organicgreendoctor: garden news-save your food scraps for compost

organicgreendoctor: garden news-save your food scraps for compost: GARDEN NEWS-SAVE YOUR FOOD SCRAPS FOR COMPOST this is a picture of our compost to be kitchen scraps bin we actually have 3 of these we use o...

garden news-save your food scraps for compost

GARDEN NEWS-SAVE YOUR FOOD SCRAPS FOR COMPOST

this is a picture of our compost to be kitchen scraps bin
we actually have 3 of these
we use one while the other two are resting or being cleaned

in 2001 when we moved to the country n near austin the house had no garbage disposal
there was a place for one
i offered to put one in
but
we decided we would just take our kitchen scraps and take them down to the chickens
so every day or so i would dump them in a food trough like area built from stacked stones
the chickens would go after it like sharks go after fish bait

they preferred these kitchen scraps over the feed pellets and crumbles that were made available to them

for providing these to them they would go out to the compost pile and dig around and poop all over the leaves we left there in huge piles
they eventually shredded the leaves to minute particles
what was left was a very rich compost we put on our garden

so from our plates to the compost scrap bucket to the chickens to the compost piles to our garden to grow our vegetables which ended up back in our kitchen as veggies for our meals
this cycle went around and around for the 17 years we lived there

when we moved to santa barbara into our condo
there was no garbage disposal
do you want one i asked my boss my wife she
no she said
so 
she found these 3 compost buckets at a thrift shop
we have been using them for 4 years now

in my bin in that picture above are egg shells banana peels avocado pits and peels orange peels apple cores coffee grounds and filters tea bags veggie pieces paper towels to name a few things

i take these to my garden where i have 7 five gallon buckets buried in the ground in my garden so the top is even with the ground level
its covered with a 1 ft square concrete block to keep varmints out

these worm compost buckets are spaced out over my garden

there are probably about 30 3/8 inch holes drilled in the bottom and sides of the bucket
the kitchen compost bucket contents are dumped into these 5 gallon buckets
eventually worms and pill bugs and other compost varmints crawl through those 3/8 inch holes
they eat up all that kitchen garbage
if you dig into this stuff you will get handfuls of worms

after a few months it fills up and the worms and their buddies exit via the holes back into the garden
i then have about 5 gallons of pure worm compost that i put on my garden
so i produce 35 gallons of worm compost every few months

so my kitchen scraps fertilize my garden so i can grow more veggies to eat so i can have more kitchen scraps to make more worm compost etc

thats my compost system i use for my garden

this week i saw this article about the state of california now requiring everyone to save their scraps instead of putting them in the trash collection bins
yes its ok to use the garbage disposal
but they want you to dump everything in a designated compost collection bin which the garbage folks will pick up

this stuff will be composted to be used as compost
some sites will generate biogas to be sold or used eg one city produces all the gas thats needed to run some of the vehicles for the city 

also in the law is a requirement that grocery stores donate their outdated stuff to food pantries or food banks etc
i remember once when we first got our chickens i asked the produce manager at the grocery store if i could get some of those left over veggies for my chickens
no he said
we arent allowed to
we have to throw it all in the trash bins

what a waste since when i looked in his bin there was stuff i had looked at on the shelf just minutes before and decided not to buy it
now it was going to the trash

now here that stuff will go to those in need or go to the compost trash bin to be converted to biogas or to compost

so
maybe we all need to rethink what we do with our kitchen scraps
here and in vermont you can just dump it in the green compost bin

the rest of you dont need a state law to make you do this

just recycle your kitchen scraps
and
make your own compost

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #117 -last day thanks revisited

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #117 -last day thanks revisited: MY STORY REVISITED #117 -LAST DAY THANKS REVISITED yesterday we made the always beautiful drive from santa barbara to ucla for a day of test...

my story revisited #117 -last day thanks revisited

MY STORY REVISITED #117 -LAST DAY THANKS REVISITED

yesterday we made the always beautiful drive from santa barbara to ucla for a day of testing
sadly its all memory testing
it was like taking a 4 hour final exam or national board exam
mine was complicated some by my lack of sleep the night before since i woke up at 2am
by 3pm when i finished i was toast
but
i think i did ok on all the memory testing
in the testing i did at least one mmse exam and 1 moca exam and did several other memory testings required by the clinical trial ie biogens aduhelm study called embark
for those who know how to score the mmse and the moca i got one point off on both
so my scores were in the normal range
my moca would be 29
ive given the moca test to several people and have taken it numerous times so i score it as i go along

my original moca when i wrote the blog below 11 years ago was either 25 or 26
which is in the mci or mild cognitive impairment range
later over the next years my moca scores dropped even lower then gradually rose over time

