organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-how to accurately predict alzheimers

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-how to accurately predict alzheimers: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-HOW TO ACCURATELY PREDICT ALZHEIMERS i read this article on diagnosing alzheimers disease this morning we are getting real ...

alzheimers news-how to accurately predict alzheimers

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-HOW TO ACCURATELY
PREDICT ALZHEIMERS

i read this article on diagnosing alzheimers disease this morning
we are getting real close to being able to predict if  you have alzheimers disease or will soon get it

why do we want to diagnose it early
all the new treatments to slow down the disease and eventually ones to prevent the disease will be given to folks either with no symptoms or minimal symptoms to make them work
ie
you will need to take the meds early when they become available for them to work
since
if you start them too late they probably wont work as well

so 
diagnosing if you will get it will allow you to be treated early in the disease process
eg
now we can check your cholesterol level in your 30s and 40s and if it is abnormal like mine was when i was 40
my total cholesterol was 326+ and my ldl cholesterol was 250+
so treating my cholesterol over the last 30 years with diet exercise and medication has prevented me from dying from a heart attack or stroke now that i am 70ish

thats what we want to do with alzheimers disease
find those at a higher risk of getting it and maybe like with the cholesterol treating them early to slow down or prevent dementia

in this study 
folks with subjective memory loss
this means they dont have memory loss on memory tests but the patient notices memory changes not detected by these memory test

folks with mild cognitive impairment on memory tests like i had 

these two groups were looked at that had been in the adni studies that i was in 

clinical judgement like if you saw your provider for memory loss whether it showed anything or not and they made a diagnosis would have an accuracy of 72% or .72

if you did just the plasma ptau181 the accuracy would be .85
which is better than clinical judgement by your provider 

however in this research study if you added these tests some of which are available only in the research world but will be available eventually at your providers office
can increase the accuracy to as high as 92% or .92 that you will develop alzheimers in the next few years
then
if something was available to take you could start on it early like i did with my cholesterol

these tests are
plasma ptau181 or 217 these turn positive before symptoms start
they will be available soon in providers office
apoe 4 genotype the gene associated with late onset alzheimers
cognitive ie memory tests
mri to measure cortical thickness
plasma nfl test which stands for neurofilament light protein that goes up in alzheimers disease and other neurodegenerative diseases
it is available in the research world and soon will be available in your providers office

so 
if you want to know if you will get it in 2 or 4 or 6 years you will soon be able to find out if this article is accurate which i think it is

now
we just need that drug that works long term to slow down or prevent this 
sort of like
cholesterol does for heart attacks and strokes

i wonder if my biogen aducanumab will be one of these drugs
i sure hope so

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: garden news-fence them in

organicgreendoctor: garden news-fence them in: GARDEN NEWS-FENCE THEM IN recently ms b had her kindergarten teacher give her and the other students a full packet of sunflowers to plant  s...

garden news-fence them in

GARDEN NEWS-FENCE THEM IN

recently ms b had her kindergarten teacher give her and the other students a full packet of sunflowers to plant 
she told them plant them wherever you want
so
ms b and mr hudson planted several of them in their garden at their house
then
last week on their trip to our community garden i suggested they plant some of the seeds in our childrens garden at the community garden where i volunteer and where i have my garden plots

at the entry to our childrens garden section there were two empty pots just waiting to be filled with potting soil
so ms b and mr hudson used shovels and trowels to fill up their respective pots

in the picture you can see mr hudson with his head and arms deep into the potting soil bag to get a big shovel full of potting soil
after filling up the pots they then scattered pretty randomly the sunflower seeds into the pots
yes i  had to thin them out later and will need to redistribute the seeds some

they then took watering cans and watered in the sunflower seeds as well as watered the rest of the plants in the kids garden

job well done


these are garlic a red italian brand from a local nursery 
this was a 30 ft row of garlic
now garlic doesnt get real big here when it grows
in texas they tend to get larger

these garlic were harvested after the leaves had began to brown
they will be left in the sun for several days then like most of the food we produce in the central part of our community garden it will be donated to food kitchens or shelters or food banks
there is around a hundred garlic bulbs
buy an organic garlic bulb at whole foods then multiple that by 100 to get an idea how much these are worth


then we harvested our onions we planted back in december
we got these from dixondale farms in texas linked here
interesting is some local central california nurseries sell the dixondale farms onions 
i just bought them direct from dixondale
the ones we planted was the short day sample mix which include the 1015y super sweet texas onion and the texas early white onion and the red onion 

we have been harvesting these onions gradually 
recently most of the onion leaves had fallen over
so 
we bent all of them over
pulled them from the ground
leaving them laying in the beds to dry for about 2 weeks
they all will be donated to the groups mentioned above

