my story revisited #103-yes i think we are almost there

MY STORY REVISITED #103-YES I THINK WE ARE ALMOST THERE

about 8 years ago i asked that question 
are we there yet

my answer then was
no we are not there yet

however my answer today is
yes i think we are almost there

the treatment study mentioned below using the what i called the alzheimers vaccine was actually the monoclonal antibody that i am receiving now in the biogen aducanumab study at ucla

in fact yesterday i got my 4th dose of aduhelm (aducanumab) in the study restarted a few months ago
i have received 18 placebo infusions and 7 real infusions in the previous study that the pandemic stopped

i will get about 18 more monthly infusions in this restarted study then i will continue them after that if the study is extended or i will continue them in the private world
so
if this aduhelm works then we are there almost
__________
07-12-2013
ARE WE THERE YET

as many of you know i am in an alzheimers research study
at the university of texas southwestern alzheimers research
center
in this study i receive a lot of testing
some not available yet to the general public
some that are available but not readily available to the
general public
i dont get to see the results of the tests but when i take
the neuropsychological test i know how im doing when i
take the test

but
there is no treatment part to the study
just monitoring
this all helps progress the knowledge base of what happens
in alzheimers disease as it progresses
but
nothing is offered or really available to slow it down except
for managing my health and taking aricept (donepezil) to slow
down any symptoms

but
im at the point where i know that i have a window of time
maybe 5 years maybe 10 years or
maybe im too late already

as this disease starts years before any symptoms start
so that the time to attack this disease eg in me would have been
20 years ago when i first moved to texas in 1989

so im monitoring new developments and i keep a close eye
on new possible treatments

here are a few


the alzheimers vaccine
they give you a vaccine that ends up inducing antibodies that
attack the beta amyloid in the brain by binding it up and preventing
it from accumulating or binds it and removes it from the brain

it seems the time to do this is years before symptoms start

a new study will be doing that
it appears that i may qualify for this study later this year
if so i will get a beta amyloid pet scan of the brain called amyvid
and if its positive i will either get the vaccine for 3 years or get
a placebo
i plan on doing this study if nothing else shows up

if im in the treatment group i will get the vaccine for 3 years
if it helps ive benefited from the treatment
ill take what i can get
if im in the placebo then im not worse than i am now
since im on nothing already

keeping my fingers crossed on this one


several anitcancer drugs some new ones and at least one old generic
anticancer drug are starting or are in studies now
the bexarotene study is starting soon
its an old one that is available now since its fda approved already
there are reports that some people are already taking it by getting
a prescription from their doctors

my thoughts on this
is whattheheck
there is nothing to lose by taking it
the end result of doing nothing is not a good one

my problem with the bexarotene study is that im not far advanced
enough to qualify for the studies

another new drug is an enzyme that was discovered in a group of
people in iceland that do not get alzheimers disease
this enzyme inhibits the production of beta amyloid
thought to be the culprit in alzheimers disease

i hope to qualify for this study when it gets started
 
there is a study thats starting where a drug is given that prevents
the destruction of tau protein that occurs in alzheimers disease
ive applied for this study and again im not far enough
advanced to qualify

this all seems cruel somehow
they are treating people in some of these studies who may not
benefit as much even though they are early in the disease
since the treatment may turn out to work better if you start it
before the symptoms occur

so are we there yet
no
but we are getting closer to treatments that will work
maybe not for my generation but for the generations behind me
my kids my future grandkids my nieces and nephews
__________
those anticancer drugs didnt show in these studies to work very well

we have made progress though in new drugs that are being studied now

we i think in the near future will be giving people who have alzheimers with no symptoms known as prealzheimers or prodromal alzheimers infusions or injections of an antiamyloid drug like my aduhelm  and an antitau drug plus a drug that finds neuroinflammation in the brain 

in fact if i could take the antitau drug and the neuroinflammation drug that are in clinical trials right now
i would do it in a minute for sure

those drugs are here now being evaluated or about to be evaluated soon
such
that 
in 10 years that trifecta treatment may be out of the research world and into the private practice world

so
answering my question again 
my answer to the question
are we there yet
i can say 
yes
well almost yes

the organicgreen doctor