organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-will this work maybe

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-will this work maybe: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WILL THIS WORK MAYBE there is late onset alzheimers disease thats what i have  it can be caused by the apoe4 gene especially...

alzheimers news-will this work maybe

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WILL THIS WORK MAYBE

there is late onset alzheimers disease
thats what i have 
it can be caused by the apoe4 gene especially if you get the homozygous or apoe4/apoe4 version
your risks are increased of getting alzheimers by 10-20 times
you can counterbalance the effects of the apoe4 gene by aggressively pursuing a healthy life style 

there is early onset alzheimers 
it can be caused by a dominant gene such that if you get this gene you will get alzheimers at an early age like 40s-50s

there is nothing you can do to stop the early onset gene
if you have the gene then you will get alzheimers at an early age

in the theory of alzheimers it is thought this amyloid plaques accumulates which kill brain cells then as these cells die tau proteins inside brain cells unravel and form tau tangles which kills more brain cells then inflammation sets it to kill more brain cells
thats what happens as the disease progress

some think that if you could remove those amyloid plaques or keep them from forming then alzheimers could be slowed down

new drugs called antiamyloid monoclonal antibodies were developed that will bind amyloid and or amyloid plaques and remove them from the brain

the first to get approved was my drug aduhelm or aducanumab
it worked to remove the amyloid plaque
it was taken off the market since it didnt work as well as the new drugs leqembi and kisunia
both of which are available for use in mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers and mild alzheimers disease

patients with early onset alzheimers who had the early genes like presenilin took these drugs and they didnt work

one of the early drugs they used was gantenerumab
in this study linked here and here these patients who had no symptoms were followed for 8 years
they all should have developed alzheimers symptoms
only 50% of them developed symptoms and 50% had no symptoms develop
it should have been 100% developed symptoms

this implies that the antiamyloid drug seems to be slowing down the disease symptoms

the plan now is to extend this longer using maybe leqembi since its approved and is available for use

there has been nothing thats ever worked in these genetic early onset alzheimers patients
nothing to slow down symptoms

the secret may be treating them months to years before symptoms start

then
will this then transfer to late onset alzheimers disease like i have

will treating these prealzheimers patients months or years before symptoms starts
will that delay and slow down symptoms
maybe

i feel like i was accidently diagnosed early so maybe this will help me 

i am watching closely studies using leqembi as a maintenance drug after you are initially treated for the 1 year to remove the amyloid plaques

for me 
i have mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers
i had my amyloid plaques removed with the aduhelm infusions

would taking leqembi monthly infusions as maintenance dosing prevent the plaques from reaccumulating
will that make a difference in slowing down this disease

It might
it may be the only option i have to do more than i have done to slow this all down
the other drugs in clinical trials probably wont get on the market in time to help me

i dont qualify for these new drug clinical trials as you have to have a positive amyloid pet scan to enter the studies
mine are now negative

a conundrum

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: garden news-spring has arrived

organicgreendoctor: garden news-spring has arrived: GARDEN NEWS-SPRING HAS ARRIVED we have increased our production in our community gardens this last year by about 2000 lbs so that in 2024 we...

garden news-spring has arrived

GARDEN NEWS-SPRING HAS ARRIVED

we have increased our production in our community gardens this last year by about 2000 lbs so that in 2024 we produced and donated over 7000 lbs of fresh produce ie veggies and fruits to those in need

we donate to the organic soup kitchen which produces nutrient rich soups for cancer patients elderly poor and others in need
those who cant afford the soups are given them free
we donate a lot of produce to them like kale swiss chard leeks onions broccoli cabbage tomatoes peppers herbs sweet peas beans squash and malabar spinach to name a few

we also give to a halfway house for men a halfway house for women a homeless shelter and several food pantries
these fresh food donations are more important now that federal funds are being cut to food pantries

this spring we will be planting tomatoes bell peppers jalapeno peppers poblano peppers and several other hotter peppers several beans squash like zucchini yellow squash 8 ball squash tatume squash trumpet squash malabar squash carrots herbs chayote squash green beans fava beans my favorite christmas lima beans kale lettuce swiss chard collard tree greens and others

the secret sauce to our increased production is the improvement of the soil

we add about 4 inches of either purchased bulk organic compost or the compost we make ourselves
usually the best compost to use is the compost you make yourself
we add an organic fertilizer a 444 ratio one
we do not till our beds but use instead a broad fork to work the soil
when we prep the beds we dig a shovel deep trench along the side of the bed and put that soil up on our beds
after digging the trench we fill it in with a thick layer of mulch
the trench works like a slow compost pile so that in 6 months much of it is broken down into compost which we then dig out 6 months later and put on our beds
we keep the walkways heavily mulch to limit weeds and hold moisture in the soil
we probably will not get any more rain for 6-8 months or more