the largest ones are softball sized

these onions are sweet
they dont make you cry when you cut them


last week a high school volunteer and i put up this 30 ft row of fencing down the middle of one of our tomato rows
we used cattle panels that were 5 ft tall and used t posts to hold them in place
i used my country n skills to put up the fencing

the tomatoes will be tied up to the fencing or woven back and forth as they grow
allowing us better access to our tomatoes 
and
to keep the tomatoes off the ground


then in this 30 foot row of tomatoes we put up a row of cattle panels on each side of the beds
this tunnel of fencing will help keep the tomatoes upright and off the ground also
as we harvest we can reach through the fencing to access these tomatoes

now in my garden i use my circular collapsible tomato cages i bought from craigslist
these are the best cages ive ever used
mine are 6 ft tall and 24 in in diameter
here is a link to the companies texas website texas tomato cage
its the last cage youll have to buy since they last forever

keep on gardening
if you have excess produce give it away to your friends or neighbors
or
do like our community garden does
donate it to those in need

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #88-newsletters on alzheimers

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #88-newsletters on alzheimers: MY STORY REVISITED #88-NEWSLETTERS ON ALZHEIMERS the alzheimers newsletters would come out every few months from the alzheimers center at ut...

my story revisited #88-newsletters on alzheimers

MY STORY REVISITED #88-NEWSLETTERS ON ALZHEIMERS

the alzheimers newsletters would come out every few months from the alzheimers center at ut southwestern
ucla as well as other centers have similar newsletters

in the one mentioned in the blog below they wrote about sleep and its effect on alzheimers and the effect of blood pressure control especially in patients with the apoe 4 apoe 4 gene the one associated with late onset alzheimers disease

this made me think of this linked newsletter that was about my story that ut southwestern did about 10 years ago
the writer was an experienced former newspaper reporter
here is the newsletter titled from physician to advocate
the story starts on page two

i thought about doing that interview and doing the photo shoot for that newsletter
he did several interviews with me and did a lengthy photo shoot with me and my doctor and others for the article

today it seems i am coming full circle again 
at the end of my blog 8 years ago 
i wrote
now we need is some way to prevent it or treat it

i recently was interviewed by the new york times about my story and my involvement with the biogen aducanumab story and my thoughts on whether it should be approved for use in alzheimers

i gave my thoughts as a patient 
but
i also gave my thoughts as a physician and a science based person 

the things sometime conflict with each other

we will see how the interview comes out in the article

i have a photo shoot in a few hours with a photographer from the newspaper
we will meet in our community garden to start the photo shoot there

i feel at peace when im there and i have done photo shoots there before

i hope the article and photos capture the essence of what this treatment is all about
what it means to us the patients in this study
and
maybe to all of you who are affected by loved ones with the disease

it means
some hope

i will post the link to the article when it is published

doing these stories and being interviewed causes one to do a lot of soul searching about where you are with your life
there is usually excitement followed by a period of melancholy as the truth sinks in

stay tuned
__________
NEWSLETTER UPDATE

this morning i received via email the newsletter from the
alzheimers disease information network
when i read the first article
i said ruh roh

a new study showed that 'sleep is disturbed in people who have
early alzheimers disease but who yet dont have the memory loss
or other cognitive problems characteristic of full blown
alzheimers disease'

all of the study subjects were normal that is that they had no memory
issues at all but
about a fourth of them had positive biomarkers in the spinal fluid
(which i will blog about each friday over the next 4 weeks)
which means they had preclinical alzheimers disease
that is they had beta amyloid and tau protein levels that were abnormal
and probably had beta amyloid accumulation in the brain already

these people with the abnormal biomarkers were found to have poorer
sleep efficiency than those who did not have them

ruh roh
i know that im in that group as i have abnormal levels of these biomarkers
in my spinal fluid and will soon find out via an amyvid pet scan of the
brain if i have beta amyloid accumulation also

and do i have sleep disturbance
no trouble going to sleep but i have restless sleep at night
just ask my wife
i nap during the day

is it the chicken or the egg
does sleep disturbance have an effect on developing alzheimers or does
alzheimers cause the sleep disturbance

my theory
these sleep changes occurs years and years before people notice alzheimers
and
the beta amyloid and tau protein abnormalities occur also years and years
before alzheimers in a person is recognized by the person and their family
those protein changes and the destruction that results
are the causes of the sleep disturbance


in alzheimers disease as mentioned above the beta amyloid protein starts
accumulating years and years before symptoms occur

researchers at the university of michigan have isolated a molecule from
green tea that seems to interfere with the misfolding of these proteins in the
brain thats been associated with alzheimers

