ALZHEIMERS NEWS-I WILL DO IT
that is me speaking last year at the walk to end alzheimers
in four years i want to be able to vote again and be able to know that i voted again
i want to be able if asked to speak at the 2028 walk to end alzheimers
to do this
i have to
maintain my healthy living like i have been doing
continue taking my aricept or donepezil to slow down symptoms
then
look for other things that may come available to slow down this disease
i may have found one
maybe
in 2016 i had an amyloid pet scan that was positive for amyloid plaques in my brain
this is the hallmark of alzheimers disease
if you have alzheimers you will have a positive amyloid pet scan
i was accepted in the biogen aduhelm or aducanumab treatment study in 2016
i started infusions for 18 months that turned out to be placebo
the study was delayed twice once by the pandemic and once by problems with the study
it was eventually restarted and i received 34 months of aduhelm infusions
in the fall of 2023 my last amyloid pet scan was negative for amyloid plaque
in February of 2024 i had a final interview and studies for the biogen aduhelm study
so the goal was to remove the amyloid plaque
it aduhelm did its job
these drugs called moncolonal amyloid antibodies slow down memory decline by about 25-30%
my drug aduhelm was removed from the market in favor of its sister drug leqembi which showed slightly better results and had all its initial clinical trials completed
so leqembi is approved for use in mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers and for early alzheimers
the sooner you take it the better it works
another similar drug kisunia also was approved
now here i am 1 year after having all the amyloid plaque removed from my brain
what do i do now
wait
well no i dont l like to wait
so enter this thing below
this is the leqembi auto injector
it probably will be approved by the fda for administering leqembi
when i got my infusions it was a 3 hr drive to ucla and a 3 hr drive home
a visit to see the neurologist to approve the infusion
a wait for the meds to be mixed up by the pharmacist
an hour infusion time to get the meds
total time 9 hours
enter auto injector
time involved
15 secs to inject
done
if the autoinjector is approved by the fda then folks ie me can give it myself at home eventually
they are seeking approval by the fda for leqembi to be given as a maintenance injection once a week to keep the amyloid plaque from reaccumulating
i am anxiously waiting its approval
here is a review article about this from alzheimers weekly
my thoughts
ill definitely do it
if you are in the santa barbara area join us for our walk to end alzheimers at the link below
or
join a walk where you live
here is the link to our team organicgreendoctor to join or donate
see you on saturday november 16th at chase palm park
the organicgreen doctor
Is leqembi covered by insurance?
ReplyDeletesee my comment
Deletetogd
yes it its covered by medicare but not private insurance
ReplyDeleteyou have to be diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers or early alzheimers
you have to have an mri and an amyloid pet scan or a spinal tap for amyloid and tau
you also have to have the apoe 4 gene test to see if you are apoe 4 apoe 4 which puts you at an increased risk for brain bleeds
i am apoe 4 apoe 4 positive but did not have any brain swelling or bleeds when i took the aduhelm the cousin to leqembi
togd