once they laid out all by moca scores over several years for me to see how it dropped and then rose back up
i have remained in the normal range since around 2015

if you had asked me when i was diagnosed and wrote this blog below 11 years ago i would have said my scores would be well down below 20

they arent
im glad
im hoping they remain up

this blog i wrote below is one of my most read blogs
it was one my patients were routed to after i abruptly had to stop working because of my diagnosis
it also is the one with the most comments on it
also at that time i wasnt on facebook or twitter and hadnt started giving any alzheimers presentations

occasionally i will see a spike in readership of the old blog
like last week where a lot of folks read this old blog
this spike usually occurs after a do a presentation or after i do an interview like the ny times one and the local newspaper one and the being patient interview this year

i must say today is the first time i think that i havent cried when i read this old blog and wrote about it
i sure cried when i wrote it originally

for those who dont know my story
my mother and brother died with alzheimers 
i volunteered to be in a normal control group for the alzheimers research study called adni2
it was discovered when doing my memory testing that i had memory loss greater than it should be for my age and my degree of education
i saw a neurologist who diagnosed me with mild cognitive impairment thats now known to be due to alzheimers disease
i was placed on the alzheimers drug aricept or donepezil to slow down symptoms
i never returned to practice after that office visit
__________
12-22-2010

LAST DAY-THANKS 
this my last day to work as a physician
i always considered myself lucky to have been able to
do in life what i wanted to do since i was a middle schooler

in high school i was able to work in a local hospital in the
summer on weekends and during holidays
our family was poor so not only did i get financial benefit from
working but i also was exposed to a lot in the hospital setting
it made me know that i wanted to be a family physician

during college i worked as a emergency room technician
on weekends, weeknights, and holidays
this also gave me financial support but also exposed me to
different doctors and different emergency situations

i was accepted to medical school but never wavered on what
kind of doctor i wanted to be
a family physician

i was accepted to a family practice residency
after completing my residency i owed the federal government
three years to work at an approved federal underserved area

i was able to create with some help a site in  the small
town near where i grew up      
i  worked there for three years
although traumatic at times it was a learning experience that i
carried through out my career

after fulfilling my three year obligation and after sustaining a
large financial hit from my involvement with the local clinic
i was recruited to the area where i am working now
thanks to my medical school friend for helping me out in
my time of need

i have worked for 25 years as a family physician
i always wanted to be one

now it is time i have to quit not because i want to but
because a genetic health problem has risen its nasty head
and because of this will have to discontinue what i like to do

i do not ever dread going to work every day
i feel like i have now just gotten good at what i do

i realize that patients dont necessarily need all of the new
medications we have the new tests we can do or need
the newest treatments available

they do better if you just listen to them, pat them on the
shoulder, be kind to them and be their advocate when
they need it

i have honed my skills in taking care of kids over my career so
that many of the kids have felt comfortable seeing me and look
forward to seeing me to get a sticker or sucker hear my
duck voice or have me joke with them
that part i will miss a lot

thanks to all my patients in the past for allowing me to fulfill
my dream of being a family physician
i hope i have done you a good job

thanks to my wife she for putting up with me during
my quest for my career
i know she found hers

love yall
the organicgreen doctor

__________
i notice some subtle memory issues but they are just normal aging memory issues

here is hoping next years report will be the same

i do enjoy staying in contact with many of my patients over the last few years
yes some still seek me out for information on medical topics

thanks for the support over the last 11 years

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-the tsunami just landed

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-the tsunami just landed: COVID 19-THE TSUNAMI JUST LANDED last night my wife she and i were watching pbs news when the reporter said 73% of the new covid cases were ...

covid 19-the tsunami just landed

COVID 19-THE TSUNAMI JUST LANDED

last night my wife she and i were watching pbs news when the reporter said
73% of the new covid cases were now due to omicron 
i turned to her
she must mean uk not usa
so i watched the rest of the news thinking that the reporter misspoke
i thought thats not possible
is it

then i went to a news feed and went to other news sources
yep
there it was
73%

just less than 3 weeks ago it was 0.4% then 3% then 13% then now 73%
in new york its over 90% now
its not reported as being here in santa barbara but im sure its here
if not i expect it to show up soon here

yesterday i spoke to a nurse who is working with high risk patients in this area
she is concerned
her patients are vulnerable
almost all their staff is double vaxxed
it should be 100%
no exceptions
exceptions can lead to death of their patients
the staffing is down all over the medical system in this area
so is the morale
they are tired
and
it hasnt even hit us here yet
she is worried that they will not have enough staff to take care of patients

this is in a area that has not really been hit that hard as most places 
you can imagine what it must be like in places like ohio where the national guard is helping to provide medical care
or
new york where its the worse it has been so far

