organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #160-i came i saw i conquered

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #160-i came i saw i conquered: MY STORY  REVISITED  #160-I CAME I SAW I CONQUERED i vinied ividied and now im viciing for you non latin folks thats a latin phrase for i ca...

my story revisited #160-i came i saw i conquered

MY STORY REVISITED #160-I CAME I SAW I CONQUERED

i vinied ividied and now im viciing
for you non latin folks
thats a latin phrase for i came i saw i conquered
well
ive not conquered but im working on it

i presently have had about 24 infusions of biogens drug aduhelm that removes the measurable amyloid plaque from my brain
my pet scan next summer may not have any amyloid show up
if it does it will only be a small amount

the effect it has will be reported out in about 18 months
24+18 means i will have had 42 monthly infusions when this study ends

its expected that the study will show that the amyloid is gone on amyloid pet scans and that the slowing memory decline in those who are in the study will be about 22%

slowing of memory decline is quite acceptable in the alzheimers world

yesterday biogen and eisai reported at a large alzheimers conference its results on its drug lecanemab a cousin to my drug aduhelm
lecanemab attacks amyloid similarly but differently than aduhelm in that it attacks it earlier in the disease process

this study showed it slowed memory decline by 27% and had fewer side effects than aduhelm

its expected the fda will approve its use in january 2023
it will be up to medicare and medicaid and insurance companies to approve payment for its use

they wouldnt approve aduhelm but its expected they will approve lecanemabs use in mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease ie early in the disease process
a good reason to get diagnosed early

i will have a decision to make
stay with aduhelm or go with lecanemab

i will probably stay with aduhelm to finish the study in 2024 then whichever one works best ill go with it

nice to have a choice huh

there are two others that may get approved also next year 
so there may be 4 choices

we are not talking about a cure here
we are talking about time
time with your wife your kids your friends your grandkids
precious times
will it give us days weeks months or years
im hoping for that last one
years

i also mentioned the 36 point plan 
i started doing all of them but have now dropped some off
i control my blood pressure my cholesterol my weight  i exercise i get adequate sleep thanks to afternoon naps i am active socially physically mentally i am not depressed or anxious

based on abnormal labs i take folic acid vitamin b12 vitamin d3 i take a baby aspirin a day especially since i have ocular migraines which can be a tia variant i take choline i take probiotics
all those on are on the 36 point plan so im doing more than half of what he recommends

i tried to get in the a4 study using solanezumab but was turned down since i was on aricept or donepezil and had memory loss issues

i think this was the visit below where they laid out my moca test scores so i could see where i started then where my memory dropped then started rising again

my last several moca memory tests have been normal ie i get a 30 out of 30

this is about when i started to watch the research on aducanumab or aduhelm
it would be about 2-3 years later when i got into the study im in now where i got the 18 months of placebo followed by now about 24 month infusions of the real drug

there was a lot of hope in that visit 8 years ago
__________
10-09-2014
VINI VIDI VICI
thats what i did yesterday

as i was driving on i35 to dallas yesterday
i looked over to the left
there in a break in the clouds was the eclipse of the moon
it followed me for miles as i drove along
it was hard to take my eyes off it
then as the dawn broke
there to the right from the east
was the bright large orange sun peaking through
a break in the clouds

a sign is what i thought both of these things were

yesterday i underwent the annual reevaluation for
the adni study that im in at ut southwestern

yesterday i got a message from the alzheimers association
where you could click on a link to see where the money
goes when you donate to the walk to end alzheimers

there it was the adni study was prominent on the list
so i want to personally thank those of you who have
donated to the walks this year and in the past
i would not be able to be in this study without your support

i was asked a ton of questions
then i was sucked of a large quantity of blood
i told her she should have just pulled off a pint of blood
instead of putting a little bit in all those tubes
im sure there were 20 of them

then
off to the torture test the neuropsych test
this one i have down good
but
i still have the same problems in the same areas each
time i take it
i do notice ive taken so many of these that i already
know the answers

then after a brief pause where i took the video below
i then went to my neurology appointment to see the
neurologists