we rake the beds smooth and add 3 drip tapes about 8 inches apart with drip holes every 6 inches 
the beds are 3 feet wide
later we will heavy mulch the beds with straw to hold moisture and suppress weeds

doing all this produces a rich garden soil that has helped us increase our food production

we use some of our grant money or donations folks make to us to buy 15 yards of the organic compost each year at a cost of around $1500
this compost plus the compost we make is enough to make all this produce grow so well

we use about 40-60 hours of volunteers each week to keep all this going

financially we have fundraisers like plant sales a christmas tree lot sale a fall harvest celebration event an end of the year online fund raiser via seedmoney.org
many of you have made donations to our cause
thanks

we do a fall harvest classes for over 500 elementary students 
this costs us around $4000 a year 

we also do a free easter egg hunt for the community 

several times during the year we do educational classes for a small donation
eg
i did a 2 hour class where i talked about how i garden in my 400 square foot garden
it was well attended and they had lots of questions

we have an upcoming 2 hour tour of several large local greenhouses that grows lots of different plants and veggies
the owner is one of our biggest supporters and is on our committee

I am the volunteer garden manager and am also the chair of the committee that runs the gardens

we had a lecture on how to to do a worm composter that was well attended
we had a lecture on how to dye using natural dyes
we had an artist teach an art class in our garden
sometimes the master gardeners program uses our garden for their classes
all these events are usually well attended

i recently got my last cataract removed 
if you have ever had that done you know how brilliant and bright and colorful everything is afterwards 

the next day after my surgery i went to the garden early as the sun was arising and had just hit the mountains in the distant

I stood just inside the garden and took off my bernie sunglasses and looked back towards the mountains in the distance with it wispy cloud then like a panoramic video i slowly turned in a circle taking in gradually all the colors and lights and sounds of the garden
my moment of zen this week

yes
spring has arrived
im pumped and ready to get going with this spring planting

tomatoes here i come

the organicgreen doctor 

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #216-i was ready

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #216-i was ready: MY STORY REVISITED #216-I WAS READY well i got my christmas wish that year the following year i got accepted in the biogen aduhelm study whe...

my story revisited #216-i was ready

MY STORY REVISITED #216-I WAS READY

well i got my christmas wish that year
the following year i got accepted in the biogen aduhelm study where i got 18 placebo infusions followed by 34 of the real drug aduhelm infusions
my initial amyloid pet scan was positive like that one in the old blog 
my final amyloid pet scan after all my infusions was negative like the negative one below

the bad thing about getting that christmas wish was that meant that i definitely had alzheimers

that year as mentioned in my blog below i reviewed the 5 years of memory tests with my neurologist which showed that my memory tests had returned back to normal
they have remained there since

when i was diagnosed in 2010 i felt a sense of doom
getting sympathy from friends and family

sadly some of those friends and family have died
something i had not expected
to outlive them intact
__________
10-19-2015
I BE READY
we had a nice weekend seeing a friend who has been ill
but seems much better
and
doing a walk to end alzheimers in little rock in front
of the clinton library

on team #joenash
the walk raised $100,000
for research and education
some of the monies from these walks are used in the
study i am in now

i saw the neurologist at the alzheimers research centers
memory care clinic on friday
in reviewing things with her over the last five years
my memory is much improved
maybe even normal based on what i notice
and
what she sees on my memory tests

i am under no illusion here that its all gone
its there just waiting to rise up and take over

now next month i will have my memory tests updated again
as part of the study im in
as well as
maybe getting a new scan for tau in the brain
quick review
tau is the protein that unravels in the brain in alzheimers
forming tangles and destroying brain cells
in the process
lots of inflammation occurs
the bad beta amyloid accumulates first then the tangles of tau

now that tau can be seen on scans

also ill be doing new memory tests online from home for
the study

but the most exciting is
they are getting new treatment studies there
one in particular that i really want to get in
using one of the new vaccines

in preliminary studies
when given to folks with memory loss
the memory tests improved
as well as
that bad beta amyloid gets removed from the brain

if this study shows it works well
it will become the new treatment for alzheimers
probably before folks have symptoms
yes
before folks have symptoms

i have to have the amyvid pet scan to get in the study
the scan for the bad beta amyloid
if its positive you probably have alzheimers disease
or will get it

so if i get into the study
that means only one thing
my scan is positive
which means
i probably do have alzheimers disease
so
ill know in january or february
good way to start the new year

so if i get a call
ogd you are accepted in the study
ill be maybe a little sad
that means only one thing
you got it
the big a

however
it is exciting
since i would if i dont get the placebo
a 50/50 chance
be getting treatment that if it works
will slow this stuff down
and
if it works
it will be available for public use for
everyone so diagnosed
soon after that