now we dont know how bad this surge this tsunami will be
we wont really know for about 3-4 weeks
all the hospitalizations and deaths at that time will be mostly due to omicron
how many will tell us how bad this new omicorn infection really is

if you are out in society at all you will be exposed to this most highly contagious virus that man is facing
if you are unvaxxed and are careless you will get infected

some of us made it to higher ground before this tsunami hit
we are double vaxxed or triple vaxxxed 
we wear our mask
we test ourselves when we need to 
we are avoiding risky encounters

many of you are going to get caught in this tsunami at sea level if
you are unvaxxed
you are not careful
you dont wear a mask
some of you dont even believe its bad
you will most likely this time catch it
it inevitable 

folks are also getting reinfected with omicron 
some will catch it and not know they have it and spread it to others

these are some of the high risk categories being in a long term facility obesity diabetes asthma and other lung diseases cancer patients any connective tissue disease being on immunosuppressant drugs heart disease kidney disease over 65 pregnancy to name a few

your only lifeboat is to get vaxxed now and to avoid getting exposed
good luck

please help out anyway you can those who work in the medical field
they are about to enter a war with this virus that will be the biggest battle so far
they need our compassion and our support

please protect those vulnerable folks from this tsunami

wear a mask
avoid gettogethers without doing these things
make sure all are vaxxed
make sure all are tested just prior to the gettogether
wear a mask inside
keep the location ventilated with open doors and windows
make it outside 
dont get together with anyone unvaxxed

consider like many are doing 
cancel it and do zoom or facetime or phone visitation

you will see why in about 3-4 weeks
hopefully the tsunami will recede soon after that 
and
hopefully it wont have engulfed too many folks

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-here comes the covid tsunami

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-here comes the covid tsunami: COVID 19-HERE COMES THE COVID TSUNAMi if i could redo this picture today i would add another covid virus going down that tunnel one would be...

covid 19-here comes the covid tsunami

COVID 19-HERE COMES THE COVID TSUNAMI

if i could redo this picture today i would add another covid virus going down that tunnel
one would be the delta variant which represents 98% of our cases
the other one would be the omicron or as i call it the oh my cron variant
its cases the omicron is doubling every couple of days

what you will see in the next few weeks is that the omicron will overtake and replace the delta variant as the most dominant variant of covid
it probably will totally replace the delta variant

right now what we are seeing as the covid infections are starting to overtake our medical systems again
is that sadly
the damaging effects of omicron is going to probably be worse

omicron
is more contagious right now 
its the most contagious virus that humans see 
even more contagious than measles the previous most contagious virus

in new york the last few days the covid cases are the highest that they have seen so far with the pandemic
remember how bad new york was back at the beginning of all this
well hospitalizations and deaths will be up there even higher in 3-4 weeks
and
there hasnt even been the christmas surge yet
and
the omicron hasnt even hit hard there yet

two of the monoclonal antibodies from regeneron and lilly dont work on omicron
vir has a monoclonal antibody that does work and they are ramping up its supply
right now its in limited supply

its not known how bad omicron will be yet
will it cause the same amount of death and destruction that delta has done
will it just cause milder symptoms
we will know in a bad way probably in about a month how bad it is when it takes over

if you are triple vaxxxed and are not immunosuppressed you will probably have a mild case of omicron infection
you will be able to transmit it to others though
those vulnerable around you are at risk of getting an infection from you
you are unlikely to be hospitalized or die with covid

if you are double vaxxed and are not immunosuppressed you will probably have a stronger case of omicron but probably wont get admitted or die from it
you also are likely to transmit it to others
those vulnerable around you are at risk of getting an infection from you

if you are unvaxxed but had covid you might or might not have adequate antibody protection against omicron
if you had the old original covid you are more vulnerable to reinfection
you also can get a mild case or a severe case and give it to others
if you are high risk then you might get sicker
those vulnerable around you are at risk of getting an infection from you

also the best protection folks can have is in those who had covid that then get vaxxinated

if you are unvaxxed and havent had covid yet then you are in the high risk category for dying and getting hospitalized with severe covid

you are the reason this pandemic is still ongoing and the reason why we have variants
unvaxxed folks casued this to happen

until enough unvaxxed folks get sick with covid or get their covid shots this pandemic will not ever go away

sadly our future with this pandemic is in your hands

now if you are on ivermectin or chloroquinoline rest assured you wont get intestinal worms or malaria
or lice or rosacea 
you will likely catch covid though

i worked with an animal parasitologist the year before i started medical school
we used drugs like ivermectin to treat parasite infections in cattle and goats and sheep 
i even had my name published on the research in a research journal
so i had some familiarity with these drugs before i started to medical school
i must say none of the animals caught covid 19