the bad news is i dont qualify for the A4 study since i have
memory issues and since i am on aricept  (donepezil)
the good news is that i may qualify for a new study
for people in my category that starts up in december
i will go up and do the interview and testing for this
study
i think if im correct that i will get the beta amyloid scan
that i am wanting

then
if accepted i will be put into either the treatment group
or the placebo group

the treatment group will be receiving monthly infusions
of the iv alzheimers vaccine solanezumab which should
bind the bad stuff beta amyloid from the brain
and if works slow things down or prevent the advancement
of the disease
at least for the 36 months of the study
if i get the placebo i will just get water

no placebo please

this is the biggest thing happening right now in the battle
against this disease
whether this approach will work we will know over the next
5 years since there are a lot of folks being treated with
this solanezumab

more when it happens

then i discussed at length the possibility of using the
36 point treatment that was discussed in the
recent article on research done at ucla

tomorrow i will go into more detail on this
i start the regimen this morning

if it helps it will show up on these neuropsych test
and i will know before anyone else knows

i do realize now that my mom dad and younger brother must
have noticed things long before anyone else did
research is showing thats the case
im living it i dont need research on that one

i also went over all my neuropsych test for the last 4 years
and they are all stable
but i personally feel some slippage has occurred
i notice it frequently

then when i had my break before my neurology appointment
i wondered the campus looking at all the new landscape they
were putting in at the new hospital addition there

in the back of the clinic i go to there was this long row
of purple native plants that looked like indigo spires or
similar plant
i did this short video of all the monarchs that were there
mesmerizing it was
like i was meditating

i think its a sign dont you

_________
the video we did of the monarchs all over those indigo spire wildflowers has been lost over time
the plants were a long row of probably 50 plants all covered with what seemed like hundreds of monarchs
i saw it as a sign that day
a sign
for today

are we almost there
i hope so

dear medicare medicaid private insurances
dont make those of us with alzheimers disease
your stepchild

what does that mean
 Something that does not receive appropriate care, respect, or attention

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-the trifecta is here now

organicgreendoctor: covid 19-the trifecta is here now: COVID 19-THE TRIFECTA IS HERE NOW this picture was taken of a sidewalk artists rendition of the covid virus when i took this picture almost ...

covid 19-the trifecta is here now

COVID 19-THE TRIFECTA IS HERE NOW

this picture was taken of a sidewalk artists rendition of the covid virus
when i took this picture almost 3 years ago i really thought we would be all done with this virus by now

now its rendition is the bq.1 and the bq.1.1 subvariants that are taking over
they are more transmittable but lucky for us arent causing as much deaths as the wildtype
those who are older and those who are immunosuppressed are getting the worst of this new variant
we are losing 300 folks a day now with covid in the us

the original wildtype one was more virulent and caused over a million deaths thanks partially to political and social shenanigans and the fact a vaxxine wasnt available
now most americans have been vaxxed and or have had the covid infection so most have some immunity

that immunity doesnt completely stop this new variant but it slows it down so that generally only those who are vulnerable will suffer the worse from a covid infection
i got sick with what i think was covid in march 2020
i was sick for weeks from a total lack of appetite
i lost almost 50 lbs and looked like a skeleton
at one point i thought i would die
but
i didnt

i lived to cach it again 6 weeks ago
i had minimal symptom but since my wife she had it i tested and tested positive
i got on paxlovid and had no symptoms 2 days later
i did rebound in about 10 days with a cough and marked fatigue which gradually resolved

i also had two other respiratory illness the last 2 months that werent the flu or covid
i felt worse from them then i did from the recent covid infection

the sources of these infections were probably grandkids and a traveling acquaintance
thats probably how many of you will catch these respiratory infections even if you are being careful

so to protect yourself against covid

get all your booster shots especially the bivalent covid shot
since my wife she and i got covid we will wait until january to get ours

wear a mask in high risk situations

if you do test positive and are in a high risk category consider taking paxlovid
eg my wife she and i had symptoms and tested ourselves and got paxlovid for 5 days
i know that stuff leaves an awful taste in your mouth but its better than being sick

