organicgreendoctor: my opinion

organicgreendoctor: my opinion: MY OPINION youtube probably half of you who read my blogs will not agree with me but i say unless you watched all the hearing yesterd...

organicgreendoctor: just the facts maam

organicgreendoctor: just the facts maam: JUST THE FACTS MAAM amazon.com today i get to be a juror the final verdict of which we wont get to vote on until 2020 ive never been ...

my opinion

MY OPINION


youtube

probably half of you who read my blogs will not agree with me
but
i say unless you watched all the hearing yesterday and made your own opinion based on what you saw and heard

then
you are relying on someone else to think for you
that goes to both sides of the political spectrum

now im retired so i was able to sit and watch all the hearings from beginning to the fiery ending by elijah cummings

yes
i agree with him

we all are better than this

now i watched all the hearings then i floated through fox news cnn msnbc pbs
i must say that pbs at least gave a fair hearing to both sides
the others were pretty much slanted one way or the other

so
my thoughts
now i will be voting in november 2020
i will be with you as the jury that will decide if this president was guilty and if he desires a second term
not a congressional hearing
not a congress
not a judge
thats
you and i

i like you should get as much information as we can
so
like elijab cummings said yesterday
we want the truth

so
over the next 20+ months
we want the truth

so
my impressions

i will first admit i dont like trump
if he was a democrat which he used to be i still wouldnt vote for him ever
the day he made fun of the disabled news reporter solidified my dislike for him

michael cohen is corrupt he is a liar he is a cheat
however
yesterday
he could not afford to lie
if he lied yesterday at all
then
he just extended his jail term longer
remember he could have gotten 70 years

so yesterday i think he was truthful at what he said

i think
trump is probably at risk for things he did before he became president
that will probably send him to jail after he is no longer president
be that getting impeached be that losing the next election be that serving a full 8 years
i think the new york prosecutors will wait him out

he oked the payments to the women
there is this paper trail
he is heard on tape talking about
his personal lawyer admitted it

he knew about the email dumps from wikilinks before that happened

he was pursuing the trump hotel in moscow while running for president

he lied about knowing about this and knowing about the email dumps and knowing about the trump tower meetings
there is probably a lot more russian things they we dont know about but mueller does

i agree with cohen
trump is a liar a cheat a racist
cohen is a liar a cheat himself
it seems trump attracts a lot of these folks

i was disappointed by most of the questioning from both the democrats and the republicans

oddly enough
i thought the best questions were from aoc
she used her 5 minutes to ask direct questions getting names and more information for further investigation
she extracted more information from cohen than probably all the others put together

we need feisty folks in congress really on both sides
to keep the pot stirred
to shake up the status quo some
ie
the t party and the new left democrats

so
this is the way our democracy is suppose to work
it moves slow
but it will eventually get to the truth

thats all we want
the truth
an intact democracy

so
no matter whether you agree with me or not
read and think for yourself
dont let others do it for you
as
thats how you can lose
the truth
our democracy

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: just the facts maam

organicgreendoctor: just the facts maam: JUST THE FACTS MAAM amazon.com today i get to be a juror the final verdict of which we wont get to vote on until 2020 ive never been ...

just the facts maam

JUST THE FACTS MAAM

amazon.com

today i get to be a juror
the final verdict of which we wont get to vote on until 2020

ive never been on a jury and probably wont be now
but
like all of you who take the time to vote
we will all be on a jury that will vote in 18 months
to give our final verdict

today
im stopping what i am doing
i think this is a potential historic day
i plan to watch cohen testify live to congress

i dont want to rely on some commentator or newsperson to tell me
whether he was telling the truth

i want to listen to him
watch him answer questions
like in a real court
i want to watch his mannerisms and facial expressions
like i would if i was listening to a witness in a trial
then
i will make my own decision independent of others opinions
on whether he is telling the truth

also
i want the mueller report 100% released to the public for all of us to read ourself
we need to make an important decision in 18 months
we need all these facts to make that decision

i want all the testimony before congress to be live so we can all see for ourselves
watch the witnesses
make our own decision
not basing it on sound bites or political spin machines
we need to see it all and read it all ourselves

since
we all of us will be the judge and the jury soon
we have to have all the facts to make that decision

now
i know this will be a circus today
one side will try to discredit him
the other side will try to protect him
thats the way politics works

what im looking for is some brave congress person who will stand up and say
these are the facts
we can all only vote one way

like he is supposed to have said in the tv show years ago

just the facts maam

well then make our own decision in 2020

the facts dont lie

now i must say
if there is this gregarious offensive traitorous act or acts that shows up
then
congress needs to do their job and get rid of him
otherwise
we the voters need to be the one that makes the final verdict
not the politicians

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: they are wasting away

organicgreendoctor: they are wasting away: THEY ARE WASTING AWAY cdc my younger brother the one who had alzheimers disease loved to hunt sometimes he would drag me along with him...

