organicgreendoctor: those crazy ants

organicgreendoctor: those crazy ants: THOSE CRAZY ANTS utexas.edu the first time i saw this ant at our country n i thought they were a fire ant that had gone crazy  zooming back ...

those crazy ants

THOSE CRAZY ANTS

utexas.edu
the first time i saw this ant at our country n i thought they were a fire ant that had gone crazy 
zooming back and forth instead of like most ants who go in a more straight line
there was dozens of them zooming back then zooming forth

i just left them alone since they didnt seem to be aggressive like the fire ant who will sting you and make tears come to your eyes

this morning i read this article on how scientists may have found a way to eradicate or control it with a fungus that gets in their abdomen and kills them
the fungus doesnt seem to affect the native ants or good ants or sadly the fire ants

i would take a crazy ant over a fire ant any day 
if you have ever been stung by a fire ant you know what i am talking about

the crazy ants do destructive things like get in power boxes air conditioners sewage pumps and other electrical devices
they also attack wild things like lizards snakes birds rabbits etc

they came up from south america and have slowly spread out across the southwest

now here in santa barbara we dont have fire ants and ive never seen any crazy ants here just crazy aunts

im not complaining about having either one of them especially the fire ant
i dont miss that one for sure

the ut scientists took a colony of crazy ants that were infected with this stomach fungus and put them in an area with other crazy ants
the crazy ants mostly disappeared 

this reminds me of the treatment for those dang grasshoppers that use to evade our property at the country n
i use to sprinkle around the perimeter of my property and in my garden a floury material that had a fungus in it called nolo bait that would when the grasshopper ate it traveled to the grasshoppers brain and it would die
the other grasshoppers would eat the dead grasshoppers and they would die
using that plus having chickens and guianas helped control the grasshoppers
this nolo bait contained a fungus called nosema locustae

no our chickens would not eat a fire ant or a crazy ant

this is so crazy aint it

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-we had a freedom week last week

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-we had a freedom week last week: COVID 19-WE HAD A FREEDOM WEEK LAST WEEK during the start of the covid pandemic two years ago the annual chalk art festival in santa barbara...

covid 19-we had a freedom week last week

COVID 19-WE HAD A FREEDOM WEEK LAST WEEK

during the start of the covid pandemic two years ago the annual chalk art festival in santa barbara was canceled at the santa barbara mission
we always walk up to the mission and see all the beautiful drawings the talented artist draw
but
two years ago it was canceled
one talented artist who lives near us painted this picture of the covid virus going down the rabbit hole on her driveway

its not down there yet
but
i think its getting real close

i realize that the covid virus will always be with us
popping up to grab those who arent immunized or whose immunity has dropped off

that is what we all need to be wary of and to always be ready for it

now for those of us who are immunized either via the shot and or natural immunity we probably wont get real sick if we catch it
over time though that immunity will probably wane and wane so we will be more susceptible
i expect an annual booster shot will be recommended

those at risk are the folks over 65
those immunosuppressed for whatever reason
those with health issues that make them more vulnerable like obesity heart disease lung disease cancer diabetes to name a few diseases

these folks should keep their shots and boosters up to date
like half of us do with the flu vaxxine now

so 
we are getting real close to normalcy
i sure hope its lasts

in the last week we have loosened up 
wearing our masks only inside stores etc
we have had two in home get togethers with folks outside our immediate family 
ate at a busy restaurant with a large group
had our first large family get together in over 2 years
i attended a large outdoor gathering two weeks ago with lots of folks mingling about
ok i popped my mask on once when things got a little crowded

here our positivity rate is down to 2.2% which is low but needs to get lower and stay low
the case rate is 4.4% which is low but again needs to get lower and stay there
the hospitals in our county had only 19 people in the hospital with covid recently

i talked with a nurse who said that the covid units were all closed now

so we in our community are getting closer to where we need to be

now the fda will probably say it will be ok to get another booster if you are over 65
we plan to get ours when its approved is given

we like many who have kids or grandkids under 5 are still waiting for approval to give those kids their first dose
it will probably be a 3 shot series

i read where kids under 5 who get a covid infection that 25% dont develop immunity 

so we are cautiously watching the new deltacron variant to see what it does as it takes over here in the the united states
its more contagious than the omicron but appears to not cause worse disease

so 
soon all those who want to be protected from covid with immunizations will get a chance to get immunized
that will slow down transmission of the virus some 

we do look forward to going back to full like we were prepandemic
we will just plan to do it slowly and cautiously 

we are happy we are reaching that point finally

do your part
get immunized
when the covid raises its head again be ready to be cautious again

i must say
freedom 
feels 
fine

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-can these labs predict you will ge...