avoid sick folks as most will either have covid rsv or the flu

wash your hands 

if you are sick stay home

the flu is here now
its going to be worse than the last two years since folks have been not as active  and are now not doing protective things like masks 
its a h3 virus

the flu shot works ie they got it right this year
it can prevent you from getting the flu and from getting sicker 
the same groups are at risk from getting the flu as with covid
there are antivirals you can take that may slow it down some but you have to get on it within 2 days of starting symptoms eg tamiflu

my advice
get the flu shot
wear a mask in high risk situations
consider testing and taking meds if you are high risk
wash your hands
stay home if you are sick

the rsv or respiratory synctial virus outbreak is here
it attacks young infants preemies and older folks the worse
there is no treatment

kids especially babies can get in respiratory distress and need nebulizing treatments and some will need to be hospitalized
older folks can get a bad bronchitis that can lead to respiratory distress and hospitalizations
grandparents if you catch this you will probably get it from your grandkids

i have had a heavy exposure over the years to rsv so hopefully i have a lot of immunity to it
but
as one gets older that immunity wanes a lot

we have two years of kids that havent been exposed to rsv so they have no immunity to it so we are seeing those two years of kids getting sick with rsv in the same year this year

my advice
wear a mask around sick kids
wear a mask in high risk situations
wash your hands

there is nottreatment or vaxxine
there may be a vaxxine available for pregnant women and older folks next summer
there will be one for kids later

i read today even the birds and chickens are getting hit hard from avian flu this year
hope it doesnt jump to us humans and cause more misery

so my advice
get your vaxxine shots
wear a mask
wash your hands
avoid sick folks
stay home if you are sick
kids need to seek medical evaluations if respiratory symptoms worsen 
same for us old folks

next year these three viruses will have preventative vaxxines we can take to prevent us from getting sick

be prepared for a bumpy bumpy ride this winter in regards to respiratory illness

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #159-im quite thankful

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #159-im quite thankful: MY STORY REVISITED #159-IM QUITE THANKFUL when i wrote the blog below 8 years ago i was 4 years out from my diagnosis my memory had dropped ...

my story revisited #159-im quite thankful

MY STORY REVISITED #159-IM QUITE THANKFUL

when i wrote the blog below 8 years ago i was 4 years out from my diagnosis
my memory had dropped off but was starting to rise back to normal
i was active working on the country n and doing gardening
i was volunteering at habitat for humanity building homes
i did the landscaping for each house
i also was delivering meals on wheels to folks along a 20 mile mostly rural delivery route
i also had done several projects helping put veggie gardens at schools
i also had helped a few schools to add rainwater harvesting tanks to their gardens
so
i was busy
i was still in the alzheimers neuroimaging initiative adni in the mild cognitive impairment mci portion portion of the study
we were traveling frequently to visit family in california and arkansas as well as taking vacations elsewhere

except for my diagnosis things were good
i spent time that day remembering my younger brother who had died a year earlier with alzheimers

i considered my self lucky on that day that year and was quite thankful to be alive

now 8 years later
i am quite thankful this thanksgiving for being in relatively good health for my age
since i wrote this blog i have now 4 grandkids and weve moved half the country away to california

i am busy volunteering mostly at our community garden which i frequently write about
i am in the biogen aduhelm study at ucla called embark where i receive monthly infusions
my memory seems to be intact as my latest memory tests show
we stay busy being grandparents

we have little to complain about
we are contented
we are thankful this thanksgiving for where we are at physically and emotionally


the picture below in the old blog is looking up our driveway towards the highway
i chose to not pave this driveway but leave it as it was when we bought the place
along the driveway there would be lots of wildflowers during wildflower seasons
those red trees are called flameleaf sumac
they turn this beautiful red color that pops out in the photograph
during the spring there are large cream colored flowers on the trees that are swarmed with honeybees
when you walked among these trees you felt like you were inside a beehive the bees were so loud

yes we had and have a lot to be thankful for then and now
_________

11-26-2014
IM THANKFUL

i would like to wish those of you who read
my blog
a happy thanksgiving

i am quite thankful of your readership
have a good one
__________
we my wife she and i would like to wish each of you a 
happy happy thanksgiving day this year