they are wasting away

THEY ARE WASTING AWAY

cdc

my younger brother the one who had alzheimers disease loved to hunt
sometimes he would drag me along with him usually at a last resort
i didnt enjoy it as much as he did but i enjoyed the peace and quiet of hunting

now i only went deer hunting a few times in my teen years and never went deer hunting after that
my younger brother loved deer season and it became a big part of his fall each year well into the throes of his alzheimers disease

now the deer that were harvested were dressed and either given away or kept for food
it wasnt wasted
now deer meat or venison is a healthy alternative to our usual source of red meat
its safe to eat if cooked correctly

well
maybe
a few deer are showing up in the us that folks shouldnt be eating

a few years ago a social worker was doing a two day seminar on dementia
she contacted me to ask if i would do a lecture on the different types of dementia
i knew all about alzheimers disease but knew less about the others
i knew robin williams died with lewy body dementia so i read up and researched that one first
then there was vascular dementia
then there was frontotemporal dementia
then there was alcohol induced or drug dementia
then there was head trauma dementia
then there was huntingtons dementia
then there was mixed dementia
then there was parkinsons disease dementia
then there was
cjd or  creutzfeldt jakob disease one i didnt know much about

now this is where all this ties into deer hunting

cjd is caused by a prion protein that gets into the brain and causes a diffuse neurological disease that is fast and furious
it happens much faster than the other dementias
some folks inherit this disease
others get infected with the prion protein
how
from contaminated surgical instruments in neurological or brain surgery
from receiving human growth hormone from infected prion sources
from transplants
but with new sterilization techniques and single use instruments and with synthetic human growth hormone this method of exposure to the prion has been controlled by these methods
then
from eating cows or bovine that had been fed feed that was made with sheep brains which were contaminated with the prion protein
some folks who ate the contaminated meat got cjd
a rapid untreatable devastating disease
its known as mad cow disease

a mad cow like disease is also found in wild deer elk and moose

now do you see the connection

if you are a cattle person you know about mad cow disease
most deer hunters have heard of chronic wasting disease in deer

now its starting to show up in more and more states
some folks call it zombie deer disease
the deer wastes away salivates a lot stares out into nowhere in a zombie like state
if there are deer around the disease will spread
you cant stop it

its now in 24 states

theoretically it could spread to humans via contact with the deers meat and body fluids
it is a prion protein disease that could potentially spread to humans like the mad cow version
no reported cases have made
but many believe its just a matter of time before that happens

so if you are a deer hunter
if you kill a sick deer dont touch it without gloves and dont eat the meat

be even more cautious if you live in a state where it has spread to already

as an aside here
some researchers think that alzheimers may have been spread from patient to patient via contaminated surgical instruments in the past via these prion proteins that may be associated with alzheimers disease
you dont get alzheimers from eating contaminated meat with the prion protein but the disease you can get the cjd is much worse than alzheimers disease
its a faster and more furious disease

here is a link to cdc article on chronic wasting disease in deer
there is a map of what states have had cases and a list of the counties
yes
readers from texas arkansas colorado missouri yall are on the list

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: youll shoot your eye out

organicgreendoctor: youll shoot your eye out: YOULL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT my wife she and i like to sit out on our upstairs deck like in a small town where your neighbors walk by they s...

youll shoot your eye out

YOULL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT

my wife she and i like to sit out on our upstairs deck like in a small town where your neighbors walk by
they sometimes stop and talk for a while
thats one of the reasons we like living here
it feels at time like an old home town place

as we were sitting there basking in the sun our neighbor next door walks by on the sidewalk
now we are on the second floor
she looks up and says you know im having my eye surgery tuesday then in 2 weeks im having the other eye done
i knew she was talking about cataract surgery
thats the way they like to do it
some like my motherinlaw had both hers done then later that day went with friends to the indian reservation casino for the evening
not me

i leaned over the railing and before i knew it i had said
after that scene in christmas story when ralphie wanted that bb gun
i said
youll shoot your eye out
then
i realized what i had said and i sat down and didnt say anymore

our neighbor just looked up at me
im sure she was thinking he must be off his alzheimers meds

no
i knew what i meant

when i went in for my eval for my cataract surgery
my right eye had gone from a perfect 20/20 with glasses to a blurry 20/70 in a matter of a year
so i was ready to have it done
without glasses in either eye my vision is in tte legally blind range
so
yes i was ready

but i had read and i knew that with my history of chronic iritis i knew that i would more likely have side effects and complications than someone with no iritis issues

iritis is where the eye gets inflamed and if left untreated the eye turns red with migraine like pain and headaches occur until its controlled
its controlled with high dose steroid eye drops and or oral steroids

i knew that going into the surgery
i asked him the surgeon
about the risk
he said we will deal with it when things show up
i was pretreated with steroid drops