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-can these labs predict you will ge...: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-CAN THESE LABS PREDICT YOU WILL GET IT after i read this article about this research paper i went back and looked at my or...

alzheimers news-can these labs predict you will get it

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-CAN THESE LABS PREDICT YOU WILL GET IT

after i read this article about this research paper i went back and looked at my original lipid levels when i was middle age
my hdl cholesterol or good cholesterol was low around 20
my triglycerides were real high around the 500+ range
if this paper is correct
my doctor could have looked at these numbers and said
you know you probably will get alzheimers disease one day
boy 
would he have been correct

who was my doctor at that time
it was me

later in life i turned over my medical care to another doctor which was the right thing to do

we know that
having a normal ldl or bad cholesterol 
having a normal blood pressure
having a normal blood glucose
having a normal bmi or normal body weight
all can help slow down or prevent one from getting alzheimers disease as well as heart disease and stroke

now add
having a normal hdl cholesterol
having a normal triglyceride
having a normal blood glucose
in your middle ages
as they may help slow down or prevent alzheimers disease
these can also predict if you might get the disease

so
take a moment if you are middle aged
look at your hdl cholesterol and triglycerides and your blood glucose
if its not normal
then you are at risk for getting alzheimers disease as you age

nows the time to do something about it
also
while you are at it make sure your ldl cholesterol blood pressure and your weight are all normal

normal hdl is greater than 40
normal triglyceride is less than 150

the researchers used information from the framingham study which follows folks over their lifetime

so 
in summary
when i was 40
the doctors could have looked at my labs
hdl cholesterol and triglycerides and told me that i was going to have alzheimers disease

take a look at your numbers
if they are bad
do what it takes to fix those numbers
you dont want this awful disease

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: garden news-more plantings

organicgreendoctor: garden news-more plantings: GARDEN NEWS-MORE PLANTINGS this bed was prepped about a week ago first the black drip tape was removed then the bed was raked with a special...

garden news-more plantings

GARDEN NEWS-MORE PLANTINGS

this bed was prepped about a week ago
first the black drip tape was removed
then the bed was raked with a special 3 ft rake to remove any debris on the bed and to smooth out the surface

if we have enough compost we put a 3-4 inch layer of compost on the bed
then a sprinkling of an organic fertilizer was then applied at the recommended levels on the bed

then the outside drip tape is replaced to provide a border for the new bed
then a 3 foot wide broadfork is then used to loosen up the soil
it has about 10 inch tines that go deep into the soil
this moves the compost and fertilizer into the holes the tines make and also makes tunnels for water and nutrients and plant roots to easily move into without disrupting the soil like a tiller does
and there is no chopped up earthworms
then the bed is raked smooth again
then the three drip tapes are replaced 
the drip holes are 6 inches apart on the strips of drip tape
now
its ready to plant

if we have time we like to do the beds a few weeks before planting
this time its only been a week


we planted these dark green zucchini squash plus some yellow straight neck squash in this bed
these 30 squashes were planted on one side two feet apart
then
the other side is staggered one foot and planted two feet apart
the squash were watered well with a fish emulsion solution as below prior to planting


in the hole we used this worm compost at about a couple of tbsp per hole
we watered the plant in after planting with this fish emulsion plus seaweed mixture


we dug a planting hole wider and deeper than the plant
the worm compost is added into the hole
its troweled in well in the bottom of the hole so that the soil around the new plant will be lose and fertilized
then the squash is planted at the same level as it is in the pot
a well is made around the plant
then
the fish emulsion solution is used to water in the squash plant


this is what it looks like when we are finished
these squash will be ready for harvest in a few weeks
all of it will be donated to shelters food kitchens etc

we recently planted 120 tomatoes who will have the same fate as the squash
we planted early girl celebration sweet 100 big boy san marzano black krim
later we will plant more tomatoes for a fall crop

today we will plant a long row of pole beans
long green beans french beans pole green beans and a native bean called skunk beans
they look like a smaller version of the christmas lima beans but are black
thus the name skunk beans
i was worried it was about the smell or something

these black skunk beans were given to us at the seed swap last weekend
the beans are an american indian native bean
we look forward to the seeing them grow and to see how they taste
if they are half as good as the christmas limas that will be a good thing

soon we will be planting our peppers and egg plants 
we have growing also in the green house a trumpet squash and a tatume squash
both are a proliferative squash that likes warm weather
they will all be donated also

yep its a busy time in he garden
theres more plantings to come

these plants at the sale below are the ones i plant in my garden and in the community garden


the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #129-good for heart good for brain

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #129-good for heart good for brain: MY STORY REVISITED #129-GOOD FOR HEART GOOD FOR BRAIN i have said this many times and read it many times whats good for the heart is good fo...

my story revisited #129-good for heart good for brain

MY STORY REVISITED #129-GOOD FOR HEART GOOD FOR BRAIN

i have said this many times and read it many times
whats good for the heart is good for the brain
it was true in 2014 when i wrote it
it will be true in 2024 when i write it again

these are the good things to do protect your heart

control your blood pressure
control your cholesterol 
eat a healthy diet might i suggest the mind diet
control your weight
control your blood sugar
dont smoke 
limit your alcohol intake
control stress and anxiety 
get an adequate sleep

do those things
and
you will definitely help your brain

these all are easy to do and within the reach of all of us

your brain your memories depend on a healthy heart

it seems its important to do these things when you are young
its even better to do them all your life

no matter what drug gets developed to treat alzheimers 
these healthy things above will be the mainstay in prevention