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: garden news-how i plant garlic

organicgreendoctor: garden news-how i plant garlic: GARDEN NEWS-HOW I PLANT GARLIC   i have grown garlic for about 20 years in texas i usually had a good crop i planted them in the late fall o...

garden news-how i plant garlic

GARDEN NEWS-HOW I PLANT GARLIC 

i have grown garlic for about 20 years
in texas i usually had a good crop
i planted them in the late fall or early winter
then
harvested them in the late spring usually around late may or early june

i then took the bulbs and let them dry 
i usually also braided them and hung them from our barn or garage
cutting off what we needed

at the country n we would have around a 100 in those braids
they would last almost a year before we used them all up

now here in santa barbara its been a struggle to grow garlic in our garden
in april may june when the garlic needs to be drying out
we get this marine layer that wreck havoc on the garlic
they get fungal diseases and can rot

eg
last year we had a good harvest but there was so much marine layer that they eventually 
mostly all rotted since they could not dry out or cure

now
if we have less marine layer during those 3 months the garlic do ok
my first year i had a good crop that stored well in our garage
but
ive not had a good crop since

the last two years i didnt store what garlic i got
i just peeled them and then chopped them up in the blender and stored them in ziplock bags in the freezer
we broke off what garlic we needed for soups stews and cooking

here in this area everywhere is a microclimate
a mile away towards the mountains may be drier and they do better
we tend to fight the marine layer at the garden
its worse closer to the beach which is about 2 miles away
this also affects our onions and tomatoes and squash

this year ive decided to do a small planting of about 20 garlics to see how i do this year

how you plant them is the same no matter where you live
when you plant them is different

the most important is the soil
i add a layer of 3-4 inches of compost plus a sprinkling of organic fertilizer per the bags recommendation
i then fork this in well then rake the bed out smooth
my beds are 3ft x 7ft
i plant my garlic 6 inches apart 
the bed looks like this with five lines of garlic
. . . . . . . 
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .
some folks do just a long row and do rows about 18 inches apart
ive always done mine in raised beds like above


i buy my garlic from a local nursery 
its a garlic that grows well around here
its a soft neck garlic 
you can use garlic from the grocery store but if you do try to use organic garlic since on some veggies that are not organic they spray stuff to keep it from spouting

i break the garlic bulbs apart like in the picture above
i plant these cloves pointed end up about 1.5 inches deep
i try to use the largest cloves
i then cover them and water them in well with a fish emulsion seaweed molasses mixture

i put mine on a dripper system thats watered every 3 days for about 30 minutes
this will vary based on how much rain we get

when the garlic green stalks turn brown they are ready to harvest
be sure and stop irrigating them a month before you harvest
i usually pull them and leave them out in the sun to dry for 2-3 weeks
then 

i will braid them in braids like in the video below


here if its been a heavy foggy spring
i will lose a lot of garlic to rotting

so
im hoping for a good garlic crop this year
hoping the weather will cooperate

i know in texas if we had a dry june the harvest and curing would go well
not so here
but
as ive found each year is different

try garlic where you live
talk to farmers market folks or local nursery folks or friend who grows garlic

ive chosen not to plant a large crop in the community gardens since we didnt get a good harvest the last two years that didnt cure well

tis the life of a gardener
you are at the mercy of the weather and climate

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-what does chris hemsworths labs mean

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-what does chris hemsworths labs mean: A LZHEIMERS NEWS-WHAT DOES CHRIS HEMSWORTHS LABS MEAN folks are always asking me questions about alzheimers disease eg yesterday a lady aske...