so
this is what happened
first the lens dislocated on day one and i returned the next day to have it redone with a lens that was sutured in place
this happened because i had had iritis for years and had been on steroids off and on

then the eye gradually improved to about 20/25 close but not 20/20
later in my reading about cataract surgery in someone with chronic iritis that 20/25 is better than most folks get who have chronic iritis

then i tried contacts in the left eye so i could see 20/20 in the left and 20/25 in the right eye
i think most folks would accept that
then i noticed how much i was using my progressive lenses before on my glasses so now i had to have those extra readers laying around

no worry my wife she has them everywhere
on the toilet on the bathroom sink in the shower on the bedside table in the living room on the couch under the couch on the coffee table on the dining room table on the living room floor outside on the porch you name a location in our condo and there is one if not three within arms length

then my left eye started burning bad with the contact so i tried different types of contacts and after multiple visits i said
forget about it

i want glasses with progressives
ive worn glasses for 50 years and am use to them
so
i ordered glasses with a corrective lens on the left and a clear lens on the right
i had them add progressives on my lenses
so
i now can see whatever and whenever i want with just one pair of glasses
im 20/20 and 20/25 and im good with that

things were finally going well
until
i woke up 10 days ago
i thought someone had stuck an ice pick in my right eye
if you have ever had a flare of iritis you know how it feels
i also felt like someone had also stuck multiple ice picks in a circle around my head
i even in my sleepiness reached up to pull the one out of my eye
when
i then realized it wasnt there

i suddenly realized that this was a flareup of my iritis a bad one like i hadnt had for 3 years
also with this pain comes marked fatigue
until the pain and inflammation is controlled with steroids the pain and fatigue persists
also add the fatigue from my infusions and my aricept
so
i knew what needed to be done
i upped my steroid drops to the high doses ive used before and began the month long tapering dose
i contacted the eye surgeon who agreed with my diagnosis and treatment
ive done this a lot over the last 20 years so i knew what to do
in fact
when i stuck that agave thorn in my eye it also flared up the iritis bad like this

you can click here to read a series of blogs on that agave thorn in the eye saga

so that was my state of mind yesterday when i leaned over the railing
and
said to my poor unsuspecting neighbor

youll shoot your eye out

so
my plan is
hell will freeze over before i have that left eye done or when the vision in that eye gets bad enough to do something about it

note
the reason i have had so many issues with the eye is the chronic inflammation and the long term steroid use in the eye
i didnt really have a choice

the left eye has never had any issues
so
when i do have it done i should do as well as most folks

no
i told my wife as she said with a grin and a smirk
you want a bb gun for your birthday

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-you can have it when im through wi...

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-you can have it when im through wi...: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-YOU CAN HAVE IT WHEN IM THROUGH WITH IT when i say that to them they sort of get quiet and stare at me for a second some ...

alzheimers news-you can have it when im through with it

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-YOU CAN HAVE IT WHEN IM THROUGH WITH IT

when i say that to them they sort of get quiet and stare at me for a second
some have got teary eyed
what am i talking about
well
its my brain

i think its an important brain
why
they have a series of mri scans of the brain over the last 8 1/2 years
more than 10
so
they can line all those up and look at them
serial changes can be seen over time
like those cartoons you can draw on cards so that when you thumb through them there is this cartoon that runs across your visual field


then
they can line up my amyvid pet scans that have been done
i have lost count of how many i think ive had 4 or 5
the amyvid shows up the alzheimers causing amyloid protein in the brain
so as they thumb through them in my case they should see it accumulating over the 5 years of the adni study where i wasnt being treated with a drug but was just been monitored so they could watch it grow more and more in my brain
then
when i entered the biogen aducanumab study they did an initial amyvid pet scan that was positive
now although i havent seen the scans and more than likely never will
as they look at them over time they will see less and less of the amyloid in the brain scans so that eventually it the scan will be read as negative
like the scan above on the left

now i have around 6 more years at least of taking this stuff so there will be more scans for them to look at
after that i plan to continue with more studies as they become available


so one day when my time on this earth is over
i want them to be able to hold my brain in their hands and then process it so that they can see with the naked eye and with the microscope what actually really happened during all this time when i was taking all those supplements doing all those healthy things taking those experimental drugs taking that alzheimers drug aricept (donepezil)
did all that i did and they did
well did it make a difference

somehow someway maybe all this will help someone else
maybe advance the alzheimers knowledge forward some

so
ive always said i would never donate my body to a medical school or science after going through human anatomy working on my own cadaver
i did think some though about our cadaver that person how many folks maybe benefited from the knowledge i gained from understanding the human anatomy
maybe that knowledge saved a life or saved someone some misery

so
i want my brain to be used to maybe advance someones knowledge
so
i have been working on having my brain donated to ucla when i die

here is the form i had to sign
my wife she and my family understand thats what i want done
when i die

it was quite surreal when i completed that form
signed and dated it
then
stopped to look at real good
thats when it all sunk in to my brain

i dont know if ive ever seen someone sign their own autopsy forms before
im sure im not the first

so
my body will be shipped to ucla where they will harvest my brain
they process it analyzing it for how all this stuff worked out that i did to fight this disease
something that a biopsy or scan wouldnt show
then
i get picked up and brought back to the mortuary for my final disposition
i have decided to be cremated after the brain is harvested

like the tv show
the final answer is...