this week i did a zoom interview with a journalist from the financial times as part of an article that he is writing about aduhelm and alzheimers disease
it should be published sometime in mid april
ill post the link when its shows online

i will have my next aduhelm infusion next week at ucla
thats number 15 of the real drug 
so far so good
__________
04-04-2014
HEALTHY HEART HEALTHY BRAIN
those things you do to make your heart healthy it appears
will make your brain much more healthy as you get older

of course
you have to start doing this when you are younger
pre grey hair it seems
to be most effective

oh she had hardening of the arteries when she got old is what
i heard

i heard that a lot when i was in practice
an explanation for dementia in a loved one
once pooh poohed by medical folks but now it may actually be
true

if you do anything to decrease the size of the blood supply to the
brain cells they will start to die
be it ruptured vessels cholesterol buildup blood clots
whatever causes the cells to not get blood and by not getting blood
they dont get nutrition
this can also induce the accumulation of beta amyloid then later
tau protein and the cascading events you see with alzheimers disease
sorry to say this accumulation starts early in life

in a recent study from ucsf young folks were followed over 25 years
from their 20s into their 40s and 50s monitoring their blood pressure
cholesterol and diabetes

these 3 thing are shown to be the culprits in the development of
atherosclerosis a big word meaning cholesterol buildup in the arteries that
restricts blood flow
eg in regards to the heart you can get a heart attack and or a stroke


those young folks we now call millennials who had abnormal levels
of all 3 of these
and
we are talking about levels slightly higher than normal
they did not do as well on cognitive tests (memory tests) when
they got to their 40s and 50s which are the tail end of the baby boomers

these 3 things blood pressure cholesterol diabetes are so easy to control
many times without medicine
but im sorry to say
its with
diet a mediterranean diet veggies fruits olive oil fish lean meats
red wine nuts
with exercise get off the couch and walk some each day
with medications if they are needed

as those of us who keep up with alzheimers research know that
this process does all start when folks are young
yes maybe all their lives or in the 20s 30s
by the 40s its all sped up
by the 50s irreparable damage may be done already
it may be too late to stop the cascade of events at that age

so
stop if you are a millennial and get moving
so you will remember how to text how to use your iphone
how to use all your electronic gear when you get older

take a look at your kids your grandkids nephews nieces and
other loved ones
especially those who are worried they will get the dreaded a disease
alzheimers disease

get them moving
make them eat correctly
maintain a normal weight
check baseline cholesterol
check their blood pressure yes kids will get high blood pressure
and it needs treated
 
it may be the best gift you can give them
if you do maybe they will remember the gift and you when they get older

their future memory is in your hands
__________
do these healthy things starting in your childhood
so you can retain your memories as long as possible

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: dont make these automatic

organicgreendoctor: dont make these automatic: DONT MAKE THESE AUTOMATIC this is a checkbook some of you may not have one of these i do i use to sit down once or twice a month and do all ...

dont make these automatic

DONT MAKE THESE AUTOMATIC

this is a checkbook
some of you may not have one of these
i do
i use to sit down once or twice a month and do all my checks for our bills
sometimes it would take about 1-2 hours

i havent bought checks for five years since we first moved here

now
i sit down once a month and never write a check

all my bills are done online via my bank
none of these bills are set up on autodraft from my checking account
instead
i go in and set up the parameters myself on how much and when to pay the bills
none are autodrafted directly

now some well most of my bills come directly to my banking account then i give my ok by clicking send once a month
others if they are the same each month like an insurance payment or loan payment then i set them up on automatic payment which i control

no entity does a direct draft from my checking account

eg
my auto house liability insurance company charges me say $100 a month
i wish it was that cheap
i set up for it to automatically deduct that amount from my checking account and electronically send it to the insurance company
i can stop it or change the amount with a click of keys on my computer

no one does an autodraft from my checking account

i do have auto payments from my credit card like my dental insurance my apple accounts my netflix my amazon prime since thats the only way they would do it

if i want them changed or stopped its a pain to get it done

i put up with this lack of control in order to have the service
it represents a small part of our monthly bills we pay 

i pay my credit card off frequently each week so at the end of the month i dont have to figure out what all those charges are for
we basically use our card like we use to use our checks
by the end of the month when the credit card statement is sent we have already paid it off
we never pay any interest on our credit card
we also build up bonus cash from our card which i dump into our christmas fund 

i can see how easily fake charges could be made on the credit card without folks knowing it

i have caught fraudulent use of my credit card at gas stations by keeping a close eye on my account
the card number was changed the next day after the fraud was detected

i know folks that never look at their checking accounts and credit card bills for errors
those fraud folks love these folks
some will bill a monthly service for a low amount so it doesnt stand out and escape notice

i only write maybe 3-4 checks a year now 
i rarely go in a bank 
is been over a year since i was in one and that was because the atm ate my debit card

i mostly bank with an out of state bank that has a good electronic bank system

i read this article linked here recently about 5 things not to autodraft from your account
lets see how guilty i am 

1 annual subscriptions
none

2 steaming services
guilty

3 cell phone bills
never

4 cable satellite utility bills
none 
these come in to my account and i approve their payment each month
this takes me like less than a minute each month to do

