alzheimer worm

ALZHEIMER WORM

there he or she is the alzheimer worm
yesterday i got to hold a petri dish full of these
alzheimer worms
i wrote about them recently when i wrote about my composting
worms i had put in my garden

holding that petri dish up to the light and seeing those
little worms that were the size of this .
i will admit that i was in awe
i did get sweaty and my heart rate picked up as i
held that dish

why

what if they held the answer that we have all been looking for

it will be pure science by researchers like those at this
ut lab i visited that will provide the answer or the piece of
the puzzle that is needed for a cure or treatment for
alzhiemers disease

the worms called scientifically c.elegans
are transparent so that you can actually see with a microscope
the neurons that run down their bodies
there are a limited number of them so if one is damaged
you can easily see it

they also have only a limited number of genes i think it was 230+
so when you add a research gene its easily identified on the
worms limited genome
humans have millions of genes

these worms only live 7 days so when a gene for alzheimers is
inserted into their genome its affects will be noticed in 3 days
in humans it will be 20-30 years
in research rats it will be months and sometimes several years
before the genes effect show up

these researchers inserted a alzheimer gene into the worms
genome that produces a protein that accumulates in humans
who have the gene and they develop alzheimers

remember this process occurs over years in humans
but in only 3 days in the alzheimer worm
so its easy to try different treatments to see if those drugs or
chemicals or foods can prevent the protein from forming
thus potentially preventing or slowing down alzheimers

they also have been able to attach fluorescence to these genes so
they will fluoresce hopefully purple since thats the alzheimers
associations color
if this alzheimers protein is produced

then it can be identified simply with the microscope instead of doing
a more lengthy and expensive procedure to identify the protein

in fact hundreds or thousands of chemicals or compounds could
be tested at one time and if there is fluorescence then that can
be measured easily

so drugs or chemicals that are new or old drugs could quickly
be evaluated and within 3 days you will know if they have
potential to work against alzhiemers disease

one drug that was tested was the anticancer drug bexarotene
when it was applied to these alzheimer worms the protein
was not produced and there was no degeneration of
neurons in the worms ie those worms didnt get alzheimers

transfer that to humans
if you gave bexarotene to humans in the early stage or even
earlier than that then they would not develop alzheimers
or develop more alzheimers
hence a cure or treatment for this disease

in fact in 2013 this drug bexarotene which is generically
available now will be tested in a study with humans next year
so we should soon have an answer on this soon

the alzheimer worm research which is not published yet implies
that it may work
from the research lab to the clinical trials
thats how this mystery will be solved

thanks to the research scientists at ut austin for giving me a tour
of their lab
and giving me some hope for the future

the organicgreen doctor

real zoom zoom

REAL ZOOM ZOOM
this weekend i was feeling so hot
zooming along with my speedometer set on 85 mph
as the landscape zipped by real fast

then as i got close to the airport i saw the exit to
the circuit of americus racetrack and then saw its
tower and 3.47 mile track
this brought me down to earth to reality

this weekend 120,000 people will be sitting in those
stands watching those formula 1 grandprix cars
zip around that track at up to 220 mph
thats almost three times the speed that i was going
and was feeling real good and real cautious at the
same time

the new 130 highway that allows 85 mph driving has
had a problem with feral hogs running across the
highway at night
heck theyve had all that landscape to themselves
for awhile

i can only imagine what those 220 mph cars could
do to a feral hog
if they save the hogs tail they can turn it in for cash

there will be an estimated 300,000 people dumped
into the austin area this weekend
party city is definitely going on downtown for sure

they have leased 500 buses to haul folks back and forth
heck some people will be hopping on helicopters near
their hotels and skipping all those traffic jams to land
on a special helipad at the race

figure those folks got more money than they know
what to do with

the 20 minute ride to the airport will take its estimated
up to 3 hours to get there

the traffic congestion starts today and intensifies this weekend
if youve been through austin on i35 you know its bad already
at times
this will be the worst of the worst

my wife she and i had elected to stay away from the area
however
i have a meeting today with a ut researcher who is working
on the alzheimers worms
(more on that meeting tomorrow)
think it may be on the perimeter of the streets that will be closed

my wife she and her fearless friend will be going into the eye of
the tiger on saturday to a festival downtown
theyll never learn

ill be on the perimeter north of austin doing my habitat for
humanity thing then later watching college football on the
comfort of my couch at the country n

yes real zoom zoom
wish i could watch it live though
maybe ill glance at it on speed tv during the commercials of
the football game

the organicgreen doctor

worms, alzheimer worms

Walk to End Alzheimers
we are also walking in the bell county/temple 
walk to end alzheimers on saturday november 3 2012

you can walk free but a donation to and or joining
my organicgreendoctor team is appreciated

WORMS

in digging in my compost pile
digging in my garden
digging in my flower beds
one thing i noticed was that there were very few worms

there use to be lots and lots of worms in my landscape
while wondering what happened to those worms
i realized that the drought that weve had here has taken
a toll on my worm population in my soil

since i dont irrigate my landscape anymore and i
dont water my garden in the summer unless its being
used to grow plants
which is usually only one 4 ft x 12 ft raised bed while i
let the other rest for the summer
what is happening i think is my worms are dying from
the lack of moisture
they are provided tons of organic material in the form of
compost and mulch and newspapers used as mulch

so i have found this worm farm in austin texas to order
some worms from
in fact they are giving a seminar on worm composting at
my favorite organic nursery the natural gardener on
saturday november 10th at 1000am

so i ordered 2 lbs of worms
yep just like you would order chicken or beef
theres 800-1000 per lb
so i got 2000 worms +-
they were a little sluggish when they arrived via mail
it was cheaper to have them shipped then to drive to go
get them
my mailman told me he has delivered worms before that were
all dried up
mine were alive just a little slow

once i dumped them in a hole in my garden they became
more active
i divided them into several groups and placed them in each
of my raised garden beds
all have plenty of organic material and moisture from recent rains

didnt put them into my compost pile as its in the chicken run
dont think they would have lasted long the way those chickens
go after the compost pile every day

now just need to wait until they can multiply
they are hermaphradites so each can produce babies
up to 200 per worm

hope they are ready and working hard for my spring garden next year

ALZHEIMER WORMS

well thats what i call them
alzheimer worms
their official name is
caenorhabditis elegans
c elegans for short
they are 1 mm long live in the soil and are transparent
they are used in research because you can see everything
the digestive system reproductive system nervous system

at the walk to end alzheimers this weekend in austin
researchers from ut austin were there talking about the
research they were doing on this itty bitty worm

they have developed a worm
the ones i call the alzheimer worms
who develop alzheimers in 3 days
so they can test drugs on these worms and in 3 days see
if they work to prevent alzheimers disease
they can tell by looking at the nerves in the worms to see
if they have degenerated
have those beta amyloid plaques

they are testing many new drugs and chemicals and
are also testing the bexarotene the anticancer drug that will
be used next year in a clinical trial in humans to see if it
slows down the alzheimer process in the brain

so who would have thought that a composting worm would
help me at home in my garden and in the research lab to
evaluate treatments for this awful disease

makes me have a new appreciation for those worms now

the organicgreen doctor