now i know what harvesting a brain means since i did that for a year as a morgue attendant when i was in medical school
i know what and how its done

so i understand the process so i feel like i am quite capable of making a decision on this

yep
they can have it when i done with it
hopefully it will help some in this battle against alzheimers

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: sb country n news-we keep losing them

organicgreendoctor: sb country n news-we keep losing them: SB COUNTRY N NEWS-WE KEEP LOSING THEM yesterday we left our condo around 530 am on our way to ucla for my infusion of the experimental alz...

sb country n news-we keep losing them

SB COUNTRY N NEWS-WE KEEP LOSING THEM

yesterday we left our condo around 530 am on our way to ucla for my infusion of the experimental alzheimers treatment drug biogens aducanumab
by the way i have been on it now for two years and have another 6+ years to go
my memory testing earlier this month was in the normal range
why
maybe this drug or maybe all the healthy things i and we are doing or maybe both

as we walked out onto the courtyard in the crisp cool air of the early morning right before dawn bursts onto the sky we both paused and looked up at the almost close enough for us full moon so bright in the sky
i took a slow deep deep breath then sighed enjoying the crisp burning feeling that cool air made deep down in my chest
it made the rest of the day better stopping and seeing that moon and breathing that air

on the drive to ucla from santa barbara there is this stretch of the hwy 101 just before dawn that is so picturesque so calming that you only get at this time each morning when the weather is clear and crisp like this
i was driving while my wife she worked on her crackberry iphone
i looked out over the ocean out into the distance there was this long row of oil platforms that parallel the hwy 101 that seems to go for miles and miles
they are pretty with all their lights miles out in the ocean
you can also see miles and miles of ocean waves in that moonlight
yes
pretty but i kept in mind that one of these oil platforms was the ones that leaked all that oil onto the beaches of santa barbara and montecito in the late 1960s that ruined the economy of the area for several years

its also that leak that spawned the green environmental movement the earth day movement we know today
when you live here and see what importance a clean healthy environment is to this areas economy
it makes you feel different about those oil wells when you look at them

as i drove along my mind then drifted back to my organic garden plots at the community garden where i garden
i got to thinking about planting my garden and about the environment of the garden
my mind drifted to the good insects for the garden


every time i garden there are these insects i look for in the garden
since
if they are present i know we are doing a good job

bees
butterflies
ladybugs

when i see them i know my garden will probably do well

now in my plot i try to make sure something is blooming all the time
for now i have calendula wildflowers arugula two types flowering my cabbage i let go to seed so they are flowering my cover crops peas and beans and sweet pea vines are flowering now
soon when i get my spring veggies planted they will all be blooming
so in my plots i am doing my part
the bees are happy soon the butterflies and ladybugs will be there also and will be smiling

then
i read this article about the insects becoming extinct from the guardian
we are losing 2.5% of the insects each year
do the math
in 10 years we will have lost 25%
in 20 years we will have lost 50%

this is the bad part
when we go further than that and start approaching 100%
we might all starve to death
yes
we might all starve to death
do the math
for some of you that will be in your lifetime or at least in your kids lifetime

look around where you live
start looking for these good guys
do what you can to make them happy

the biggest threat to these insects ie to us are insecticides used in agriculture and of course other environmental insults

it does seem ironic doesnt it that producing the food we all need may be what kills us all eventually

then
as we drove further to ucla
as the sun bursted over the mountains heading away from the ocean to the mountains this azure color of the sky with its almost pinkish orangish reddish clouds over the mountains
made
my wife she and i to take a deep breath again and sigh at what just transpired in our minds

will ms b be ok when we are gone

our day has begun

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: tomatoville

organicgreendoctor: tomatoville: TOMATOVILLE as i was moving my tomato plants from our sliding doors night time spot to a warmer sunnier spot on our front patio where the...