alzheimers news-what does chris hemsworths labs mean

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WHAT DOES CHRIS HEMSWORTHS LABS MEAN

folks are always asking me questions about alzheimers disease
eg
yesterday a lady asked me about her two relatives
one she said had early onset alzheimers disease
he was in his mid 70s and was on aricept or donepezil

early onset alzheimers is a genetic disease that represents around 1% of all the cases of alzheimers disease
if you get the gene you are going to get the disease 
the symptoms start usually in the 40s or 50s
folks with the disease die in their 50s or early 60s

i think she meant he had early or mild alzheimers disease
very few if any early onset alzheimers disease patients are alive in their mid 70s

then there is the late onset alzheimers disease gene
late onset alzheimers occurs in the mid 60s and beyond
its associated with the late onset alzheimers gene called apoe 4
if you get one version your risk is increased by about 5 times
if you get two versions apoe 4 apoe 4 then your risk is increased about 20 times

it doesnt mean you will get alzheimers disease but you are at increased risk

if you are vigilant and control your blood pressure your cholesterol your diabetes control you anxiety and depression get adequate sleep dont smoke control you weight stay active physically mentally and socially avoid excessive alcohol use dont smoke you might be able to prevent or slow down the risk of getting alzheimers disease

this lady had another elderly relative who has alzheimers disease
he is on aricept or donepezil and is also doing well
he probably has the apoe 4 gene 

then i saw this article linked here on chris hemsworth
who is he i thought
so i googled him
i know i know some of your females know who he is
he is thor
he is doing a series for disney plus national geographic doucseries called limitless
you can read the article or watch the trailer to find out all the dangerous things he does in that series

here is the link to the trailer for the docuseries limitless
one dangerous thing he did was do his genetic testing for alzheimers disease
the results was read to him live on his limitless program
note im not sure if its aired yet on disney plus

so 
i am looking forward to seeing that program to see how he reacts and how they explain what his labs all mean

my advice to thor
is
since you are 39 years old you have time left to counterbalance the fact you have the double version or homozygous apoe 4 apoe 4 late onset alzheimers gene

just do those things that are listed above
watch the alzheimers clinical trials closely
keep your eye on the drug studies that start treating folks who are prealzheimers or prodromal alzheimers

prealzheimers or prodromal means you have changes in the brain for amyloid and tau that can be detected soon with blood tests but now with spinal taps for amyloid and tau and now with amyloid pet scans and tau pet scans
but you dont have symptoms 

sorry to tell you its possible that in 10 years if you are going to get alzheimers those blood tests and spinal fluid tests and pet scans will be positive

thats when you will be called prealzheimers if you are having no symptoms
thats 
when
you want to get in a clinical trial with a drug that will remove the amyloid and maybe the tau tangles before they can do too much damage
its also possible that by 10 years those drugs will probably be available outside clinical trials

it will be like keeping you cholesterol levels in the normal range so you wont get a heart attack or stroke later in life

i dont think i would test your younger kids though
let them make that decision themselves later in life

i did notice though that he is doing some real dangerous filming for his docuseries called limitless
if he is not careful he wont have to worry about having the apoe 4 gene

for the rest of you i wouldnt get the apoe 4 gene testing unless you understand what it all means
im sure and i look forward to watching the show where he is told the results
hopefully they did some genetic counselling before hand

there is a nice paragraph in the article i linked where he says
“Most of us, we like to avoid speaking about death,” he explained. “Then to all of a sudden be told some big indicators are actually pointing to this as the route which is going to happen, the reality of it sinks in. Your own mortality.”

i know when i did my memory testing 12 years ago i remember the overwhelming sinking feeling i felt when i couldnt remember things 
i had that same feeling again when i got my positive apoe 4 apoe 4 results
i again had that same feeling when i got my positive spinal fluid results
i really had that same feeling maybe worse when i got my positive amyloid pet scan results
its the one that verified
man you definitely have it

my approach has been his approach he described in the article

so
dont do it if you dont think you can deal with it

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: garden news-only a gardener understands

organicgreendoctor: garden news-only a gardener understands: GARDEN NEWS-ONLY A GARDENER UNDERSTANDS this is a pano view of my garden it is about 400 square feet it is made up of 8 beds that are about ...