i am asked frequently what to do about get togethers this holiday season
i have several infectious disease doctors that i listen to
no i dont pay attention to folks like joe rogan since his credentials cant meet theirs
these infectious disease doctors pretty much say the same
they also are all worried about this omicron tsunami thats arriving here

so 
for the holidays
make sure everyone there is double vaxxed if not triple vaxxxed
do covid testing the day of the get together on everyone
if testing is not done everyone should wear a mask
dont get together with anyone unvaxxed
try to have it outside or if inside have good ventilation 

travel is ok if 
you are double vaxxed or preferred triple vaxxxed
you should wear a double mask of a kn95 or a n95 mask and a surgical mask or cloth mask
definitely wear the double mask in the airport  terminal

dont travel if you dont have to

if you are vaxxed or vaxxxed you will if you catch covid probably have a mild case
you are unlikely to to be hospitalized or die from covid if you catch
you can transmit it to vulnerable folks 

if you are unvaxxed
well
what can i say 
but
thanks for nothing

you shouldnt be traveling or getting together with groups
as
you are vulnerable to get severely infected and get hospitalized and are the group that is dying now with covid

its sad that there are vulnerable folks like mr hudson and other acquaintances of ours who are not able to take the vaxxine
the age group mr hudson is it has had their vaxxines delayed
they might have to have the triple shot regimen 
well thats also whats recommended for all folks right now over 16

we all have a moral obligation to protect these vulnerable folks           

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-does java boost your memory

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-does java boost your memory: ALZHIEMERS NEWS-DOES JAVA BOOST YOUR MEMORY i think it does in the morning when i first get up i drink a cup of coffee that is half caffeina...

alzheimers news-does java boost your memory

ALZHIEMERS NEWS-DOES JAVA BOOST YOUR MEMORY

i think it does
in the morning when i first get up i drink a cup of coffee that is half caffeinated and half decaffeinated
i found that drinking more than 2 cups will make my blood pressure go up
some folks that drink coffee have problems with heart palpitations
some folks that drink coffee have hand shakes or tremors or an increase in anxiety
so
it can affect you such that you probably shouldnt be drinking it

now
when i was sick almost 2 years ago with my possible covid related symptoms
i cant really prove or disprove that it was covid
i was unable to tolerate any coffee because it flared up my marked stomach indigestion
so
i didnt drink coffee for months
man that was not fun
if you are a coffee drinker you know what i mean


this is my coffee mug that someone gave me
i only use it 
it never gets washed just rinsed occasionally
i treat it like you would a cast iron skillet
i swear it puts more flavor into my coffee

later i restarted my coffee gradually so i could tolerate it again
thats when i found if i drank too much coffee my blood pressure went up
once i stopped drinking coffee i was able to stop my blood pressure meds
then i tapered my dose of coffee to my present intake so it doesnt affect my blood pressure

in the morning a few hours after my cup of coffee i take my dose of aricept or donepezil that i take for my diagnosis of mci or mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers 

after the coffee and my pill i can tell the difference in how alert and how well my memory gets
so i feel both of them help me immediately each day

now the aricept or donepezil improves the memory by increasing acetylcholine levels in the nerve connection in the brains nerve cells so they work better
i can tell when it kicks in each morning

both make me more alert more talkative more active more energetic 

overtime as the disease progresses aricept or donepezil loses it effectiveness since so many brain cells get damaged

im not sure how the coffee works but i can feel it also when it kicks in
whatever way it works i seem to feel it

now an university in australia published an article linked here on how coffee may help slow down the development of alzheimers by lowering the amyloid level in the brain
how it does it is not known

they followed folks over a decade and it seemed that 2 cups or more of coffee a day seemed to raise cognitive function

they think it may lower the amyloid levels in the brain by about 5%

this is a separate effect from the one you get when you first drink your morning coffee

all i gotta say is that 
this makes me want to drink my coffee each morning

my aduhelm or aducanumab infusions now that i am on the full dose will be slowly lowering my amyloid plaque in my brain so that the amyloid will be barely measured in my brain
then
add to that my coffee might be lowering it even more
then 
the fact that i feel more alert and more memoryized after drinking my coffee
well
you can betcha you will find me with a cup of java in my hand not long after i get up each morning

i usually wait until i finish drinking my coffee before i do my blog so im at my most alertness

so
dont give up your coffee unless you have to for other health reasons

biogen aduhelm update
i am now at my 6 month point in my aduhelm clinical trial
i am on my maximum dose and if no aria or microbleeds happen then i will continue on this dose long term
this last week i had my 6 month neurologist clinical visit and got a pint of blood removed for studies
then
this next week i do all day testing which includes several different methods of memory testings
my wife she is interviewed as part of this day
i feel like i just did my national board exams or some big ole giant final exam that lasts for several hours
i feel wasted afterwards
im glad my wife she drives me home

on that day i will drink my cup of coffee with my breakfast then before the testing all starts i will probably have another boost of caffeine around mid day to get me through my memory testing

hopefully all that caffeine i have taken in each day has helped some

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: garden news-planting before the rains

organicgreendoctor: garden news-planting before the rains: GARDEN NEWS-PLANTING BEFORE THE RAINS thats my wife she in the straw hat watching mr hudson who is digging in a bag of potting soil and ms b...