so does that mean that we should all be drinking green tea to help
prevent alzheimers disease

maybe


nature.com

then a study from ut dallas looked at whether controlling high blood
pressure early in life may slow down or prevent the formation of the
changes in the brain associated with alzheimers disease

they looked at patients who carried the apoe4 gene which if you have
the double gene of it
like i do
you have a 15x increase chance of developing alzheimers and if you
have mild symptoms you have a 60-90% chance of developing
alzheimers disease

then they compared patients with the apoe4 gene who
had normal blood pressure
untreated mild high blood pressure
treated blood pressure

they found that those patients who had apeo4 genes and had untreated
high blood pressure had more amyloid accumulation in the brain
that hallmark of alzheimers disease
than
those treated apoe4 hypertension patients and those with apoe4 and
a normal blood pressure

so these results suggest that maybe controlling your blood pressure
may significantly reduce risk of developing those hallmark deposits
of amyloid in the brain

remember this study was done in people who are normal with
no memory issues

so gradually we are starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together
for the alzheimers disease puzzle

now all we need is some way to treat it or prevent it
__________
a lot has happened in the alzheimers research world in the last 10 years
however
ten years later you still get the same work up now as back then except maybe if you can afford an amyloid pet scan
you still have no change in the treatment option
its still just aricept (donepezil) and its related drugs
nothing new

that said there are several promising drugs in clinical trials that have some promise
this process is a slow one

as i told the writer last week
aducanumab is probably my only chance to get a drug that might help slow this down
the ones in research now probably wont get here in time to help me and others

its aducanumab or bust for some of us
but the question is will it really work for us

we should know in two years when my present study is finished

even if it gets approved in two weeks
the question still remains
will it really work

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: cicadas

organicgreendoctor: cicadas: CICADAS this photo from the texas am forest service appeared in this article on cicadas in the tulsaworld also here is a scientific american...

cicadas

CICADAS

this photo from the texas am forest service appeared in this article on cicadas in the tulsaworld
also here is a scientific american article on cidadas

when i was growing up in the deep south in southern arkansas we would find these cicada shells and place them on the tip of our noses 
the claws of the insect as it metamorphized were left intact
the shell would sit nicely on the tip of your nose so you could chase your younger sisters around threatening them with these scary little monsters

now we dont have these little varmints here in santa barbara
but 
last week when we were at ms bs house she had this insect collection a family friend gave her
there in a plastic container was
this cicada shell

thinking back to my youth and the fun i had of chasing my younger sisters around scaring them with these little monster things
im sure they caused nightmares in my sisters dreams at night back then

so
thinking i would perch that cicada shell on my nose and scare the bejives out of ms b
i reached down to pick it up 
alas
the legs fell off 
so
i just had to describe what it looked like and how we use to scare people with them

she thought it was funny
and
im sure she thought
im sure glad that monster thing fell apart

at the country n we had a small grove of cedar elms near our house
when it was cicada time
the sound would be so loud that you could hardly hear someones conversations when outside
our cats use to like to catch them and eat them

i saw online where people actually eat them
they are high in protein
sorry
ill get my protein source from beans and poultry 

below is a video from pbs on cicadas

i guess i will need to replace that cicada shell for ms b
then i can put it on my nose and chase her around her yard

now mr hudson he wouldnt think twice about picking it up and playing with it

the next time they come around she will be 23 years old and he will be 19 years old

mr n would probably try to eat the shell 
he will be 18 years old when they come around again

so you only get to enjoy them once during your childhood

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-are we getting closer or are we

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-are we getting closer or are we: COVID 19-ARE WE GETTING CLOSER OR ARE WE is there a 100% way you can make sure you cant give covid 19 to some unvaccinated person if you hav...

covid 19-are we getting closer or are we

COVID 19-ARE WE GETTING CLOSER OR ARE WE

is there a 100% way you can make sure you cant give covid 19 to some unvaccinated person if you have been vaccinated
the answer is no
however 
you can come close real close though

if you have been vaccinated you are highly unlikely to get ill if you are exposed to covid 19
it seems from the reports ive seen that folks that do get sick with covid 19 after being vaccinated usually are immunocompromised to begin with 
ie
the covid vaccine may not work as well in them

if you have had the shot you probably wont get sick but you can transmit the virus if you carry it
a real small chance but its there

so
if you are vaccinated and you are going to be around a high risk patient that is unvaccinated then you should wear a mask when you are around them

that is 
if you want to get close to 100% that you wont give them the virus

as the cases continue to plummet here in the us there will be a time when even that mask wearing to protect others can be dropped safely 
when that happens 
im not sure
but
we arent there yet

