alzheimers news-here we go again

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-HERE WE GO AGAIN

this is me standing outside the ucla building that houses the pet scanner where i had my amyvid pet scan for amyloid yesterday
this is the scan that will show how much amyloid i have left up in my brain
some of it was removed thats the amyloid not the brain when i did those 7 months of infusions of aduhelm (aducanumab) before the biogen aducanumab study was halted
how much was removed and has remained gone will show up on this scan
that will be my new starting point when i restart my infusions of aduhelm (aducanumab)

amyloid accumulates in the brain over years and is the first part of the alzheimers disease process followed then by tau protein accumulation then followed by inflammation

aduhelm (aducanumab) attacks just the amyloid and over time removes most of that that can be seen on an amyvid or amyloid pet scan

so yesterday i got my new baseline amyvid pet scan

heres how its done


they start an iv on you



then they inject you with this radioactive material that binds to the amyloid in the brain
you have to wait about 30-50 minutes after the injection before the scan is done


they then put you in this pet scanner 
its much quieter than a mri and is less confining
the scan takes about 25 minutes
then you are done 


if the scan is negative it will look like the one on the left
however
if its is positive it will look like the one on the right

my guess if some of my amyloid was removed and not replaced since my last infusion that my amyvid pet scan will look halfway between the two 
ie
the scan may show some clearing of some of the amyloid

alas i will never see the scan or be given the results

im ok with that
my goal is to get my infusions of aduhelm (aducanumab)

so
in 3 weeks i go back to get a tau protein pet scan in that same pet scanner except i will be injected with a radioactive material that this time binds to tau tangles in the brain
this tells the researchers how bad the alzheimers is 
it appears that aduhelm (aducanumab) may also remove some of the tau tangles

alas again i will not see those results

then 
finally 
the moment we have been waiting for for over 2 years
in 1 week
i go back to ucla
i restart my monthly infusions of adhelm (aducanumab) for at least 24 weeks as part of a continuation of the biogens aducanumab study i was in  

i have followed the research and understand the controversy with this drug and i understand its limitations
but
like the others in the alzheimers world it gives us some hope

i must say we be stoked to get started

the organicgreen doctor