5 gym membership
never
my gym is the community garden where i volunteer and garden
i pay it actually via check once a year
why
so the community garden doesnt pay a fee to process my payment

so 
not perfect
but
it allows me to have control over my bill payment with very little time spent each month

so
thats my banking bill pay system im using today

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: covid 19 revisited-what a difference 2 years makes

organicgreendoctor: covid 19 revisited-what a difference 2 years makes: COVID 19 REVISITED-WHAT A DIFFERENCE 2 YEARS MAKES its been 2 years since i got what i think was covid i reread all the blogs i wrote while ...

covid 19 revisited-what a difference 2 years makes

COVID 19 REVISITED-WHAT A DIFFERENCE 2 YEARS MAKES

its been 2 years since i got what i think was covid
i reread all the blogs i wrote while i was in my 2-3 week quarantine
when i read the blogs this morning i realized how much we didnt know about covid and how much we didnt have available to really treat it if you got hospitalized

i wrote they were predicting 100k to die from covid
that prediction was off by about 900k deaths from covid

i felt good that saturday two years ago having just recovered from a gi bug and fatigue two weeks before
i got dizzy felt achy and was short of breath while working in my garden 
it only got worse as the day went on
it progressed to fever chills rigors shortness of breath nausea diarrhea and no appetite
by nighttime i was ready to go to the emergency room
my chest xray and labs and oxygen levels were all ok
my covid test was done but took almost 10 days to get the results
at this time 2 years ago the covid tests were not very accurate

mine was negative
several doctors feel like i probably had covid
so does this doctor
me

after the long quarantine which my wife was quarantined with me with milder symptoms we both got better
i was left with a residual fatigue loss of appetite shortness of breath irregular heart rate some chest pain some sore throat and a lot of nasal congestion
i also had daily headaches that gradually resolved

my weight went from 187 down to a low of 148 six months later
all my food that i could tolerate had to be pureed

i had a cardiac workup which showed i had real frequent premature atrial contractions which are usually benign
i was having 15 a minute which made me worry that i might have atrial fibrillation which is associated with causing strokes
my cardiac workup was normal except for these

it took me months to regain my endurance
i would work in the garden and have to sit down and rest frequently
it would take me 3 times as long to finish things
some like prepping a bed for planting i was not able to do

this gradually got better

several folks thought i had terminal cancer 

sometime in the fall my gi symptoms started improving so that eventually i was able to go off the pureed foods
i lived off of the organic soup kitchens nutritious soups for months

when this all started we didnt know much about the virus
we werent using n95 mask
we were wiping everything down
we were letting our mail and groceries sit for 3 days before using
as we learned more we eased up on some of these
later cloth masks and surgical masks were recommended then later n95 masks were recommended
we havent traveled in 2 years

mr hudson finally got his transplant that summer after having it delayed by covid
he still hasnt been able to get his covid vaxxine but hopefully will get it soon
he has had to live a restricted life for two years
he doesnt mind unlike some adults to pop on his mask without complaints
we look forward to some normalcy for him soon

eventually they figured out that high dose steroids helped
several antivirals were developed that helped
omicron threw a wrinkle in that some by not being slowed by some of them
monoclonal antibodies were developed that probably saved lots of lives
later some of them didnt work as well against omicron

the covid vaxxines got developed and made a huge difference in the number of people who were hospitalized and those who died from covid
without the vaxxines this pandemic would have been oh so much worse

its now such that everyone over 5 can get a vaxxine

vaxxxine boosters were recommended 
especially for those at risk for worse covid infection

the absolutely worse thing that happened in this pandemic is that this got all politicized
this cost us thousands and thousands of lives
plus
even more thousands of folks who will be permanently disabled from this disease

today
we are probably at the best we have been
most of us have either been immunized via vaxxines or naturally immunized with a covid infection

there arent near as many people left to get severely infected as before

there is on the horizon the risk for a new variant popping up that this immunity doesnt work good against

will our immunity wear off
probably
will we all need a booster
probably
will the outbreak if it happens be as bad as the last two years
probably not

today two years later
my weight is at 175
i feel better than i did before the pandemic
i have a few gi symptoms but i tolerate them
my appetite is so much better
i have no shortness of breath and my premature atrial contractions have mainly gone

what a difference 2 years makes
right

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-napping article caught my attention

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-napping article caught my attention: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-NAPPING ARTICLE CAUGHT MY ATTENTION i started taking a noon nap about 12 years ago after i was started on aricept or donepez...