so
for my wife she and family
guess what i want for christmas
thats right
an amyvid pet scan and intravenous infusions each month
for 18 months

folks
i be ready
__________
i got my amvid pet scans
about 6 of them
i got my tau pet scans
around 3 of them
i got so many mris of the brain i lost count
i got lots of labs
i got lots of memory tests
i got all those 52 infusions
the result
my brain is free of measurable amyloid plaques
so far

will that translate to a slowing of this disease

maybe
maybe not

there is research ongoing that may recommend monthly infusions of aduhelms cousin leqembi which is on the market to use
they may recommend monthly infusions or serial infusions to keep the amyloid from reaccumulating

i was ready then
i be ready now

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: doritos can do this

organicgreendoctor: doritos can do this: DORITOS CAN DO THIS now im not a big doritos eater but i know when i do eat them i get this yellow stuff all over my mouth my hands my shirt...

doritos can do this

DORITOS CAN DO THIS

now im not a big doritos eater but i know when i do eat them i get this yellow stuff all over my mouth my hands my shirt my pants my chair my cell phone
its messy but good but not necessarily healthy

that yellow stuff we all think is cheese is really yellow dye #5 
it has tartrazine in it

now i read this article on how it works but i still cant quite figure it out in my brain how it works
you can read it to see what you think

but they took this tartrazine and rubbed it on a mouse and the scientists could see the veins bones and organs of the mouse like they were looking through an invisible skin

looking at the picture it looks like this vein finding light they use in the hospital looking for veins when mr hudson has to have an iv done
you sort of see through the skin to the veins
now
maybe they just need to rub some doritos on his arm

when i get through writing this i am going to rub doritos all over my arm to see if i can see through the skin to my veins and nerves and tendons and bones

man wouldnt that be a good thing to rub on your face for halloween
weird huh

i read again how this works but it doesnt seem real
it has something to do with the bending of light

so i just rubbed doritos all over my arm
nope all i see is yellow skin but the doritos tasted good

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: i fell backwards instead

organicgreendoctor: i fell backwards instead: I FELL BACKWARDS INSTEAD   this weekend we moved our clocks forward or we sprang ahead well we didnt really move our clocks  they just chang...

i fell backwards instead

I FELL BACKWARDS INSTEAD 


this weekend we moved our clocks forward or we sprang ahead
well we didnt really move our clocks 
they just changed on their own

now if we didnt have daylight not savings time we wouldnt ever have to change them
they would just stay the same

but no 
we cant seem to fix it
i thought trump said he was going to change it first thing
he lied
again
he didnt
he aint gonna change it

it seems we all mostly want to leave the clocks along
we just cant decide on whether to do daylight not savings time or keep it at standard time

we all are about 50 50 on which way to go
the politicians are afraid to make half of us mad
you wont make me mad since ill accept whichever way you go with this
just do it i say
i personally will accept that decision
doing nothing
well that what it  seems congress does 
is do nothing

arizona hawaii american samoa guam puerto rico and us virgin islands dont change their times
i guess i could move to arizona 

scientists say we would be healthier if we just stuck with standard time
its something to do with that morning sun

we have ben franklin to thank for all of this
he is the one that came up with the idea
he should have just stuck with electricity and lightning 

its been 3 days since the time sprung forward
i still havent caught up on my sleep
i do feel like i sprang forward but fell backwards when i did

i am a morning person
i like it when i sit in front of our window when the sun comes dashing through the windows
warming up and brightening up the room
i feel like i had an extra cup of caffeinated coffee when that happens

i can feel my pineal glad in my brain kicking it

now i dont feel that since that sun hits at a sprung forward time when i am out the door to the garden
in the garden when i get there the sun doesnt hit the garden full strength until an hour later after i have worked for awhile

i miss that invigorating sun when i first arrive
it even seems to affect the chickens 

maybe what i will do is just operate myself on my own standard time schedule
the heck with the politicians
they arent going to fix this i dont think

ill just adjust my schedule to fit the suns natural schedule

maybe thats the answer

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-i would do it

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-i would do it: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-i WOULD DO  IT in his blog dr daniel gibbs wrote about this interesting study described below could this be a new treatment...

