drug
i took them after i read an article that showed in animal studies that the cbd oil could lower the amyloid in the brain
true research in humans hasnt really been done enough yet thanks to the federal government but it needs to be done since this drug may help slow this disease down
in the meantime a lot of folks are using it for this reason
no it doesnt make you high since it has no thc in it


the organicgreen doctor

what a way to go

WHAT A WAY TO GO

af.mil

yesterday after dropping our car off to have a routine maintenance done
i noted we only put 5000 miles on our car last year
i put almost 3500 on my car in the 18 months ive lived here

after leaving the dealership we headed to one of our favorite places to hike around here
its called the butterfly grove
its a large area of eucalyptuses that have become a place for the monarchs to congregate each winter
in the past there would be droves and droves of them
attracting lots of visitors each year
now not so much

with the drought a lot of the trees have died and fallen down all over the place
the local government agency that supervises the groves have put up signs saying that the trails through all the groves are closed off until its safe to go in there

also with the climate changing and its warmer and drier here the monarchs arent staying here much in the last few years

now my wife she and i havent always been rule followers
yes
we broke the rules yesterday
into the butterfly grove we walked
yes there was a lot of dead trees felled and the trail was blocked in a lot of places
but a lot of other rule breakers had made a trail around these blocked areas
i wonder if they got arrested
no we didnt either

i felt like i was in the wooded area of southern arkansas
it was quiet except for birds and buzzing bees
yes we did see an occasional monarch fluttering all over the place
i stood looking up into those huge eucalyptus trees just wandering what a beautiful site that must have been
i guess it wont be happening again anymore

now thats sad

an illegal walk through the forest that we are glad we did
yes we werent alone that day
there were other rule breakers afoot

as we burst out of the eucalyptus forest we walked onto a flat bluff of several acres
that overlooks the pacific ocean
we stood multiple times as we hiked across this plateau
stopping to feel the breezes hear the waves see the boats in the distances see the birds chasing the waves down below

now this is true meditation

the nearby airport squirted its big planes out over this plateau as they edged upward into the deep blue sky
then
as we looked up with the bright sun at our back
there was this reflection off something that seemed to be headed right towards us
getting bigger and bigger
all i could think was the governments coming to get us for walking in the butterfly grove

my wife she said i think its a big drone heading our way

it got bigger and bigger and shinier and then it seemed to get this long long white tail
attached to it
what the heck is that
then it seemed to just go higher and higher and higher with that white stuff blowing out the bottom of whatever that was
then it disappeared deep deep way up high in the sky

later we heard this booming sound in the distance
i looked up wondering did it blow up or something

then i remembered that the space x falcon was being launched from vandenberg afb which is about an hour from here
the launch time as i looked at my watch was right now as we were walking

i would have loved to see all this at night it would have been beautifuler im sure

its funny just that morning as i was reading about the launch i thought we have to go and watch it get launched sometimes
well
i got to see it from afar standing with my wife she on that plateau looking over the ocean on one side then the illegal butterfly grove on the other side

this morning i read where folks could pay about $2500 to have some of their ashes put in a capsule
that allowed your remains to orbit the earth eventually burning all up in space

hummmmmm thats cheaper than a funeral

now
i plan to tell my wife she

thats the way i want to go

the organicgreen doctor

sb country n news-how sweet it is

SB COUNTRY N NEWS-HOW SWEET IT IS

this is a sweet yellow 1015 onion i planted a few years ago in my texas country n garden
the 1015s are the best onions that ive ever planted
this one above is sitting on top of my size 12 foot to get an idea of how big it was

if you take a 1015 onion and bite into it its sweet like a georgia vidalia onion
this 1015 onion is as good as the georgia one
kinda like the football teams texas is as good as georgia
they will be playing in the sweet bowl ie sugar bowl come jan 1st

also when you cut into the 1015 onion it doesnt burn your eyes

since moving here to santa barbara i am having to relearn how to garden in this environment
we are 2 miles inland from the beach and up on the edge of the beginnings of the foothills of the mountains
the climate is warmer and drier than the beach area
there is less moisture from the fog so there are less mildew problems where my garden is located

last year i planted about 5 different onions including some 1015 onions i ordered from dixondale farms in texas
the 1015 onions did better than the ones that i bought locally

the california organic seed company called renees garden seeds had these onions for sale
i looked at the listing
well i said thats my texas 1015s
then i looked where they were grown and it was the dixondale farms where most garden nurseries get their onions from in texas especially austin
so
i went right to the source myself and ordered them online
they appeared a few days later

what i have found from talking to folks is that i cant expect to get a big ole onion like i grew in texas but i can expect to get one half that size
now if i was further inland into warmer climates then i might reach that forefoot size onion

so it is with the garlic i now realize my garlic will be a smaller size no matter how well i grow it

i also learned that we have all these microclimates here because of the ocean and the mountains being so close together that the onions i need are short day onions
most sold here are intermediate day onions
the 1015 onion is a short day onion
so
i ordered two bunches of these short day 1015 onions

in my garden i set aside a 3 ft by 7 ft bed that i prepped for these onions 2-3 months ago
i dug out down 18 inches and did layers of cardboard newspapers compost mulch soil until i reached the top of where i wanted my bed to be
each layer was given a sprinkling of a good organic fertilizer and a soaking of fish emulsion seaweed and molasses
i also added a lot of worm compost from my worm compost towers buried between my beds
i also buried a 3 inch pvc pipe with 3/8 in holes drilled on the lower side then covered it with a drain sleeve
this will be how i water the onions deeply and will add the liquid fertilizer seaweed molasses mixture regularly
i also added a drip line to water the surface area when needed
this was covered up with a layer of newspaper and cardboard to let all that stuff stay moist and breakdown into the richest soil ever

come planting time the cardboard was removed then
following dixondales directions altered some to fit my bed i planted these onions 1 inch deep and 4 inches apart for a total of 85 1015 onions in this 3 ft x 7 ft bed

the two bunches were more than i needed so i will scatter the left over ones throughout my garden and the school garden and my sons garden and will give some to the community garden to plant

so here is the final look to my main bed
the brown round cap at the bottom is the cover to my buried pvc
the square concrete block on the right of the picture sits on my 5 gal bucket worm tower

heres hoping all this work will give me some onion chimes come the late spring like in these pictures from the texas country n garden


the organicgreen doctor