last night i spoke to a group of about 50 premed students at the local university here
many are within a year or two of entering medical school
i spoke for 30 minutes about my story and about the two research studies i have been in as a patient over the last 8.5 years
one the adni study and the other was the biogen aducanumab study
then
i answered questions for 30 minutes from the audience
i met these students when they volunteered one saturday at the community garden where i have my garden plots and where i do volunteer work
i feel like i get a shot of adrenaline after being around such intelligent pleasant students
i always feel better about our futures when i work with them
another shot of adrenaline i get is from drinking coffee each morning
i am not sure i would make it without coffee every day
i rarely get adequate sleep each night
thank you mr aricept and mr alzheimers
when you combine the coffee with my morning alzheimers drug aricept (donepezil) which gives me a boost of energy well i sort of get double boosted each day
thats good usually until around noon then it wears off
i drink three cups over a 4 hour time period
one of my justifications is this article i wrote about in 2010 before i was diagnosed
it was on how coffee my be good on slowing down alzheimers
i also mentioned a new diagnostic test for alzheimers involving a spinal tap
interesting this morning is that i talked about his test last night in my presentation listing it as a biomarker for alzheimers disease
as i read my old writing i realize how much alzheimers was on my subconscious and how much i did know about alzheimers before my diagnosis
this alzheimers thing must have really been weighing heavy on my subconscious but i wasnt aware of it that much at the time
8-27-2010
ALZHEIMERS N COFFEE
my librarian niece facebooked (umm new word?) me about news of coffee n alzheimers
i had also seen a news blurb on this
thanks for info i messaged to her
so i did research on it you know i googled it
its definitely research i agree with and like
it appears that maybe 5 cups of coffee a day may protect the brain from alzheimers
wow man it would sure make you productive during the day
all those day off honey dos would get done
i could make it through the movies and through the ball games
but i would have to go pee a lot though (caffeine acts as a diuretic)
I wouldnt have to take any afternoon naps on my days off but i would have trouble falling asleep at night though
i might have some shaking of the hands during the day from all that caffeine
i would or might have an increase in blood pressure
but gosh if it worked i would be glad to put up with all that
it appears that in rats that caffeine decreases the production of abnormal amyloid-like proteins in the brain thought to be the culprits in developing alzheimers
(i will do a blog later about research measuring amyloid protein in the spinal fluid as a predictor of whether you will develop alzheimers)
my historian brother drinks a ton of coffee so he should have some protection huh
people who are heavy coffee drinkers (like me) tend to me more active than those couch potato folks
it also may be that increase in physical activity that may be protective as well
the control of weight control of blood pressure exercise control of lipids control of diabetes and now caffeine use may help prevent or slow down development of alzheimers
however genetics and family history may appear to be the big determinant of whether you will develop the disease
man that sucks
these things mentioned above may however just modify that risk some
the organicgreen doctor
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