such a simple easy thing to wear a mask

its interesting to listen to infectious disease doctors and emergency room doctors and pulmonologists who are seeing the hospitalized covid 19 patients
well what do they do 

they do like i do they wear their masks whenever they go outside

in our county of 400,000 folks we have had no deaths in the last few weeks
in california they had 46 on saturday
in texas they had 40
in arkansas they had 3
in florida they had 78
in mississippi they had 4
in the us we had 478 total deaths on saturday

remember most if not all of these deaths were unvaccinated

the fully vaccination rates 
california 41.3
texas 34.1
arkanasas 30.2
florida 37.4
mississippi 26.5

that folks is not good enough
we need about 70-80% vaccination rate to keep slowing this down 
we may end up with pockets of infections in those states like mississippi with its low vaccination rate and with a large population of real vulnerable folks

here in this county we have already vaccinated 15% of 12-15 year olds
most of the cases that we are seeing is in folks under 40 years old
as we get them vaccinated and start on the 5-12 year old thats when this pandemic will start to be closed down
if the adults will continue to be vaccinated

in about 3 weeks the state of california will be opened up completely
we have a high vaccination rate and a low case rate
hopefully that will continue

so
i choose to wear a mask when i go outside
not to protect myself
but 
to protect those vulnerable individuals i might encounter and those unvaccinated folks i encounter
that is
im doing it to protect others
as close to 100% as i can

i realize i am very unlikely to get sick with covid if i dont wear a mask
but
i am close to 100% when i wear a mask

i do realize that soon i wont even have to do that
but like the expert doctors i realize we arent there yet

ive done my part and am doing my part to help end this pandemic

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-staying involved

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-staying involved: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-STAYING INVOLVED after i was diagnosed and after i had a few months for this life changing event to all sink into my psyche ...

alzheimers news-staying involved

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-STAYING INVOLVED

after i was diagnosed and after i had a few months for this life changing event to all sink into my psyche
i felt like i was in a good position to reach out to folks and talk to them about alzheimers disease

i always say in my presentations that i have 3 perspectives of alzheimers disease
as
a family member who lost my mother and younger brother to the disease
a physician who treated some alzheimers patients
then
now
a patient with the official diagnosis in my chart of
mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease

it is with these perspectives i give my presentations and answer questions from patients families and others

i have sort of been there done that 
it makes i think my answers more credible

i have given several presentations on my story using it as a vehicle to talk about alzheimers disease

my first big presentation was to the 80+ family physicians that were in our practice
in preparing for my presentation i realized how much i didnt know about alzheimers disease
i also realized how much they didnt know about alzheimers
the presentation went well
they asked me a lot of questions 
some of them cried and so did i


the next big presentation i did was as a speaker at an alzheimers symposium in central texas
i geared that presentation to my story and to a more lay type of audience
i had lots of questions afterwards and during the day as i attended the other presentations

since those two i have done several other large group presentations

my favorite one to do though is to smaller groups where i talk for a few minutes then leave most of my time to do just a q and a or question and answer session

since last year when the pandemic hit all these presentations have been cancelled
i miss them since i enjoy answering folks questions they cant get answers to
as 
a family member
a physician
a patient

now that the pandemic is slowing down and things are opening up 
eg 
i am partway through getting fully evaluated for restarting the biogen aducanumab study where i will restart my aducanumab infusions
the aducanumab is to be voted on next month by the fda for the treatment of mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease and mild alzheimers disease

i have been able to communicate with folks via this blog and social media 
answering their questions they may have
eg
recently a couple from the east coast reached out to me about the husbands memory 
after getting their information i recommended they be sure he had a full memory loss workup
it seems his diagnosis of alzheimers disease was probably wrong

the correct diagnosis of another dementia was tentatively made
the treatment for this dementia is different from alzheimers
the course of the disease is different than alzheimers
which clinical trials he enters are different also

last week a reporter from a well known newspaper reached out to me for an interview on alzheimers and my involvement in the biogen aducanumab study 
that interview will take place later today 
i will post the article when it is written
now sometimes you can interviewed for an hour or two but only get a paragraph in the article 
ill take whatever i get as long as some word gets out to others about alzheimers and clinical research 
that will be where the answer to treating this awful disease will be
in clinical research studies


then recently i was contacted by the alzheimers los angeles to take part in their alzheimers conference
i have done these before in the los angeles area
however
this one will be done on zoom
here is the link to the conference
it is now closed to registrants but will be available online sometime later after today
ill post the link when its available

i will be on the panel with another couple one of which has early alzheimers disease
the moderator will ask us questions then later the audience will be allowed to ask us questions
our session will last about 40 minutes