tomatoville

TOMATOVILLE

as i was moving my tomato plants from our sliding doors night time spot to a warmer sunnier spot on our front patio where they will get 6-8 hours of sun up against the side of the wall that warms up as the day goes on
well my wife she says
this looks like tomatoville in our living room
but
she tolerates it since she knows what will be the reward in a few weeks if this is all successful

now
she doesnt get to taste that first juicy tomato
that taster will be me as im working in my garden
its my reward

my biggest battle is to keep her and her mom away from my green tomatoes since they like to pick them and fry them
yes
i do eat them when they fry them but i want those first tomatoes to turn red and ripe

its a yearly battle i have with them
luckily our garden area is locked and i have the pass code and they dont

every year even when i was in texas i always planted my tomatoes early
sometimes i would win
sometimes i would lose
to nature in the form of freezing temps

last year here it was warmer so i was able to put them in the ground about this time
heck we hardly turned our heater on all winter last year
this year is different
eg
when i got up this morning it was 33 degrees
now that may not freeze a new tomato plant but it sure can damage it though so that it may not grow well or may even die
so
back to my porch and living room until its warmer

i have designated 6 spots in my garden for 6 tomatoes since i have limited gardening space
so i have to chose which ones did well last year and which ones we liked the best

here is my list
early girl   celebrity   juliet   sweet 100   black krim    cherokee purple  thats it
recently in my garlic bed there popped up this volunteer tomato
its near the spot where i grew a tomato someone gave me called mexican mini cherry which was a good producer
so im presuming thats the one that growing
when they volunteer like that it seems nature plants them correctly so i plan to add that to my list
based on previous history ill  probably find more spots for more tomatoes
if you are a gardener you understand

i buy tomatoes as soon as i see them show up in the nursery
i plant them in a 3 gallon pot until its time to plant them in the garden

by the time i do they are well hardened off
that means they have been allowed to adapt to the weather since i move them in and out of the condo to the outside environment every day

the first one i got was an early girl in the picture above
it was obtained near the end of january
it was potted in this 3 gallon bucket
its is now as tall as my belt line on my jeans
this picture was from 3 weeks ago

it now has one tomato growing with more coming
im carefully thumping the flowers each day to spread around the pollen
plus its windy here some now so when its outside the wind does that also

my plan is to transplant it into the ground this sunday since the temperatures seem to be making that upward jump for the spring
i plan to dig a hole and a trench in the garden
then partially lay this on it side so it can root all along its trunk leaving as little as possible sticking up out of the ground
in the hole i will put some antacid for calcium and a sprinkling of an organic fertilizer and several handfuls of my own organic worm compost
ill water it in with a good soaking of fish emulsion sea weed molasses mixture
then
around the tomato i will put a double layer of black plastic about 3 ft in diameter to help warm the soil around the tomato
my new tomato cage will be placed over it
this cage then will be wrapped with a thick white row cover to keep the tomato warm until the weather warms up this spring

for those of you who are tomato lovers you will understand all this work im doing to get that first tomato

the rest of the tomatoes will be transplanted in march as the spring warms up

now i did this in texas each year and it seemed like a late freeze would wipe them out every year
but
luckily here in santa barbara it rarely if ever freezes
except
maybe last night

i promise i will post a picture of the first ripe tomato from this early girl tomato
i also promise that tomato will never make it out of the garden

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: whats their risk

organicgreendoctor: whats their risk: WHATS THEIR RISK ladies stop a minute and look at your male loved one like a boyfriend husband brother dad grandfather what are they at...

whats their risk

WHATS THEIR RISK

ladies stop a minute and look at your male loved one like a boyfriend husband brother dad grandfather

what are they at risk of dying from

if they are young its car accident gun violence drug overdose
as they age you can start adding heart attack to the list
then as they get a little older add stroke to the list and maybe cancer
then as they get even older probably add alzheimers disease to the list

one that might be easily tested for is serious heart problems
the risk starts increasing probably around the mid thirties based on the history of obesity cholesterol high blood pressure exercise history smoking history

according to this article you can do this easy test on your loved one

in fact i did it on myself this morning right before i started writing todays blog

now its been awhile
but
i was able to do 10 before my painful shoulder flared up and i had to stop
so im not sure how many i could do
im not sure if i could do 40 though

now after reading the article i made sure i could do 11 push ups

i thought of menfolk i know
i realize that if they try to do a push up even if they extended their arms all the way
they would still not be able to touch the floor
they would be resting on their tummies
like a walrus or reverse turtle

i would consider that a failed test
wouldnt you

it seems that research from harvard done on firemen found if they could do at least 40 push ups their risk of a significant cardiac event in the next 10 years would be reduced by 96% compared to those who could do less than 10 push ups
these firemen were followed for 10 years and those 37 who had a significant cardiovascular event 36 of them couldnt do more than 10 push ups

these cardiovascular events were heart failure sudden death documented cardiovascular disease

40 push ups seemed to be the threshold on testing for these fireman for reduced heart issues

so
i started ticking off 10 men i know that are friends relatives acquaintances over the age of 30
the number who would pass the push up stress test for cardiovascular disease
was
2

so ladies
do this at home stress test
score your men
if they dont pass
well
they have work to do

then
make sure they have a will disability insurance life insurance and maybe long term care insurance
just saying

now im sure i would have passed if it wasnt for my bum left shoulder...