alzheimers news-napping article caught my attention

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-NAPPING ARTICLE CAUGHT MY ATTENTION

i started taking a noon nap about 12 years ago after i was started on aricept or donepezil for my diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease
normally aricept or donepezil is given at bedtime since it has side effects that can be masked while one is sleeping

those side effects are blurred vision vertigo dizziness abdominal pain diarrhea leg cramps muscle fasciculations fatigue alertness vivid dreams
i still have only leg cramps and muscle fasciculations and alertness and vivid dreams but now i act them out some and but have none of the others
my mother my younger brother and my older brother all took it at night and had no problems with their sleep
i guess i am wired differently 

when i took the aricept or donepezil at night i had no problems going to sleep but about 3-4 hours later i was wide awake unable to go back to sleep

by taking it in the morning i sleep 5 hours at night
i have learned to deal with this side effect by taking a 1-2 hour nap each day
so when you add up the number of hours i sleep each day its usually 7-8 hours 
without that nap i would be zombied out from fatigue

add that to the fact that i cant tolerate caffeine anymore since it drives up my blood pressure
even at lower consumption of coffee
so
its either drink a cup of java each am and take a blood pressure pill 
or
drink dcaff and not take any blood pressure pill and have a normal blood pressure
i chose the latter

so i deal with all this by using napping to catch up on lost sleep
yes i have stopped aricept or donepezil and i slept more at night
however the aricept or donepezil may be one of the reason i havent declined in my memory since i started it so early in my diagnosis
the earlier you start the aricept or donepezil the better and longer it works to slow down symptoms
it does not slow down the disease process though that goes on in the brain

so i have chosen to stay on aricept or donepezil

hopefully the aduhelm or aducanumab infusions i am receiving at ucla does that

naps have been shown to help with mental alertness mood and job performance
but
there is probably a sweet spot where if you nap too much you lose those nap benefits
i have noticed if i dont dream then i seem to reach that sweet spot

this article linked here found that excessive napping may be an early sign of alzheimers disease and maybe could be a contributor to the developing the disease

too late i thought
i am already there

the development of excessive napping led to worsening memory a year later
a decrease in memory also led to excessive napping a year later

its the chicken and egg thing i guess

for me
i know that i function much better each day if i take a nap
without that nap i can tell the drop off i feel later in the day

eg
i only slept 5 hours last night
today i will try to nap at least 2 hours to compensate
trying not to over sleep
i sometimes set my alarm to prevent that
if i dream then i know i overslept

maybe this study doesnt apply to me

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: garden news-my happy place

organicgreendoctor: garden news-my happy place: GARDEN NEWS-MY HAPPY PLACE this is where i spend about 15+ hours a week its the community garden where i volunteer there are 20 plus plots t...

garden news-my happy place

GARDEN NEWS-MY HAPPY PLACE

this is where i spend about 15+ hours a week
its the community garden where i volunteer
there are 20 plus plots that are about 200 sq ft that surround the inside the fenced area for individual plot holders
i have two plots in the far left backside of the fenced garden
the central portion of the garden is where we have around 20 rows that are about 30 ft long
the veggies grown there are all donated to places like food kitchens or shelters or the elderly

two years ago i was working inside the garden when i got sick 
i think it was covid 
as i recovered it took me several months to get back to full strength again
because of that combined with the covid pandemic restrictions
i changed all my volunteer hours to the garden
i was volunteering 4-10 hours a week

in my garden i grow veggies that we like to eat and that we can freeze for later use
tomatoes peppers like jalapeno sweet banana bell egg plant squashes cilantro celery sweet peas christmas lima beans green beans lettuces swiss chard malabar spinach onions leeks garlic cabbage broccoli

i freeze tomatoes peppers leeks onions garlic squashes 
i save the christmas lima beans as dry beans 

i keep saying i will keep up with how much i produce but i never do 

the main garden where the donated veggies are grown donates tomatoes peppers peas cabbage cauliflower broccoli kale several beans celery lettuces broccoli collards onions leeks garlic malabar spinach Swiss chard 
they have donated thousands of pounds of these veggies to those in need

we also have an orchard that has lots of different citruses mango cherimoya passionfruit mulberry guava bananas juju avocado and some fruits im not familiar with and cant spell off the top of my head
all these get donated also


courtesy of jn
thats me talking to a tour group at our 10th anniversary event

there is a new greenhouse where we plant all our veggies
all our veggies we grow we start ourselves in our greenhouse
so
all our transplants are fresh and are planted as soon as they are large enough to plant in the ground
making for heathier and more productive veggies

on volunteer day i tend to go to the garden an hour before anyone else does
its so peaceful and quiet there except for mainly the birds and the chickens
i like to stand for a few moments and look back towards the mountains 
you can see the sun hit the top of the mountains and move down towards the garden
sometimes there are misty clouds between the garden and the mountains

its my way of meditating 


courtesy of trinity garden website

we all need a happy place to go to
ive found mine

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #128-who am i

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #128-who am i: MY STORY REVISITED #128-WHO AM I he wrote this song after his dad was diagnosed with alzhiemers disease was it about his dad or was it about...