garden news-only a gardener understands

GARDEN NEWS-ONLY A GARDENER UNDERSTANDS

this is a pano view of my garden
it is about 400 square feet
it is made up of 8 beds that are about 3x7 feet
there is a fence along the left side that i use to run beans peas malabar spinach or squash on
this winter i am not using the fence 
the bed below the fence is about 18 inches wide and 18 feet long
i have planted swiss chard lettuces spinach in this bed
i do a cut and come method in this bed trimming the plants for salads and cooking but leaving enough for the plant to regrow more veggies

this is a picture from the end of the summer crops 
the tomatoes peppers kale squash basil are all gone
recently i prepped the beds with compost and organic fertilizer and have replanted winter crops
curly kale
broccoli
cauliflower romenesco broccoli and broccolini 
snap peas and sweet peas on a trellis
a 7 foot single row of garlic
strawberries
soon about 60 onions and about 60 leeks
usually i sneak in other plants as the year progresses like radishes maybe carrots 

in about 6 weeks this garden will be full grown and little bare ground will be visible
yes
we eat all of it ourselves

this week i saw a posting on 
you know you are a gardener if

1 if you consider well aged feces a good gift
manures are great fertilizer
we use some chicken manures and bat guano and steer manure in our garden

2 when you see someone cutting or trimming a tree you ask if you can have some
i usually ask can i have some of that for our composter
we have a chipper that trims the branches

3 you have taken peoples leaves or other trash to use for mulch
yes im real guilty of that
at the country n i use to get about 100 bags of leaves for my compost pile and to use at mulch

4 you have saved seeds or pits for use in your landscape
i dont save pits since sometimes they dont grow well
but yes i save seeds sometimes

5 you hoard yogurt containers water bottles and egg cartons
yes on egg cartons since we have chickens at our garden
the containers or bottles get recycled

6 you sometimes forget your to do list since the plants need staring at
i will say im going to go to the garden to water wink wink
i come back 3 hours later all sweaty and dirty from compost and garden soil
now i do have a to do list for the garden
it gets done though 

7 you think store bought tomatoes are disgusting
i told my wife she this the other day when i had to buy those awful store tomatoes

8 a sale at the nursery is better than a sale at a department store
absolutely true

9 when you meet someone who gardens you feel an immediate bond with them
absolutely true also

10 you woulnt be reading al; this if you werent a gardener

soon i will leave to go to the garden after the sun burst through our living room window to give me my dopamine surge
i will have a pale of food scraps egg cartons and my garden to do list with me

today i will be working with several volunteers in our main garden to prep several garden beds harvest veggies and herbs for donations harvest bananas from our banana grove harvest citrus from our orchard water plants pull weeds and more

so
yes 
i understand

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #158-im glad i didnt qualify

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #158-im glad i didnt qualify: MY STORY REVISITED #158-IM GLAD I DIDNT QUALIFY when i wrote the blog below i was at the tail end of the adni2 study i was in it was a lot o...

my story revisited #158-im glad i didnt qualify

MY STORY REVISITED #158-IM GLAD I DIDNT QUALIFY

when i wrote the blog below i was at the tail end of the adni2 study i was in
it was a lot of diagnostic testing over a five year time period
like blood work mris memory testing spinal taps amyloid pet scans etc
i was looking for the next alzheimers study to participate in
i wanted one that used a drug that might help

one study described below was the a4 study
folks with no symptoms would be given a long term treatment with a drug called solanezumab
which removes amyloid from the brain

i would interview to get in the study
i was rejected since i had memory loss that showed up on memory testing

this a4 study will be reporting its results this year or the next
the drug removes amyloid plaques from the brain similarly but slightly different from the one im on now 
biogens aduhelm

when solanezumab was used to treat patients with early alzheimers it did not work
i expect thats what will be shown with the a4 study

also i decided to get on the reversal of cognitive decline protocol which i took for a couple of years but gradually weaned off some of the supplements that werent based on good evidence they worked or based on abnormal labs
eg
my vitamin b12 was below normal so i take vitamin b12 every day
my vitamin d3 was below normal so i take vitamin b 12 every day
the other things i do on the protocol are things we all should be doing like controlling blood pressure cholesterol diabetes weight getting adequate sleep controlling anxiety depression stress eg

i have been on this now for 8 years

i saw my neurologist that day to get a refill of aricept or donepezil 
taking this early in my diagnosis may be one of the things that has slowed down my symptoms

it was also about this time i was looking for a treatment study
since the a4 study rejected me
i started looking at the aducanumab now called aduhelm studies which were recruiting patients
it would take 2 more years to get in that study

i am due to get my #24 aduhelm infusion at ucla in 3 weeks
then
later next month i have an all day of testing for the study
__________
10-08-2014