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-why women get it more than men

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-why women get it more than men: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WHY WOMEN GET IT MORE THAN MEN every 65 seconds a brain develops alzheimers disease 2/3 of those are female brains why ...

alzheimers news-why women get it more than men

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WHY WOMEN GET IT MORE THAN MEN

every 65 seconds a brain develops alzheimers disease
2/3 of those are female brains

why

we dont really know for sure

heres what we know and what we think could be reasons why

if a women has the apoe 4 gene like i have they are at a greater risk for developing late onset alzheimers than men are
the apoe 4 gene is a risk factor for late onset alzheimers

in studies of prealzheimers patients those are the ones that have no symptoms yet but have positive scans for the bad amyloid and the tau proteins it is noted that women have more amyloid and tau proteins in their brain

women live longer than men so that statistically makes them more likely to develop alzheimers
men tend to die younger with heart disease

women make up 60% of the caregivers
another risk factor for alzheimers disease for caregivers may be due to the increased stress lack of sleep and not taking care of their own health not exercising not getting social interactions

the jury is out if its due to the lack of estrogen during perimenopause and menopause
some think its the lack of sleep and stress during this time that may be contributing
hormone replacement has not been shown to make a difference
more studies on the menopausal effect are being done

it may be due to social more than physical reasons
generally women live more stressful lives get less sleep get less exercise may live in lower social economic situations being pregnant and being post partum less educational opportunities..........
im sure you women readers can add more to this list
all these are known modifiable lifetime risk factors for alzheimers disease

when you add all these up in a womens lifetime the result is that they have an increased rate of cognitive decline than men

it is probably mostly social reasons why there is this discrepancy in the rates between men and women
the treatment for this discrepancy is altering social factors which we as a society do a poor job of correcting

so there may not be a good prescription for women to fix this

maybe the fact that women are becoming more involved in politics and the work force and overall getting more opportunities may be the best treatment to slow this disease down

i hope so

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: it is going to change

organicgreendoctor: it is going to change: IT IS GOING TO CHANGE my view on all this is that there is a natural cyclical thing that happens with nature if you look way back as far...

it is going to change

IT IS GOING TO CHANGE

my view on all this is that there is a natural cyclical thing that happens with nature
if you look way back as far as we can look this has been happening
we are in one of those swings
i think that us humans are making those swings wider
not for the best either

the amount of ice thats melting all over the earth
that water has to go somewhere and cause changes
i think we are in one of those changing times now

its predicted looking at sea level rising maps for this area that where we live will be safe since we are up an steady incline from the beach to the mountains
many things along the beach will be gone and eroded away especially some of our most favorite places to walk and hike

this morning i ran across this interactive map from the university of maryland
you type in your city or one thats listed thats close by
up will come what they predict the weather in that city will be like in 2080 if we dont change anything we are doing like polluting the air and the water and removing trees and burning things in the air
eg the crop burning in central america and south america is having an effect since all that smoke gets in the air and all those trees and plants are burned up
add that to all the stuff that gets dumped into the air

here is the link to the interactive map

so i looked at 3 cities where we have lived
little rock
austin
santa barbara

little rock weather will be like the weather now in southern louisiana near new orleans in a town called hammon la
the summer will be 0.2 degrees f warmer and about 70% wetter
oh my how miserable that heat will be in arkansas with that much humidity

austin weather will be like the weather now in nuevo laredo mexico
the summer will be 6.2 degrees warmer and 34% drier
oh its already hot enough there in the summer
im sure things will really be brown around austin
this means more fires im sure
a few years ago during the drought when the weather was like this
when the winds came the austin area was burning all around it
like in california

santa barbara winter weather will be like it is in glendale california
the winter temps will be about 6 degrees warmer and about 25% drier
we had that when we first moved here and what happened were fires all around us
followed by mud and debris flows out of the mountains when it rained causing several deaths and mass destruction along its path

los angeles weather will be like las palmas mexico in the southern tip of baja california
it will be warmer and wetter

so it seems looking at this predictive interactive map that almost no matter what city you type in nothing better shows up

we have to do something to change as much of this as we can

is going to happen but maybe we can slow it down

the organicgreen doctor

learning side effects

LEARNING SIDE EFFECTS

the drug on the left is an anti inflammatory drug called prolensa
for me it was given to decrease the inflammation in the right eye after my double cataract surgery in that eye
ive been on it now for over 30 days

prolensa is bromfenac
it is a nonsteroidal drug that was once marketed as duract used to treat acute pain but was removed from the market due to hepatotoxicity
being a nonsteroidal it has all the nonsteroidal side effects that you see on the ibuprofen and aspirin and naproxyn bottles

when you put eye drops in the eye some of it goes down the tear duct down the back of the throat then down the esophagus then into the stomach

if you are one of those who have indigestion or stomach pain from nonsteroidals then thats what might happen

as  a physician i knew all that

so for several days when it came time for lunch i wasnt hungry
yesterday my stomach was hurting me as i thought whats going on here
then
this light came on in my brain
its the prolensa
since
this is what happens anytime i take a nonsteroidal so i usually use acetaminophen for pain or headaches