my story revisited #128-who am i

MY STORY REVISITED #128-WHO AM I

he wrote this song after his dad was diagnosed with alzhiemers disease
was it about his dad or was it about him

this disease does make you do a lot of viewing inward

i read this week that alzheimers disease is the only disease in which the person dies twice

think about that 

i cried when i first heard this video
i cried when i wrote this blog 8 years
i cried when i listened to this video again this am

some of the tears this morning as i watched the video were tears of joy 
joy that i am so still mentally intact and doing all that i want to do 
when i wrote this blog below i didnt really think i would be able to write this blog today

on monday i will be interviewed by the financial times about my involvement with the aduhelm or aducanumab study
im not sure if it will be a written interview when published or a video interview since we are doing it via zoom

ill post it when its published

in two weeks i will get my 16th real infusion of aduhelm or aducanumab
in one month i will get another mri of the brain as part of the protocol for monitoring for side effects as i will get my third dose at 10 mg/kg the highest dose that is associated with microbleeds
if its ok then i dont have another mri of the brain for several months
__________
03-28-2014
WHO I AM
kenny chesney wrote this song
this son put it to a video of his father
i watched it and cried
i watched it again and cried again
ok i cried again this morning again

if you have had a family member fade away
watch this video

each time ive watched it
i go deeper inside myself
thinking about the past and the future

or
click here to watch while he still knows who i am
__________
this video made me do a lot of deep thinking this morning

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: could this be our last time change

organicgreendoctor: could this be our last time change: COULD THIS BE OUR LAST TIME CHANGE i read this weekend that there was a bipartisan bill in congress to permanently get rid of daylight savin...

could this be our last time change

COULD THIS BE OUR LAST TIME CHANGE

i read this weekend that there was a bipartisan bill in congress to permanently get rid of daylight savings time
i wonder why they called it daylight savings time
it really doesnt save any daylight
it just makes us all feel like we lost an hour of daylight
just think some folks in arizona dont have to deal with this

the question is 
will they leave the time springed forward or fallen back

for me
i like the fallen back time better
i am a morning person
i like to get outside early to start working in the garden

now
i know a lot of other folks that want it the other way 
all sprung forward
i understand their desire to have it that way
my view
just do it
ill accept whichever way it was done

this all started back in the ww1
it has kept springing forward and falling backwards since then

so
write your congress person
tell them we all want to be like most of arizona
so
we wont have to get sprung or get fallen twice a year
taking days to weeks to recover

as i write this at 430am pst here in california it is 430am mst in most of arizona but it should be 530am there if they did daylight savings time except in northeast arizona where its 530am
ok
im already confused arent you
my wife she says she feels dizzy trying to figure it out
just change it back like it was back before ww1

my vote
again
leave it like it was on last friday 
thats my choice

hopefully this is the last time i have to blog about the time change

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-is it more than brain fog

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-is it more than brain fog:   ALZHEIMERS NEWS-IS IT MORE THAN BRAIN FOG when i read this article i thought of what about the kids oh its just a mild case these kids ge...

alzheimers news-is it more than brain fog

 ALZHEIMERS NEWS-IS IT MORE THAN BRAIN FOG

when i read this article i thought of what about the kids
oh its just a mild case these kids get
after reading the article i wondered if the mild covid infections would affect a kids brain like it did in the adults in the study

in great britain since they have a national health system and have lots of records
they found folks who had mris of the brain done before they got mild covid
then 
they did an mri of the brain on average about 5 months later
they compared the two mris
one before covid
one after covid

they found these mild covid cases seemed to cause changes in the brain in the olfactory areas but also in other areas some that alzheimers also seems to attack
there was a loss of volume of the brain in these mildly covid infected patients

i have copied the picture of these from the nature article below

The red-yellow regions are the parts of the brain that shrank the most in the 401 SARS-CoV-2 infected participants, compared with the 384 noninfected participants. Gwenaëlle Douaud, in collaboration with Anderson Winkler and Saad Jbabdi, University of Oxford and NIH.

we all have heard about the olfactory deficits or loss of smell from covid infections
when i was sick with what i think was covid it left me with an effect on my sense of taste such that i have trouble flavoring my cooking so i just follow a recipe to attempt to get it right
i have not lost my sense of smell totally but it is diminished
i even get these odd smells i smell sometimes that dont really exist
one is a smell of a burning electrical cord if youve ever done that you know the smell

one of the areas of the brain first attacked in alzheimers disease is the olfactory center
those strange smells are part of the disease early on
there also may be the development of rhinorrhea or runny nose early in the disease
i also have that since i was sick

the olfactory center shrinks probably first in alzheimers since its close to the hippocampal area where alzheimers starts

does covid infection even mild ones do the same thing to these areas of the brain
yes
it seems it does
the big question is
will these changes be permanent

there is also evidence in these mild covid patients that were tested that there is a loss of memory 
will it be permanent

it also seemed to affect the older patients more than the younger ones

the brain has a lot of plasticity so it can get damaged and recover
the hope is that these covid effects on the brain will recover

i hope that the growing kids brains are resistant to the damaging effects of covid
im sure eventually studies will be done 
if they are present i would expect things like behavior issues or adhd or depression or anxiety or other neurology effects to show up
maybe the kids will all escape this covid effect on the brain 

this is another example of how this covid virus was not like other viral infections we have seen before
it definitely was not like the flu
flu doesnt do this to the brain

im hoping that these effects seen on these mris of these mild covid patients causing these neurology problems dont persist or worsen as the patient ages

here is a good article on this with links to the original nature article on the study

it didnt say but i wonder if you are programmed to get alzheimers anyway does it speed up that process in the brain

im hoping its not permanent for these covid patients

its even worse for some patients who have long covid now and in those folks who were sicker with covid

im glad i was vaxxxed and didnt get covid
ive got enough brain worries as it is

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: garden news-planting my tomatoes

organicgreendoctor: garden news-planting my tomatoes: GARDEN NEWS-PLANTING MY TOMATOES it is officially tomato planting time in my garden i have 8 beds that are about 3 ft x 8 ft in size i use 3...