garden news-planting before the rains

GARDEN NEWS-PLANTING BEFORE THE RAINS

thats my wife she in the straw hat watching mr hudson who is digging in a bag of potting soil and ms b who is filling a pot with potting soil
thats called indoctrination making them organic green grandkids


this is a finished bed 
it was covered with a layer of compost we made here in our garden
a sprinkling of an organic fertilizer was applied
this was forked in with our broadfork which is about 32 inches wide 
this is then raked into a bed with a rake that is 36 inches wide
thats the width of our beds
then new drip tape is laid down which has drippers that are 6 inches apart

this approximately 30 foot bed is now ready for planting our dixondale onions
texas supersweet and texas 1015 onions
the kind you can bite into like an apple
if all goes well they will get bulbs that are up to 6 inches wide


we planted about 300 plus onions in this bed and other beds
all will be donated to food shelters soup kitchens food kitchens etc

the onions are planted about an inch deep and at 6 inches apart
you can do 4 inches if you are going to be harvesting some for green onions during the growing season
i planted them 5 across the bed
if you are good at math that will calculate to 300 onions in this bed

we will pull some green onions for donations also doing the growing season
we harvest usually in mayish based on the weather and when the plants start falling over

the organic soup kitchen loves our onions for their organic soups


the next bed we prepped the same
we planted cabbage in this bed
this is our second planting of cabbage
the other one is almost ready for harvesting and donating
we have over 60 cabbages for donating
minus of course the four the gophers ate


here is a bed of broccoli that was planted
it will be donated also 
we will harvest the heads and the off shoots in the late winter
we also have over 60 broccolis and for some reason the gophers havent eaten any
 

several weeks ago we planted fava beans in this bed
they are being used as a cover crop since they will fix nitrogen in the soil

when it was time to plant the dinosaur kale we cleared out some of the kava beans to plant the kale
the kava plants are laid on top of the soil as mulch and to also breakdown as a green compost
the roots are left in the ground also to breakdown
this all increasing the life in the soil

a few kava beans are left standing
the flowers are harvested for salads
some folks eat the leaves
some cook the beans 
we are mainly using it as a cover crop

we have around 30 dino kale planted here and have about 60 curly leaf kale planted also in other beds
kale is one our popular plants we donate year round

we did all this bed prepping since we were about to get a good rain
we have had less than 2 inches of rain since last march
the soil away from the beds is dry as a bone

this will be all of our winter plantings except for our leeks which will be planted in january
we will plant about 300 of those
they can be harvested at anytime during the year so they remain in the ground for months

we got over 4.5 inches of rain in 24 hours this week
it was slow enough it seemed to soak well into the ground
we expect the newly planted veggies and the other ones to explode with growth
and
of course 
the weeds will too

the overflow from our rainwater tanks flows into my garden walkways to act as a holding tank for moisture
i have 1 foot deep and 1 foot wide trenches filled in with mulch in my walkways and around my 400 square foot garden
thats moisture that would be flowing into the creeks and would now be in the ocean
instead it sits in my garden walkways
about 500 gallons worth if you do the calculations

we also heavily mulched or main walkways in the garden which also holds a lot of water
small swells in these pathways also slow down the water as it flows across our garden towards a nearby creek

thats free moisture that will stay in our garden

water is getting expensive here in calfornia

ill obtain the total pounds of produce we produce in our gardens for donations
its alway impressive

next
we are getting prepared for spring plantings by selecting our veggie seeds 

i look forward to seeing this garden explode in growth in the next few weeks

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #116-bace was no ace

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #116-bace was no ace: MY STORY REVISITED #116-BACE WAS NO ACE in 2013 there was a buzz in the alzheimers world about the bace inhibitors it appeared that they mig...

