my story revisited #101-now you know

MY STORY REVISITED #101-NOW YOU KNOW

this photo below appeared in parade magazine in an ad by the alzheimers association in 2013
this photo has stuck in my memory 
i sometimes think about it

in the photo below a women probably in her 40s is looking in a mirror at herself when she is older 
im presuming that she is in her 60s

it says
if you knew now what you will know then...
or
for alzheimers patients it may be what you wont know if you have the disease

when my younger brother was diagnosed he was in mild to moderate stages of alzheimers
about five years after he was diagnosed i got my diagnosis of mci due to alzheimers
at that time he was more advanced

i felt like when i looked at him i was looking in a mirror at myself into the future
thats what that picture below makes me think of

so when i was 40 i had no idea what i would be looking at in the mirror 20 years later
well 
now i know

if you are 40 or 50 and you have a family history of alzheimers or have the apoe 4 gene or have diabetes or high cholesterol or hypertension that is not well controlled or if you are obese
then when you look in that mirror like that lady above is 
then you may be looking at someone with early memory loss ie early dementia

now for the what you know now part
we know in 2021 those are some of the risk factors not all but some for developing alzheimers in later life
we know now that controlling all these diseases can slow down the development of alzheimers as you get older 
or
maybe
even stop you from getting it
by 
40%

thats much better than any drug thats on the market that is coming in the foreseeable future
thats right
you live right and you can lower the chances better than any expensive new drug for alzheimers
including the aduhelm infusions i take monthly at ucla

its right there doing these healthy things for anyone to do at no extra cost
in fact it will save you money and misery over the next 20-30 years

so
control your blood pressure the goal is 120/80
right now my blood pressure is normal off meds
i check it regularly and if it were to go back up ill restart meds

control your cholesterol your goal is a ldl less than 100
i take a statin to keep my ldl less than 100 fyi its 85

control your diabetes so you hgbaic is normal
my hgbaic is normal
your bmi should be normal  google bmi calculator to find your bmi
mine is 20

exercise regularly
i walk and garden and grandparent for my exercise 

eat the mind diet
dont smoke
dont drink too much
get adequate sleep 
be happy 
control anxiety and depression

keep your brain busy 
i read several news feeds several day 
i read books every day 
i interact online
i write this blog 5 days a week
i socialize when i volunteer

you need to do all these things so when you look in your mirror years from now then you will see someone who is cognitive normal when you get older
if you dont
well
you may not like what you see
__________
06-28-2013
IF YOU ONLY KNEW

this is an ad that appeared in parade magazine on a recent sunday in june

take a minute to read the line between the two images

then think about what you know now
to help you then
__________
so
i have told you what you need to know now
so
you will know something then

now you know

the organicgreen doctor