garden news-planting my tomatoes

GARDEN NEWS-PLANTING MY TOMATOES

it is officially tomato planting time in my garden
i have 8 beds that are about 3 ft x 8 ft in size
i use 3 beds for my tomatoes 
i plant 2 tomatoes per bed

over the years i have found if i only plant 6 tomatoes then that will give us enough tomatoes to eat and freeze some and give away some without overwhelming us with tomato harvesting

so far i say that each year but i give in eventually to planting more since there are so many varieties to chose from

now growing tomatoes in santa barbara is not like growing them in texas or arkansas
the biggest obstacle besides the lack of real warm temperatures is the presence of fog

if we have a real foggy cool spring and early summer then the tomatoes will not do well
if we have a warmer less foggy spring and summer they do great
one year here i produced a lot more tomatoes per plant than i ever did in texas

we dont have to worry where i garden about freezing weather but we do have especially this year some upper 30s and 40s night time temperatures that tomatoes do not like
remember tomatoes are a tropical type fruit
even exposure to those low temps can affect how well the tomato will grow and produce fruits

with all this fog we get sometimes we struggle with fungal and viral infections in the tomatoes

also when you plant in a small area like i do you are risk of having those diseases accumulate over time in your soil so it can be hard to grow some varieties like the heirlooms

one thing to do is to rotate your crops in your smaller garden so the same type plants arent planted in the same area each year
eg
peppers and tomaotes are kinfolks so dont plant your tomatoes where your peppers were
or
you might get fungal and viral infections more readily

so 
here is what i do in my 400 sq ft garden
i will plant 6 tomatoes in beds which did not have tomatoes or peppers in them last year
it sometimes takes some shifting of what you are planting 
ideally you would want to leave one bed empty each season to allow it to rest
but
thats so hard to do
i say im going to do it but i end up planting it anyway

here  are my tomatoes i planted this week
early girl has disease resistance it always does good here its an indeterminate which means it will grow all season long

celebration a similar tomato to celebrity which has some disease resistance it is a determinate which means it will grow only so many tomatoes then thats it

big boy is also disease resistant and an indeterminate

mortgage lifter is one that i accidently picked up when i thought i picked up a sungold i had planted it in texas one time and it did quite well its the first time ive planted it here

sungold is a indeterminate and has some disease resistance i call it the crack tomato if sees candies was going to sell a tomato this would be the one

black krim is a heirloom that seems to always do well here it does not have the disease resistance the others above have

here is how i plant my tomatoes

the bed is prepped ahead of time
a thick layer 3 inches or more of compost is added
i also if i have it empty out a 5 gallon bucket of my worm compost i make myself
sometimes if its ready i also dig up my walkways which are really a 1 ft deep and 1 ft wide trench full of mulch that has composted to a nice fine compost
i add a good sprinkling of an organic fertilizer

the bed then is forked in with at broadfork or a large garden fork to mix this stuff all up
the bed is then raked smooth and soaked with a solution of fish emulsion seaweed molasses
if possible the bed will sit empty for several weeks
i cover this with pine straw until its ready to plant

this year i will be planting two of my tomatoes in where my leeks are growing
i remove enough leeks to be able to plant the tomato
i prep this small area just like i do the other beds by adding a handful of compost and organic fertilizer working it in the area with a hand trowel then soaking it with fish emulsion
when the leeks are all harvested i will finish prepping the rest of the bed
this usually occurs when the tomatoes are just starting to get larger

when i plant my tomato i dig a hole deep enough to bury at least half of my tomato stem
i remove any leaves that wouldnt be above ground
i also make sure no leaves are touching the ground
i add a handful of worm compost to the hole
i plant the tomato
i water it in well with that fish emulsion seaweed molasses solution
i also build a small moat around the tomato

before the foggy season hits i make sure the soil around the tomato is covered with pine straw or some type of mulch to keep moisture from splashing up on the leaves
this makes them susceptible to fungal infections and viral infections

i put a large 6 foot cage around each tomato to allow the tomato to grow inside the cage
then
i use that solution above twice a month to feed then
i usually water them with my dripper system and bury a 3 gallon tub next to the tomato and water deeply during the hot part of the year

so far
doing this gives me an ample crop of tomatoes each year

i also may add a couple of tomatoes in june for a fresh fall crop of tomatoes
ok
so i then would have 8 tomatoes

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #127-the price is still an issue

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #127-the price is still an issue: MY STORY REVISITED #127-THE PRICE IS STILL AN ISSUE one of the issues with my drug aduhelm or aducanumab is that it will cost now around $28...