alzheimers news-i would do it

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-i WOULD DO  IT

in his blog dr daniel gibbs wrote about this interesting study described below
could this be a new treatment or preventative treatment for alzheimers disease

the apoe gene controls lipid transport in the brain

if you have the apoe2 gene you are somewhat protected from getting late onset alzheimers
if you have the apoe3 gene you are less protected than if you have apoe2
if you have the apoe4 gene you are at increased risk of getting late onset alzheimers
if you have the apoe4 apoe4 gene you have an 15 times increased chance of getting the disease

we all have two genes
the best to have is apoe2 apoe2
the worst to have is apoe4 apoe4
in the middle is apoe3 apoe3

i like dr gibbs have the apoe4 apoe4 gene
i have mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers 
he now has progressed to mild alzheimers
i have not so far

he had a large brain bleed when he took aduhelm
luckily i did not have a brain bleed or brain edema when i took it

aduhelm leqembi and kisunia can cause brain bleeds in apoe4 patients
i got the benefit of 34 months of aduhelm
he only got a few doses before he bled

whats next
maybe this

with alzheimers
amyloid accumulates in the brain to form amyloid plaques
later tau protein unwinds to form tau tangles
the amyloid can be measured  in the spinal fluid and in the blood and on amyloid pet scans
the tau can be measured in the spinal fluid and in the blood and on tau pet scans

what if you could add the apoe2 gene to a person with apoe4 apoe4

would it make a difference in amyloid and tau levels and would it make a difference in a persons memory decline

they now have gene treatments for hemophilia so that the normal gene is given to a person with hemophilia and they have normal clotting studies for years
otherwise they have to get monthly infusions of clotting factors to stay alive
the cost of the gene treatment is 3.5 million dollars

there is a treatment for sickle cell anemia where the gene for normal hemoglobulin takes over to produce normal hemoglobulin 
sickle cell is a debilitating disease sometimes fatal secondary to strokes heart attacks or infection

so what if we could do something like that with alzheimers disease
maybe like change the apoe4 to apoe2

so in a study this company posted the results of just that

they took a virus that didnt cause health problems and loaded the apoe2 gene on the virus then injected that into the spinal fluid of patients with the apoe4 apoe4 gene

they found that the amyloid levels stabilized the tau levels declined and the memory stabilized
the person who had the more advanced alzheimers did the best

they also are doing the same thing with a mutated apoe4 called christchurch
this was taken from a lady from columbia who had the early onset alzheimers gene which causes you to develop alzheimers at a young age like 40-50
she didnt get it 
they discovered the christchurch apoe4 gene which was protecting her

now they making the christchurch apoe4 gene to attach to a virus to be injected into the spinal fluid
hopefully it will cause the same good results as it did in the columbian lady

this may work
they re planning larger clinical trials to see if it works
if it does this may be a way to slow this down or prevent it in those of us who have the apoe4 apoe4 gene

would i participate in the clinical trial
absolutely i would

would i consider being treated with this if it makes it to market
absolutely

the question is 
how much will it cost
a million 2 million 3 million

can we afford it
can i afford it

would i
i would

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: measles revisited

organicgreendoctor: measles revisited: MEASLES REVISITED photo from cdc this is how many cases of measles i saw in my career in family medicine from medical school to retirement a...

measles revisited

MEASLES REVISITED

photo from cdc

this is how many cases of measles i saw in my career in family medicine from medical school to retirement
a span of 32 years
zero is how many i have seen

those doctors who have been trained since i started have probably never seen a case of measles

the only case i ever saw in my life was me
i was probably 5 or 6
i remember being in bed sick for several days feeling lousy and being covered with a rash

maybe if a doctor had been to a third world country they might have seen a case of measles
but not in the usa

all of us trained who are alive saw cases only in textbooks

in fact a few years ago measles was declared wiped out in the us

well i guess they didnt wipe good enough as now its back again
gradually increasing each week
only 1 child has died
saddenly unnecessarily preventable
that hasnt happened for years

why

people not getting their kids immunized against measles

you need 95% vaccination rate to get everyone protected
when the rate drops below that that is when measles can appear

1/2 of the counties in texas have a vaccination rate of < 92.7%
this makes the inhabitants or visitors there vulnerable
the county where the outbreak occurred  has around a 67% vaccination rate

one person with measles can expose 18 people to the virus

imagine the kid with measles that recently traveled to austin via a plane and then wandered through the usually busy airport
how many did they infect and how many did those infected infect

we in the usa are at a 92.7% vaccination rate
thats below the needed rate of 95%

measles is the most contagious disease on the earth

there is one way to prevent it
get your measles shot

the most vulnerable are 
immunocompromised persons
children
pregnant women

there are 159 reported cases in texas
107 cases in gaines county the one with the 67% measles vax rate
22 have been hospitalized
one child died 
needlessly i must add

measles can cause
fetal abnormalities
blindness
pneumonia
meningitis
encephalitis
permanent neurological damage
suppression of the immune system for a period of time
deafness
then 
the  
worse

death

no vitamin a wont really help you
but a vaccine will prevent all of this

are we regressing in our health as a nation
we already rank lower than most of other industrialized countries especially in maternal and child health
Texas being one of the worst states for maternal and child health

i tell folks frequently 
i dont want to die from something i can prevent


the organic green doctor