in the live conferences after my session i usually would go into the lobby so folks can ask me questions they couldnt ask earlier
this is the part i enjoy

just prior to my panel a elderly lawyer does a presentation
she is an excellent presenter

just after my panel a neurologist from cedars sinai will do a presentation on mild cognitive impairment and mild alzheimers disease

cedars sinai hospital is one of the sponsors of the event

hopefully later this year these conferences will go live
ive done enough zoom this year to last a lifetime thanks to ms bs kindergarten zoom class

the couple i mentioned above did a zoom call with me to discuss the husbands situation

i am happy that now 10 years after my diagnosis that i am able to still function at this high level
i sure hope it lasts longer
i certainly hope the aducanumab infusions help
if 
they dont 
im ok with that
since ive done my part to advance our knowledge in finding a treatment or cure for alzheimers disease

the organicgreen doctor 

organicgreendoctor: garden news-beans then kale basil pesto

organicgreendoctor: garden news-beans then kale basil pesto: GARDEN NEWS-BEANS THEN KALE BASIL PESTO this is mr hudson and ms b about to water their garden  they have growing in their garden  onions st...

garden news-beans then kale basil pesto

GARDEN NEWS-BEANS THEN KALE BASIL PESTO

this is mr hudson and ms b about to water their garden 
they have growing in their garden 
onions
strawberries
sunflowers
yellow pear tomatoes which are pear shaped small tomatoes
sungold tomatoes which are small yellow sweet tomatoes that i call tomato candy
french fillet green bean vines
christmas lima bean vines
pumpkins thats planted themselves when their small halloween pumpkin was left to rot in their garden

in the community garden over one of our 3 ft x 30 ft beds i erected a cattle panel on some wooden stakes to be used as a lattice for plants to grow up on 
myself and another volunteer planted one side with kentucky wonder beans and another bean that i dont have the name of 
these beans will eventually be donated to the food kitchens womens shelters etc

each week i read the jbg organic blog and newsletter from this organic farm
i like their recipes and stories and garden photos

this week this recipe was shown for kale parsley pesto
instead of parsley we used basil 
we love pesto on our pasta
last year we occasionally made fresh pesto from our basil
this year i decided i would make all our pesto and freeze it for future use


in my garden plot i have these 5 kale plants
two curly leaf kale
two baby curly kale
one dinosaur or tuscan kale

this picture was taken after i harvested about 12 cups or more of fresh kale for our kale basil pesto


i did the same for our basil
this picture was after i harvested an almost equal amount of basil from my 4 plants


using their recipe listed here and above i added also 1 tbsp of sugar and a half tsp of pepper flakes and a sprinkling of crushed black pepper and mixed nuts we had available and 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese
the lemons came from our community garden and from our condo lemon tree
the garlic was from the garlic i processed last week from my garden and have frozen in my freezer

this mixture was then processed in our food mixer ie the  ninja one
the one with the blades that will chop off your fingers if you arent careful

after processing it 
some i processed as rough chopped pesto
some i processed as fine chopped pesto

we store the pesto in the freezer in 1 cup ziplock bags
we made 15 cups of pesto this week

we then added it to our bowtie pasta along with a fresh from my garden salad 
the salad had malabar spinach kales several different lettuces amaranth purslane walking stick kale leaves onions radishes from the garden
delicious

we gave some of the pesto to mr ns parents
they made pasta
after mr n ate the kale basil from our garden pesto pasta he was covered from head to toe with a nice organic pesto 

made it all worthwhile growing all that stuff

so when i made the pesto i mainly used this jbg recipe but added a few things from other recipes

yum is what i have to say about this pesto

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #87-the numbers arent any better

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #87-the numbers arent any better: MY STORY REVISITED #87-THE NUMBERS ARENT ANY BETTER the numbers today 8 years later are not any better  they are even worse the pandemic has...

my story revisited #87-the numbers arent any better

MY STORY REVISITED #87-THE NUMBERS ARENT ANY BETTER

the numbers today 8 years later are not any better 
they are even worse

the pandemic has increased the numbers of deaths in people with alzheimers disease
so many of the folks who died from covid 19 were in long term facilities
many of those who died had alzheimers disease 

some think alzheimers may be number 3 on the list of leading causes of death in the us
covid 19 probably has surpassed alzheimers though this last year

thats  a sad way to lower the incidence some of alzheimers cases

it will be interesting to see or should i say sad to see what the final statistics will be when this pandemic is over for alzheimers disease deaths

its almost euthanasia via infections

at www.alz.org/facts are these updated statistics
there are over 6 million folks now with alzheimers in the us
alzheimers deaths increased by 16% during the pandemic
in 2021 alzheimers will cost the us 355 billion dollars
by 2050 that cost will be at about 1.1 trillion dollars