i knew all this but what if i didnt know or understand
i had three more weeks to take this stuff
now i have zero weeks since i stopped taking it

after my cataract surgery twice in two days i ended up on 5 eye drops
now im down to one as of today
since ive figured out whats going on

but
what if i didnt know
my guess is no one else would have figured it out

theres more stories

i am on aricept (donepezil) for my mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease
when i started taking it i knew all about the side effects and knew what to expect
i knew that it would take a few weeks before some of the side effects would get better or go away
some never would
now i ordered that drug when in practice and when i was given the prescription to take the doctors that would be me and my neurologist didnt really explain all this

when i became a patient i read up on the side effects and was ready
originally the worst were blurry vision nausea abdomen pain insomnia leg cramps mild vertigo fatigue vivid dreams some hyperactivity when first taking it

if you happen to catch me an hour or two after ive taken my aricept (donepezil) and had my three cups of coffee you will find me more talkative than usual and you will find me more likely to be doing busy stuff
as the day goes on all that hyperactivity gets replaced with fatigue

i knew all these side effects were coming and i knew i just needed to power through them so i did
now my major side effects are some sleep loss vivid dreams occasional leg cramps morning hyperactivity and afternoon fatigue
the other side effects seem to be less bothersome

not understanding these side effects and not knowing they will get better keep many folks and their families from allowing patients to continue taking the aricept (donepezil)

what happens to people who dont understand all this

not long after retiring i developed pneumonia and was started on an antibiotic called levaquin (levofloxacin)
it was one of the better ones to use for my age group for pneumonia
after a day of taking it i noticed that i couldnt sit still and i couldnt sleep at night
now
i knew from reading and experience that was a side effect of that drug
so
i stopped it and was switched to a different antibiotic
my side effects went away

fast forward to my double on one eye catarct surgeries where i was given an eye antibiotic to take
it was a first cousin to the levaquin called moxifloxacin eye drops
yes the drops go down the tear duct eventually in the stomach where its absorbed there
yes you can get side effects like when you take the oral form

so after a couple of weeks i got to where i couldnt sleep for several days
then
this light came on
its those eye drops
so
i stopped them and within two days i returned back to my usual sleep habits

what do people do who dont have this understanding

you know when you read all those side effects there are so many that its hard to tell which is important or likely
eg
the side effect to the antibiotic eye drop occurs only less than 1% of the time
those are usually ignored unless you are one of those less than 1% patients

in fact
the levaquin and the moxifloxacin eye drops have the side effects i experienced by binding to sites that two of the alzheimers drugs namenda (memantine)  and aricept (donepezil) bind to which may be the reason that these antibiotics caused the hyperactivity and insomnia

neither my neurologist or the ophthalmologist knew this
but
i did
and
im glad i did since i might have gone nutso if i had kept taking that stuff for another two weeks
i stopped them and feel much better

what do people do if they dont understand all this

i was also on a steroid drop after my surgery
some of it also goes down into the stomach and causes some of the side effects that oral steroids do but probably not as much
it probably was also contributing to my insomnia and my abdominal discomfort

my blood pressure pill i took in the morning caused my blood pressure to drop two hours later
i would get dizzy and have to sit down while gardening
i understood that so i take it at bedtime and have no issues now

i guess some patients just get worse so they reach a point where the drug surpasses its benefits with these side effects
some get sicker some die im afraid

whats the solution

i dont really have one for you non medical folks
at least
i can read about them and understand them

thank goodness for google

the organicgreen doctor

i remember when

I REMEMBER WHEN

this weekend as i was working with around 20 premed students who volunteered at the community garden where i have my garden plot i thought they are me about 40 years ago

as i looked at those 20 who wanted to be doctors i realized statistically that only about 8 of them would make it to medical school
the other 12  although for various reasons even though they would be quite qualified wont make it

which ones i thought would make as i looked and interacted with them
i could identify a few that would make it
one was the female that i want ms b to be like
another was a student who although he wants to be in emergency medicine seemed more like the family practice type
he even like i did while in college works in an emergency room here locally as an assistant

now i dont know all their stories but i know mine
i almost didnt make it
even though my goal from middle school was to be a family doctor

in high school from my sophomore year on i worked as an orderly on weekends and during holidays doing patient care and assisting and observing a lot that many students dont get to see
i saw births and deaths and surgeries and happiness and sadness

i started college with an academic scholarship that paid for my books and tuition and fees
fees are those things if youve ever paid for someones college education that add up and sneak up on you as they fee you for everything
all i had to pay for was my room and board
so i tried to work all weekend from friday to sunday and go to school
i wasnt ready academically and socially and psychological for college
so i didnt make it through the semester
so i dropped out