my story revisited #127-the price is still an issue

MY STORY REVISITED #127-THE PRICE IS STILL AN ISSUE

one of the issues with my drug aduhelm or aducanumab is that it will cost now around $28,000 a year to get monthly infusions 

in 2014 when i wrote the blog below the drug solanezumab showed promising as a treatment to slow down alzheimers disease
its a monoclonal antibody that binds to the amyloid protein to remove amyloid from the brain
it use in early alzheimers disease was not proven to be effective in clinical trials

they are now using it in a long term trial called the a4 study where its given to folks with no symptoms but who have positive biomarkers for alzheimers ie positive spinal fluid analysis and or positive amyloid pet scan
the idea is that removing the amyloid months to years before symptoms start might slow down the disease

my drug aduhelm and other similar drugs are doing the same thing now in clinical trials on these prealzheimers patients
the thinking is that we need to be treating folks years before symptoms start

now we have blood tests that can identify folks that are prealzheimers 
mostly only available in clinical trials

it can cost over $30,000 a year for medications for rheumatoid arthritis to treat a patients disease
medicare and other insurances cover some or all of the cost

its interesting thats slightly more than the cost of aduhelm or aducanumab infusions for a year

the potential cost of solanezumab was an issue when i wrote this 8 years ago
now 
the cost of aduhelm or aducanumab is an issue

the cost of rheumatoid arthritis infusions or injections can be $1,300-$3,000 a month
that is about the cost of an aduhelm or aducanumab infusion a month

where is the outcry over medicare paying for these arthritis drugs

now i know that the effectiveness of these rheumatoid treatments are quite good
and
aduhelm is not quite proven

the average cost of chemotherapy drugs can cost $1,000-$12,000 a month

so the price for aduhelm seems to me to be about right when compared to these other drugs
__________
03-21-2014
WHATS THE PRICE
in the next 2 years several alzheimers disease studies will be started with
different criteria for who gets in them
most of not all will be given a new biological infusion called
solanezumab
 
this will be given monthly for 3 years
it works by binding with antibodies to beta amyloid the sticky stuff
that accumulates in the brain
that  is thought to be the cause of alzheimers disease

the beta amyloid  is then removed from the brain
if it works it will slow down the disease
or
if we are all lucky cure the disease

there are several diseases now that use the same approach for
treating them
one eg is rheumatoid arthritis
patients may get an infusion of biologicals every 1-2 months
with names like infliximab or adalimubab
thats Remicade and humira

cost of getting infusions for a year are $10,000-$30,000+

note the similar sound to their generic names to the new drug
for alzheimers disease that will be used in these studies


the drugs for alzheimers disease used now
remember they only treat the symptoms
not the disease

these prices below are for 30 days treatment
cash prices from costco pharmacy

donepezil generic aricept $11.41
aricept brand                  $417.67
aricept 23                       $388.90 this was designed after the aricept
went generic and the price plummeted for the generic
folks dont let doctors put your family on aricept 23
its the things big pharma does when their drugs go generic
it doesnt work any better
and it cost you hundreds more a year

rivistagmine generic exelon $52.64
exelon brand                       $226
exelon patch                       $352.25
its no better than donepezil
its used instead of donepezil when donepezil causes stomach issues

for me
my stomach issues improved after 30 days and i was able to tolerate
the donepezil

namenda for now its brand is only $328.08
later this year a new product will be introduced called
you got it namenda xr
sounds familiar
the patent on namenda is going out next year
then other companies can make it

it will not work any better than namenda or the new generic
namenda
you know the cost will probably be in the $300-$400 a  month price range

namenda is usually added to the donepezil when the donepezil
loses its effectiveness later on in the disease
or
some are taking it with donepezil as soon as the diagnosis of
alzheimers is made
i have opted not to do this combo yet
when it is needed i probably will not be capable of making that
decision

if you presume all patients with alzheimers disease in the united states
are on donepezil
5,000,000 people have this disease now
thats $57,000,000 a year for the generic drug
add namenda to them
thats $1,640,000,000 a year more

now
we know this new solanezumab that will be used in these new
alzheimers disease trials will be expensive
if it works all those newly early diagnosed patients will be getting it
and
those of you who are young and who are tested for alzheimers disease
will probably start this drug early in life
maybe in the 40s
and will take it for the rest of your life
if you want to slow the disease down


cost im presuming for a years treatment will be $20,000-$30,000+
a year
we are talking about 20 years of people who will be told you will get
alzheimers disease
there will be millions of people wanting this drug

if you multiple the cost times 5,000,000 people an underestimate
thats $150,000,000,000 a year for this new drug

but can we afford as a society to spend that amount of money
each year to prevent or treat this disease

that 150 billion dollars just so happens to me the amount
that medicare and medicaid spends now each year on
alzheimers disease patients

interesting huh
and
that does not include what private health insurance pays what long term
care insurance pays and what we all pay out of our pocket

its a financially devastating as well as socially devastating disease
but
can we afford these new treatments

well
maybe we can

lets just hope that in the next 3-5 years that this new drug
works to slow down or stop this disease
so that we can answer this question
__________
it looks like now 8 years later we are facing this dilemma with aduhelm or aducanumab
so 
what are we going to do

the organicgreen doctor