on a happier note
in the biogen aducanumab study reassessment i have had my memory testing and neurological evaluation and blood work and screening mri done
the screening mri was negative
the memory testing was normal based on my assessment
the labs i dont get the results

after review i have now been approved for an amyloid pet scan then later a tau protein pet scan next month
if these meet their criteria for the study i would get approved for the infusions to start soon afterwards

the fda will vote next month on whether to authorize its use 
if it does it will be available eventually to the general public
if
we can afford it as a nation
and
if
we have enough infusions sites to do the infusions

will it make those statistics better
no
it wont
but
it may slow down the disease some
as i have written before in the alzheimers world we will accept slowing down 

remember this disease wins in the end
__________
03-22-2013
NEW NUMBERS

well here is some new numbers on that nemesis
alzheimers disease
its not better its worse

1 in 4 of the females who read this or dont read this will get
alzheimers disease if they live long enough

1 in 8 of the males who read this or dont read this will get
alzheimers disease if they live long enough

1 in 3 seniors die from alzheimers or similar dementias

deaths from alzheimers disease increased 68% from 2000
to 2010
while deaths from other major causes of disease including
the number one heart disease decreased

5,000,000 americans have alzheimers disease today
they will all die from the disease
its 100% fatal

in 2012 the direct costs of caring for alzheimers or similar dementias
will cost us $203 million of which $142 million is the cost to
medicare and medicaid

by 2050 those numbers are expected to increase by 500 percent

it may be the disease that breaks our health care system

its the 6th leading cause of death in the united states and
of the top 10 leading causes of death its the only one which
is not treatable or preventable

there are no alzheimers disease survivors
you either die from it or die with it

450,000 people will die from alzheimers disease this year

grim statistics arent they

how many of you have a loved one or family member or
friend who has or has had alzheimers disease

then if the answer is yes which is the majority answer then you
know personally the devastation emotionally physically and socially
this disease can cause

support your local alzheimers chapters and donate to the (www.alz.org)
alzheimers association and participate in its walk to end alzheimers in
your area
and
encourage your congressmen to increase funding for research
on this disease that really affects us all
__________
hopefully we can do better in the future with these numbers

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: there is nothing like a good nap

organicgreendoctor: there is nothing like a good nap: THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A GOOD NAP since i started aricept (donepezil) ten years ago i have taken a daily afternoon nap the aricept (donepezil...

there is nothing like a good nap

THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A GOOD NAP
since i started aricept (donepezil) ten years ago i have taken a daily afternoon nap

the aricept (donepezil) does two things
it causes vivid dreams that interfere with my sleep and according to my wife she it interferes with her sleep since i sometimes am restless during the good parts of my dreams

it also seems to allow me to only sleep about 5 hours a night sometimes on a good night 6 hours

so after my noontime meal i usually will take a 1-2 hour nap
if i nap  about an hour i seem to be more alert and ready for the rest of the day 
however
if i over nap and if i dream when i nap when i wake up im really sluggish and dont want to do anything the rest of the day 
you know like when you wake up in the morning

i recently found this short video that explains what happens in your brain and your sleep when you take a nap

there is a sweet spot that you can reach where it is beneficial for some of you to nap each day

over my career i worked with two physicians who took a daily nap after lunch
both napped around 30 minutes
one had an easy chair in his office
the other would go home for lunch then lay down for a nap at home then return for his afternoon patients

now after retiring i realize how refreshing a good nap can be

without my nap i wouldnt have as productive a day as i do

ive tried off aricept and on aricept

off aricept my sleep patterns get better and my dreams tone themselves down
i also notice if i stay off it too long it does seem to affect my memory some

on aricept though my alzheimers disease symptoms are slowed down some
a risk im not willing to take to be off the aricept
being on aricept may be one of the reasons im am doing as well as i am

the other thing is that the disease alzheimers as it progresses will start to interfere with ones sleep also

is it the meds or is it the disease that affects my sleep
for now
for me
its the meds ie aricept

when i was having my stomach issues last year when i was sick i took one medication that seemed to improve my sleep and tone down my dreams a lot
i couldnt tolerate the other side effects though of the medication

so
ill stay on aricept
strive for that sweet spot of a  nap 
for me its around 1-1 1/2 hours

i do feel better and  more rested since i am able to nap
im not sure i would do as well without them
so
ill continue as i am

so watch this short video
maybe you will want to nap each day also



so will a nap help
50% of you will be helped
50% of you will not be helped 

there is only one way to find out

for me
it definitely helps
i think like in the video an hour is my sweet spot

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-masks rules

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-masks rules: COVID 19-MASKS RULES i dont like the new cdc rules for masks wearing why its not a 100% protection from getting a covid 19 infection just as...