my story revisited #116-bace was no ace

MY STORY REVISITED #116-BACE WAS NO ACE

in 2013 there was a buzz in the alzheimers world about the bace inhibitors
it appeared that they might help slow down or prevent alzheimers disease
in 2013 when i wrote the blog below i was looking closely at the bace inhibitor clinical trials since i was about to finish the adni2 study i was in 
i was only looking for clinical trials that showed promise to work
since i knew i would probably only get one chance at a treatment trial
i knew i needed to chose the righf tone

basically the bace inhibitor works as described below by inhibiting the formation of amyloid
the theory was that it might prevent alzheimers

what they found was that it didnt work or that it made things worse

man
im glad i didnt qualify for these studies 
i would unlikely have been able to qualify for the biogen aducanumab study i am in now

a reminder that you have to be proactive for yourself when looking at these clinical trials
that holds true for other disease clinical trials also

__________
12-13-2013
BACE

bace is the abbreviation for beta site app cleaving enzyme
the bace enzyme breaks off the protein that may be the culprit
in alzheimers disease
the beta amyloid protein
people who have a defect or mutation in the gene that makes
bace
have a lower instance of alzheimers disease

in comes the drug companies
they have made eg merk a compound called mk-8931
that inhibits this bace enzyme

its an oral drug that has already gone through phase 1 studies
and is now entering phase 2 and phase 3 studies in patients
with mild to moderate alzheimers disease
the drug will lower the levels of beta amyloid in the brain and hopefully
by doing this will slow down or prevent alzheimers disease
thats the theory

now the mk-8931 will be used in prodromal or prealzheimers or
amnestic mild cognitive impairment in patients who may have
a positive beta amyloid pet scan and abnormal levels of beta
amyloid in the spinal fluids
two positive tests that are seen in alzheimers disease

hum that sounds familiar
oh wait thats me
i have all those things except i dont have my beta amyloid pet scan
yet but i will soon
the thinking is to attack this early on in the  process before
things get worse

if i qualify for this study then i would take this mk-8931 for a
period of time and they would follow cognitive tests and spinal
fluid levels of beta amyloid and pet scans of the brain for
beta amyloid
or
i would be in the placebo group
that would suck wouldnt it to be in the placebo group


there is progress being made it seems
there is this light in the end of the tunnel that is faint
but its starting to get a little brighter
_________
i wrote above that it would suck to be in the placebo group of the bace study
well little did i know but i would be put in the placebo group later in the biogen aducanumab study and receive 18 months of placebo
when the study was paused when the pandemic started they told us whether we got the real drug or not
i must say i was surprised i got the placebo since i had a 67% chance of getting the real drug

yes it sucked to have gotten the placebo 

luckily i did get 7 doses of the real drug after everyone in the study was put on the real drug




this last wednesday i received the 7th infusion in the reactivated aduhelm or aducanumab study
it was the maximum treatment dose of 10 mg/kg 

now i will receive this maximum dose every infusion i get each month
as long as i dont develop aria or microbleeds in the brain
i had an mri a couple of weeks ago that was normal

an side my mri has not changed since my original mri in 2010 which is good for me

i have another mri scheduled next month after my next infusion
if it remains ok then i will be able to continue my infusions

then
next week i will have a day long battery of memory testing and labs etc at my 6 months visit

then
its just waiting to see if this really helps
it removes the measurable amyloid plaques and some of the tau tangles
but
will it make a difference in the long run

it may take months or years to know for sure

in the meantime i will keep on keeping on

the light at the end of the tunnel has gotten a little brighter

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: shorten your food chain

organicgreendoctor: shorten your food chain: SHORTEN YOUR FOOD CHAIN these are my supersweet onions that i planted this week in my garden i will use them as a example of how to shorten ...

shorten your food chain

SHORTEN YOUR FOOD CHAIN

these are my supersweet onions that i planted this week in my garden

i will use them as a example of how to shorten your food chain
this photo below is from the dirtdoctor.com 

i take these onion plants and plant them in my garden now
over the next 6 months when i need an onion i pull it and use it
then
when they mature and the tops fall over i harvest them
sometimes they are 4-6 inches in diameter
some i hang in onion chimes in my garage to use as i need them
or
i take them and put them in my blender to chop them up 

then
i freeze them in a freezer bag for use whenever i need onions for cooking
eg yesterday i took out the bag and removed a fourth of the onions from the 1 gallon bag to use in my bean soup i made 
i planted these onions a year ago

so 
for almost a year when we needed an onion i got it from my garden or from my freezer

thats the home garden to the plate that uses the less energy and tastes the best

most of the vegetables we eat come to our plates from our garden
the most energy efficient way and freshest way to get our produce

next
is a local farm
now i never use this one since i grow so much of what veggies we eat
but with a local farm to the plate via csa boxes
they harvest it and deliver it fresh to you or you pick it up 
its the second most efficient way
we have a local farm within a few miles of here that i would use if i was so inclined
to buy what veggies we need or use their csa or community supported agriculture boxes