IMPORTANT DAY
this is an important day today for me
in my fight against the possibility of having alzheimers disease

this morning i leave at 500am to make the 3 1/2 hr drive to
the alzheimers research center at ut southwestern in dallas
for my first of several appointments today


the first one is a follow up on my annual visit for the
adni study or alzheimers disease neuroimaging initiative study
where i have several annual tests done
i had mentioned two months ago that funding was delayed or
discontinued for this study long term
this is the largest and most important study thats ever been done
on alzheimers disease
hundreds of research articles have be published from the data
yes some of my data is in there from this adni study

so today i get to repeat a lot of what was done in august
lots of questions especially memory questions
lots of blood drawn for rna and dna analysis chemistry lab tests
alzheimers blood test etc
an examination by a neurologist
then
i am so lucky
i get to repeat the much dreaded torture test
the neuropsych test
the examiner and i have become friends she has given
me this test so often

then
on another date next month i get an mri scan of the brain to see
if any brain shrinkage has occurred or especially if the area
where alzheimers starts the hippocampus has shrunken at all


then sometime this morning i do an interview for a new research
study called the A4 study
AntiAmyloid in Asymptomatic Alzheimers study

basically they are looking for folks 65-85 yrs old
normal mental status
with positive biomarkers-abnormal pet scan for beta amyloid
(they do this scan on all volunteers)

then the selected folks will receive what i call the alzheimers
vaccine solanezumab as an infusion for 36 months
or a placebo
no placebo for me please

if it works it will remove beta amyloid from the brain and the
disease process will be slowed down or stopped
several other studies are going on similar to this all over the world

you would think folks would be jumping in line for this study
a potential game changer in alzheimers treatment and prevention
but
no they are having trouble finding folks to join the study

me im el numero uno in line for this study
up front i am

if you are even remotely kin to me you probably are a candidate
for this study

please if you know someone who may qualify
click on this link for more information on how to volunteer
we cant find an answer unless you volunteer
in texas its ut southwestern and baylor college of medicine houston
in california its ucd, uci, ucla usc, ucsd, ucsf etal
in okla its tulsa university
look your state up for the nearest locale
ark its ut southwestern in dallas or tulsa university in okla


then after lunch today i meet with the neurologist that sees me
at ut southwestern for my annual follow up visit
this is not a research visit
its the real deal like when you see your doctor
i chose to be followed there instead of in austin since it has
worked out better for me coordinating my care

i mainly go to get my refill for my aricept (donepezil) which
may be slowing down my symptoms i hope


examiner.com

then
i plan to discuss a new study from ucla
i mentioned it in last fridays blog
its called
reversal of cognitive decline a novel therapeutic regimen
by dr dale bredesen
i plan to do a longer more involved blog on this on friday

basically its using life style changes ive written about before
then based on evaluation and labs using vitamins and supplements
i counted 16 of them total

his results
9 out of 10 folks studied got better
the one that didnt was a more advanced alzheimers patient in a later
stage of the disease
the other folks were early like me or more advanced then i am

so i think it may be beneficial and worth trying
whats to lose right

i will discuss my getting on this regimen with her
even i think if it means i cant do the A4 study or the adni study
thats how important this may be

so today is an important day for me
a crossroads maybe
a cure probably not but more of a way to slow down
and delay things
__________
i am glad things worked out like they did
ie i didnt get in the a4 study
we will know in about 2 years how well aduhelm really works
its cousin lecanemab is lowering cognitive decline by 27%
it spossible aduhelm will get close to that wihen its results finally come out 

in the meantime
ill just keep getting infused each month

the organicgreen doctor