covid 19-masks rules

COVID 19-MASKS RULES

i dont like the new cdc rules for masks wearing
why
its not a 100% protection from getting a covid 19 infection

just ask the new york yankees and bill maher the comedian
they got positive covid 19 testing despite being fully vaccinated

when you listen to the experts talking about masking and covid 19 infections
they will not say you will not get infected or infect others if you follow their guidelines

if you are vaccinated and get a covid infection you probably will not get sick
note
the word probably 
it doesnt say 100%

if you are vaccinated and get a covid 19 infection that causes you to be asymptomatic it will probably not be transmitted to someone else
note
the word probably again
its not 100%

the risk is there granted its a tiny small one

if you are in the immunosuppressed world or high risk world 
well
you want as close as you can to get to 100%

in our world thats mr hudson who is immunosuppressed from his anti rejection medication
he doesnt qualify for covid 19 vaccination yet

anyone without a vaccination can give covid 19 to him
potentially anyone who is vaccinated can give it to him 

remember they wont say 100% protection from transmitting the virus even if you have a vaccination 

thats why i have the togd rule
i walk out the door i wear my mask
i walk inside our condo i take my mask off
period

mr hudson is as close to 100% protected as he can be from me giving him covid 19

in your world that would be any unvaccinated person
especially a high risk person like someone on chemotherapy someone older someone with high risk conditions like obesity asthma heart disease cancer kidney disease any condition that suppresses the immune system

dont be the vector that gives them the infection

yesterday in the us around 750 people died with covid 19 
probably none of them were vaccinated
in california around 54 people died from covid 19
probably none of them were vaccinated
in texas around 45 people died from covid 19
probably none of them were vaccinated
in santa barbara county we have not had a death in over 2 weeks

probably all of them who died
caught the virus from
a loved one or contact
probably a younger contact
most likely the vector that gave them the infection was unmasked
its possible but a low chance that someone who was vaccinated gave them the infection

so
i follow the togd rule
its as close to 100% effective in preventing the spread of covid 19

yesterday i went to traders joes
all the workers were masked
all the shoppers were masked
most if not all the workers probably are vaccinated
there is that probably word again
at least 50%+- of the shoppers were unvaccinated

so 
do i ever take my mask off outside
yes i do
eg
i worked in the garden for 4 hours by myself on saturday
i slipped my mask into my pocket while i worked
later
when someone entered the garden 
i slipped my mask back on 

why 
i want to be as close to 100% as i can be
i dont want to be that vector person

listen closely to the pediatric infectious disease folks who are treating pediatric patients with this disease
they do have a worried look about them
the new variant especially the new india one is highly contagious more than the british and the others
the infections are hitting the younger populations harder since they are not vaccinated

as they get vaccinated those numbers will drop in that population

12-15 year olds are getting theirs now
5-12 year olds will get theirs this fall 
then
thank goodness
the 6 month to 5 year olds will be next
thats when mr hudson will be protected

that will be a life changing event for him 

so
in the mean time
i want to be 100%
i dont mind wearing a mask at all 
so
i will follow the togd rule
put my mask on as i go out the door of our condo
take it off when i come inside the door of our condo

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-we are anxiously waiting for june 7th

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-we are anxiously waiting for june 7th: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WE ARE ANXIOUSLY WAITING FOR JUNE 7TH what is so special about june 7th its a big deal in the alzheimers world as its the da...

alzheimers news-we are anxiously waiting for june 7th

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WE ARE ANXIOUSLY WAITING FOR JUNE 7TH

what is so special about june 7th
its a big deal in the alzheimers world
as
its the day that biogens aducanumab gets voted on for fda approval

if its denied 
a lot of hope get lost for awhile
for some of us 
were done 
there will not be another option probably for us

aducanumab is an antibody against amyloid that was produced after it was isolated from older folks who seemed to not get alzheimers

the aducanumab is made in the lab and is given as monthly infusions
its discovered that the dose of aducanumab is 10 mgm

that dose was discovered to be the best one to work near the end of a recent alzheimers study

the fda advisory committee voted not to recommend approval of aducanumab in alzheimers disease
the full fda panel has the final say so on june 7th

the alzheimers association however is a big supporter of having it approved for use in alzheimers

almost 8 years ago i found research articles about aducanumab
i after several months of being evaluated for possible acceptance into the biogen aducanumab study 
was finally accepted to receive monthly infusions for about 25 months
i as it turned out got 18 months of placebo 
that sucked
but
i did get 7 months of the real drug
which means i got a tapering dose that increased each month until i got the full 10 mg dose
i dont know how many doses i got of the 10 mg dose