when we go to a friends house in texas he has this neighbor who has a local farm 
we usually buy stuff there to take as gifts to those we visit and to consume ourselves

next
is a farmers market
now i again dont go to the farmers market as much since the pandemic hit and since i grow so much of our own veggies
when i do go to the farmers market my eyes glaze over at all the produce
i can spend two hours there looking around and talking to farmers

its the 3rd most effect way to get our food
they do have to truck it in to the markets sometimes by as much as a hundred miles
its still better than from a grocery store
the produce is fresher
its usually picked the day before or that morning

next
is the supermarket
it goes from farm then is trucked to a distribution center then trucked to the supermarket then to the plate
that takes up a lot of energy to do that
its inefficient
the food is not as fresh as the other ones

finally 
the least efficient and probably least fresh is
the food delivery services
it goes from the farm trucked to distribution centers then to packaging centers then delivery to you to your plate

which is freshest
i would say my onion plucked from the garden maybe an hour before it goes into a salad or tacos or soup or a sandwich
there is no wilting done

i think of that onion that got plucked for that delivery service
i wonder what they do with that onion before i put it in my evening meal
was it plucked from the ground a week earlier
maybe
was it plucked 3 states away or two countries away or how many miles did it travel
the same may be true for supermarket veggies
sorry ill take my onion from my garden any day
its good for my health 
its good for the environment

so
grow your own food
support your local farms
support your local farmers market
and
if you have to 
go to the supermarket to get your onion
or
wait a few days to get it delivered

for me its a no brainer

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-we will know soon how bad omicron will be

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-we will know soon how bad omicron will be: COVID 19-WE WILL KNOW SOON HOW BAD OMICRON WILL BE if you are triple vaxxxed for covid 19 you are unlikely to be hospitalized for covid or d...

covid 19-we will know soon how bad omicron will be

COVID 19-WE WILL KNOW SOON HOW BAD OMICRON WILL BE

if you are triple vaxxxed for covid 19 you are unlikely to be hospitalized for covid or die from covid
you are also unlikely to even get a mild breakthrough case
if you are immunocompromised the triple vaxxxing may not protect you as well

if you are unvaxxed you will be in the group that is at risk for being hospitalized or for dying from covid 

if you are only double vaxxed you are risk for breakthrough cases some of which can put you in the hospital but you probably wont die from covid unless you are immunocompromised 

you should continue to be masked
remember there are also other viral upper respiratory infections that are infecting folks 
masking and other safety measures can prevent those infections

we are losing around 1200 folks a day 
over 80% of them are unvaxxed
we have reached the awful 800,000 deaths so far from covid
we should hit 1 million deaths from covid sometime next year

how soon that happens will be determined by how bad omicron is and how soon it takes over in the us
its predicted to hit that mark of being the dominant variant next month
also
how many folks get triple vaxxxed will determine how bad it is

the unvaxxed and the only double vaxxed are now spreading the covid and will especially be the spreaders of omicron

those who got covid are having their immunity drop off and are now getting reinfected

omicron is hitting kids harder than the delta variant but they arent getting more sick

the number of hospitalizations and deaths will be the measure of how bad this next wave carried forward by the omicron wave will be 

if these numbers hospitalizations and deaths stay low despite increased infections thats a sign the omicorn may not cause bad disease or that more folks are getting triple vaxxed

in the uk two pfizer vaxxines gave you 30% effectiveness against omicron
the astra zeneca gave you no protection
if you got triple vaxxxine that number rose to 70-75%

its expected that omicron numbers will skyrocket in the us next month

in london right now 40% of the variants are omicron
the virus is doubling every 2-3 days
eg one case in one month could lead to a million cases at that rate

if you are unvaxxed and you get omicron or delta your infection will probably be worse

so
if you are not triple vaxxed you are not protected
if you had covid especially several months ago you may be losing your acquired immunity 

wearing a mask is till important 

if you do get sick with covid you can
get antibody infusions 
do this asap
consider taking the new anticovid pills
consider steroids 

also a new antibody shot will be available that will protect you for about 6 months from getting infected
its used as a preventative shot

i think back to where we were about 2 years ago
when i got sick with what i think was covid
had it been now when i got sick i could have definitely known with almost 100% accuracy if what i had was covid

if i was positive i would have opted for iv antibodies and iv antivirals and steroids
back then they were sending real sick folks back home 
many died 
if it was today i would also opt for pfizers oral pill that is soon to be out
i might not have been sick for so long

i might be able to wear all my old clothes also that now hang in the closet waiting for me to return to my old weight of 2019
im halfway there

just think of the lives that could have been saved
well that would be around 800000 if they had gotten vaxxxed and had receive the care mentioned above
the death rate would have been maybe lower than 100000
and
of course if all of this had not been politicized and all the crazy theories had not unduly influence folks to go down that funnel in my picture above of the covid going down the funnel

sorry 
this is all on us for letting this happen

be safe
get vaxxed

sorry
but
we are all stuck with this outbreak for awhile

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-the blue pill may help

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-the blue pill may help: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-THE BLUE PILL MAY HELP finally there is a new clinical trial on alzheimers for mainly men that will probably have no trouble...