then for two years i worked various jobs as an orderly as a bag inspector at a paper bag company as a worker on a road bridge crew
i was not really being a productive human being
then
my historian brother convinced me to move in with him where he was stationed in california
a friend of  his helped me get a job as an orderly at the local hospital
i later became an emergency room technician assisting doctors and nurses in the emergency room
again i got to do and see a lot of medical things

my historian brother convinced me to take some courses a the local junior college
i chose english and intermediate algebra as my first two courses
i also worked full time
i managed to get an a in each class
after that i took more classes and finished the junior college with a good gpa

i then transferred to the university of california system the same one these kids are in
majoring in biology with at no time doubting what my ultimate goal was
granted in the past that goal seemed way out of reach

my wife she and i got married the weekend before we transferred to the 4 year school
my grades werent good my first quarter there
i think i made my first and only d and c while i was in college
i after that semester thought my goal would not be obtained
again

the competition back then was even greater for med school slots
out of those 20 if they were applying back then only 2-4 would probably get accepted

luckily the rest of my career went well and i made a good gpa by the time i graduated
a gpa that was in the mid range of those accepted to medical school

i opted to sit out a year after graduation to reestablish my residency in my home state
i then applied for medical school after living there for a year
this required me to wait two years after college graduation before starting medical school
i got accepted on my first try
some folks take several attempts or some go out of the country
i only applied to one school
during those two years waiting i worked a year as a lab tech and spent a year working first for 7 hours in a chicken processing plant where i swore they played music from the movie deliverance then 3 months in a factory making craftsman tools then 9 months working as a lab assistant in the animal science department while my wife she was in graduate school

then after all that i made it to medical school
unlike many of these students who have a lot of college debt and will have a lot of medical school debt
i mange to avoid that since the federal programs and california had more scholarship and grants available for students to pay for school
now these are mostly not available and schools seem to just cost more

i had some loans but not like many others had
uncle sam paid for my last 3 years of medical school and i served back those 3 years in an undeserved area to fulfill that obligation even though reagan cut that funding for the program after i graduated

so i reflected back as i worked and visited with those students
im sure many of them are withstanding large debts just to get through college
then
if they attend medical school somewhere their debt will probably double or triple

i finished with a school debt from college and medical school of around $15,000
now students can have between $100,000 to $400,000 of school debt

this debt will hamper them throughout their medical careers affecting their ability to buy a home and save for retirement and probably finance their kids education
add to that the fact that medicine is changing and doctors incomes are dropping each year

i was talking to my historian brother this weekend and he said
you know we are both lucky as we and our other 6 siblings to have been born when we did as most of us managed to get through college and professional school without having debt that followed us into retirement

yes its the same story getting into school but how it gets paid for has changed
not for the best
not for the students
not for our society

maybe some of them will read this blog today and not give up on their dreams

yes
i remember when
i realize im one lucky guy to have reached my goals

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-be like them

DEAR MS B-BE LIKE THEM

ms b
this weekend when i got home from volunteering at the trinity garden with a group of 20 premed fraternity students from the university of california at santa barbara where they worked in the garden
i said to my wife she thats your gmajo i want ms b to be like her
who she said
one of the students was from upper new england she being a 2nd or 3rd year student but i dont remember which specialty she wanted to go into yet
at least now in 2018 she can do whatever specialty she wants to do
they dont get limited to just men now especially the surgical specialties
an aside over half of the medical students in the us are female


i asked her how did you chose ucsb
she said i always wanted to live here so i applied to all the university of california schools and ended up here in santa barbara
lucky you i told her getting to live in this area in that campus overlooking the ocean

oh i said do you have family here
no she said

later we talked about traveling
she said oh ive gone to europe and canada and other places by myself and traveled throughout the countries
i told her of two of our young female acquaintances who did the same thing
they all seemed to have this almost independent pioneer spirit and arent too afraid to do things others are i guess afraid to do

not me i told her if it requires a passport then count me out

as i told my wife she this story she agreed with me
yes ms b we want you to be just like that student

then my wife she said did you see that super bowl video
what video
the one with marshawn lynch grabbing that cake and the melee that occurred with all those football stars
did you see that girl in the red dress at the end of the video catch that football
do that spin move and dodge all those nfl players
then throw to ball to someone else
thats her
sam gorden
what you mean her
thats the girl in the video
so i watched the commercial again
then
i watched the video of the red dress girl when she was younger

so
ms b
after watching that video of that red dress girl
ms b
i want you to be just like her

use these two as your mentors and youll do well

if you have a daughter or niece or granddaughter who plays sports
i suggest you click on this link or the link below and watch the red dress girl playing sports when she was younger

click here to read the article on the girl and see the video
you will definitely be impressed
the video in the article is more impressive than the video below
or
view the you tube video below

as i saw her running with that ball tucked under her arm with that pony tail flowing in the air with those boys way behind trying to catch her
i thought
yep ms b that could be you

the organicgreen doctor