they taper it up since this drug causes microbleeds that can show up on mris called arias
my mris dont show this has happened
this is the major side effect of taking the drug
these microbleeds tend to resolve
no one has been injured from taking the drug

even if i had a small stroke from taking the drug im ok with that happening
i would be ok if that happened after taking something that might slow things down 

i am now being evaluated for restarting my aducanumab infusions
i have to do a amyloid pet scan called amyvid and a tau pet scan first
then
i hope to get approved for getting 24 months of infusions of aducanumab
so
if its not approved by the fda then i will still get at around 24 infusions
if its approved by the fda then ill just keep taking it after the 24 months research study is done

even if i just get 24 months of the infusions  it  might have slow things down for awhile 
awhile i will take any time

here is a bloomberg article i read this morning on the aducanumab fda approval decision on june 7th
there is a story in the article of an alzheimers patient more advanced than me that feels the aducanumab has slowed down the disease

my vote if i was on the fda panel would be
to vote its approval
22% improvement is worth it to those of us with this diagnosis
we will take 22% every time

fingers crossed

the ogainicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: garden news-onion harvest time

organicgreendoctor: garden news-onion harvest time: GARDEN NEWS-ONION HARVEST TIME  i when i harvested my onions when we lived in texas i would hang them in pantyhose in our garage  when an on...

garden news-onion harvest time

GARDEN NEWS-ONION HARVEST TIME 
i
when i harvested my onions when we lived in texas i would hang them in pantyhose in our garage 
when an onion was ready to be eaten we just clipped the onion off the chime

here in santa barbara this doesnt work as well
since
during harvest time in may and june we have may grey and june gloom
ie
the fog comes in off the ocean and stays in place until after lunch
sometimes it stays all day
so
in texas when i harvested these onions i would leave them laying on the ground for two weeks to dry out so the outer layers would dry up
then
i would cut off the stalks
drop the onion in a pantyhose
then
tie a knot in the pantyhose 
then
drop in another one
etc
thus
the onion chimes

here its just too moist
ive tried onion chimes for the last two years and it doestn work well 
many of the onions rotted
so
below is what i do now


i prepped the soil by adding a ton of compost plus an organic fertilizer
then i forked this all into the top layers of the soil
i never spade or till my soil
then i add a soaking of fish emulsion + molasses+ seaweed solution
then i let this sit for several weeks until
our onions arrive from dixondale farms in texas 
they are sweet 1015 and granex and red onions
they are sweet and usually dont burn your eyes when you cut them
we also get our leeks from them
our garlic i get locally from an organic garden place
then
ms b comes out to the garden with me as described in this blog from november
i poke holes in the ground six inches apart to plant the onions
ms b drops in an onion in each hole
then
she covers the hole up
we watered the new onions with the solution above
then
every two weeks i added the solution above to feed the onions
the area is kept on a dripper
when the bulbs appear i stop applying fertilizer

when the onions are ready to harvest the tops will just fall over
then you can pull them up and lay them on the ground to dry out
except 
at least for this year it is just too wet
so
plan x is done


i harvested all the onions when most were ready to be pulled
we started with 80 onions
we have over the last 5 months harvested and eaten a lot of them
in salads soups stews etc or gave them to family and friends
we probably had about 30 left to harvest 
about half of them were this giant softball sized onions
they easily fit in my hand and are the size of half my shoe
i wear a size 12 shoe


while in our garden i usually wash and trim up the onions
the thrown away parts are added to our compost pile
also 
i harvested about 10 leeks that day
this is the first time i have planted leeks
i use them in soups stews and beans
also
i harvested my garlic which didnt do as well this year
they developed brown rust a fungal infection that inhibits the growth of the garlic
it doesnt prevent you from using them though
i usually dry the garlic out but since its so wet i processed them as below


here is ms b proudly holding this softball sized sweet texas onion she planted almost 5 months ago
now
if i could just get her to take a bite out of the onion
granddaddy is all she said

i will add that these onions are so sweet that you could just take a bite out of it

after taking the onions and the leeks and the garlic home
i cleaned each of them up
dropped them in a blender
chopping them up like you would if you used your kitchen knife

our onion yield was 15 quarts of chopped onions
our leek yield was 3 quarts of leeks
we have about that much leek still left to harvest
our garlic yield was 3 quarts of garlic

so 
when we need onions or leeks or garlic for soups etc we just break off what we need and drop it in the pot 

so thats how we process our alliums ie onion leek garlic crops

maybe next year we can get mr hudson to help ms b plant them
mr n proably wont be old enough
he can just play with the worms while we plant

the organicgreen doctor