my story revisited #89-scans and more scans

MY STORY REVISITED #89-SCANS AND MORE SCANS

when i wrote this blog in 2013 i was three years into the adni 2 or alzheimers disease neuroimaging initiative study 2
in this 5 year study they did serial memory testing and mris and spinal taps and pet scans for glucose metabolism and amyloid pet scans for amyloid accumulation
by following several thousands of folks with varying stages of memory loss they could document the changes that occurred over that time period

one of the tests done was an mri of the brain
like in those with memory loss who are undergoing an evaluation the mri looks for changes in the brain that might explain memory loss like brain shrinkage strokes masses blood vessel abnormalities tumors increased brain fluid aneurysm etc
one thing the researchers are looking for is wmh or white matter hyperintensities
little white spots on the mri 
these can occur in folks with high blood pressure and diabetes and high cholesterol and obesity
if these numbers are increased they are associated with an increased risk for developing dementia or stroke or alzheimers

i have lost count of how many mris of the brain that i have had
if i have them and i happened to get the report like i did with my last one last month i look for their description of these wmh or white matter hyperintensities
over the last 10 years it appears mine has not changed which is a good thing for me

that may be because i have got good control of my blood pressure and cholesterol and my weight

in the adni 2 study i had 2 glucose metabolism pet scans and they were both normal
thats also good since as the disease progresses these scans become abnormal

i also had 2 amyvid pet scans in the adni 2 study but i never got the results
i had 2 amyvid pet scans in the biogen aducanumab study 
i did get the result of the first scan but not the second one
the first was abnormal

i am scheduled for an amyvid pet scan next week for the biogen aducanumab study 
oh how i would like to know the results of that one
since 
i received at least 7 monthly infusions of aducanumab before the study was done
the aducanumab removes amyloid from the brain

i will have at least 1-2 more of the amyvid pet scans in this study

when i wrote this blog 8 years ago i was about to undergo my second spinal tap 
if i am remembering things correctly this sample was also sent to a private lab to measure the amyloid and tau in my spinal fluid
this was positive for amyloid and tau
that is compatible with alzheimers disease

this spinal fluid results and my amyvid pet scan results tells me i have alzheimers disease

here is my blog on my scans from 2013
__________
04-28-2013

SCANS

friday i went to dallas and had 

a mri scan of the brain as part of the adni study that im in 

typical mri scan 

louder than hell 

be still for over an hour

stuck up in that cylinder 

keep your eyes open for the next 7 minutes

you ever tried that before without blinking

sorry i blinked couldnt help it

why dont you try it and see if you can do it

not

i looked at my old mri scan report

and oops there were some white matter hyperintensities (wmh)

areas on my scan

i had forgot about those

since the scan more has been written about these

they are found commonly in elderly patients 

but im not elderly

if you have an increased number of these they can be associated with 

an increased risk for developing dementia alzheimers and stroke 

and 

are found in patients with high blood pressure obesity diabetics high cholesterol

this is why its important to keep these things under good tight control 

over a life time

i only have one or two which are not significant

hopefully all im doing to control things with my health 

living right eating right exercising controlling my cholesterol and blood pressure

and maintaining a normal weight will keep those wmh where they are now

then i had a glucose metabolism pet scan of the brain 

i got an iv infusion of labelled glucose 

when i got home that night my wife she said you sure taste sweet 

when she kissed me

in alzheimers patients since they cant use the glucose in the damaged 

brain cells there is no uptake of the labelled glucose

and it will show up as blank areas on the scan 

my last glucose metabolism pet scan of brain was normal

thursday 

a spinal tap for beta amyloid and tau protein

an amyvid pet scan of the brain for beta amyloid

_________

next monday june 7th the fda will vote on approval or not of the biogen aducanumab infusion to slow down alzheimers disease in early alzheimers patients

hopefully the new york times article where i was interviewed about the aducanumab will be published before the fda votes
when it is published i will post a link to the article
hopefully they included the pictures of my garden in the article

the organicgreen doctor