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-the blue pill may help

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-the blue pill may help: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-THE BLUE PILL MAY HELP finally there is a new clinical trial on alzheimers for mainly men that will probably have no trouble...

alzheimers news-the blue pill may help

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-THE BLUE PILL MAY HELP

finally there is a new clinical trial on alzheimers for mainly men that will probably have no trouble getting men to sign up for it

its using the blue pill
yes
the blue pill

if you dont know what the blue pill its 
viagra

whats viagra
its used for erectile dysfunction and for pulmonary arterial hypertension

as us in the medical field know a lot of men have taken viagra over the years

so
how is this related to alzheimers disease

researchers using computer analysis looked at multiple drugs that are already available that work on certain pathways in the body
these pathways are related to alzheimers



one drug that stood out was viagra or sildenafil

using computerized insurance claims and records they looked at a large number of mostly men who had been on viagra

what they found was that those folks had a 69% lowered risk for alzheimers 

thats significant

here is an article that goes into more detail on the study

now
a large clinical trial will be done using biomarkers to see what effect viagra may have on these biomarkers and on alzheimers development

i know in alzheimers there is brain shrinkage seen on mri brain scans
i wonder if the blue pill makes the brain swell to normal size

no
it probably works on its effect on some biochemical pathway like it does with pulmonary hypertension

it works in men by opening up the arterial supply that the body usually normally opens up so the affected organ works as its designed to work

maybe the viagra somehow causes an increased blood supply to hit the brain
or some other pathway not known

so
now
if you are a male
this might be an alzheimers study you might want to sign up for
if your mate will let you do it

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: butterfly grove revisited

organicgreendoctor: butterfly grove revisited: BUTTERFLY GROVE REVISITED there is something quite peaceful about walking to this bluff and going down to the beach near what we call the bu...

butterfly grove revisited

BUTTERFLY GROVE REVISITED

there is something quite peaceful about walking to this bluff and going down to the beach near what we call the butterfly grove

this weekend we wanted to see if the butterflies were around
so
we hiked from the parking lot through the butterfly grove
every so often there is a path out of the grove that leads to the ocean

we walked halfway into the grove about mid morning then out towards the bluffs and the beach
we only saw three butterflies or was it one butterfly three times

when i walk in this area i use a walking stick my artist author carver bro in law made for me from a dogwood limb
its all gnarly with my name carved on it

my wife she uses a walking stick a former patient gave us

we walked to the edge of the bluff and along the edge gazing and a pausing as we went
it was at the end of high tide
i looked for signs of dolphins or whales but saw none
a fishing boat slowly moved across the ocean as it fished near the shore
it was a cool fall day but sunny and comfortable

i stood for the longest time mesmerized by the view the wind the smells
i felt quite relaxed and contented to stop there
but
we walked on along the bluff down a worn walkway to the beach
luckily the tide was receding
we walked along where the high tide water had lapped onto the beach 
i found a few prices to put in my succulent pots for decoration
a rock a worn piece of drift wood a rock that had fallen down off one of the cliffs

there is nothing like a walk on the beach to soothe your soul
but
wait
it got better

as we walked back to the butterfly grove we started to see a few monarchs 
afluttering around
the day had warmed a few degrees higher
as we walked we saw maybe 20 or so
i told my wife she
well we saw a few so lets go
last year at this time we saw that one three times or maybe three one time

as we headed deeper into the designated walkways
off to the side we noticed a lot of folks just standing and being real quiet
so
we wandered over
we stood for a long time
there were hundreds of monarchs fluttering around and hanging on the eucalyptus trees as in the photo below from the linked article

i took the picture above but couldnt get focused down on the monarchs
this area was deep into the grove
there was an area where the sun could shine deep to the floor of the grove
i guess it warmed things up for the monarchs 
making them active

like on the beach and the bluffs i could have stood there all day 


picture and article from atlasobscura.com on monarchs

we are excited the monarchs are coming back this year
we hope they return in greater numbers next year

weather changes and pollution has lowered their numbers to a point there is worry they will go extinct
there is a movement to put them on the endangered species list
so they will get more protections 

it will be sad if future generations dont get to see this mesmerizing scene

a 10,000 step mesmerizing journey we took this weekend

do your part to make sure this opportunity doesnt go away

the organicgreen doctor