alzheimers news-another new treatment

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-ANOTHER NEW TREATMENT

there have been 3 monoclonal antibodies cleared by the fda for treatment of early alzheimers disease
all 3 bind to amyloid plaques or amyloid to remove them from the brain
by removing this amyloid plaque it is thought and hoped that this will slow down the disease
not stop it or prevent it but slow it down

there were a couple that were developed that didnt work at all

then my drug aduhelm came along
it got fda approval but had a stormy course so that now its off the market
it worked but its sister drug leqembi probably works better so biogen chose to drop aduhelm and keep leqembi

the aduhelm after 34 monthly infusions removed all my measurable amyloid plaque

leqembi was approved by the fda and is being given to folks all over the country for early alzheimers
its given as a twice a month infusion at infusions centers
studies are being done so it can be given as a shot at your home
if approved that may be the way to go is to get the shot at home

then there is kisunia which is given once a month and probably works better but also probably has more side effects
its given as an infusion for a shorter period of time less than a year maybe

no one seems to know yet what to do once the initial treatment is done
we will have thousands of folks like me who have no measurable amyloid plaque wondering what to do next

now a new drug called remternetug is in phase 3 clinical trials
it works slightly different than these 3 but similar
it removes the amyloid also but probably with slightly more side effects
im sure it will get fda early approval once this phase 3 study is done

then
we will have 3 drugs to chose from
im not sure which one i will chose but i will watch this new one as it moves through the clinical trials and the fda approval process

here is a review article of the 3 drugs from alzheimers weekly

i just dont want that stuff that amyloid to reaccumulate in my brain

my suggestion is if you are early diagnosed with mci due to alzheimers or early alzheimers that you consider using one of these drugs
they may slow down memory decline by up to 30%

the major risk is aria or amyloid related imaging abnormalities manifesting as edema or bleeds
the instance is low and most resolve and the meds can be continued
i had no aria
those with the apoe4/apoe4 gene are at highest risk for these bleeds
an mri an apoe4 genetic test and an amyloid pet scan or a spinal tap for amyloid or tau are required to be screened before receiving one of these drugs

also during treatment regular mris of the brain are done to rule out aria

the only other thing that can be offered to you is aricept to slow down symptoms and to do all the healthy things one needs to be doing
then
sit and wait

if you wait too long and let the disease progress then these 3 drugs dont work

for me i prefer to be proactive so i sought treatment

will it make a difference 
i may not ever know
but i have no regrets in doing 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

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #211-my essence revisited

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #211-my essence revisited: MY STORY REVISITED #211-MY ESSENCE REVISITED my essence hasnt changed much since i wrote this old blog in 2015 the interviewer caught my ess...

my story revisited #211-my essence revisited

MY STORY REVISITED #211-MY ESSENCE REVISITED

my essence hasnt changed much since i wrote this old blog in 2015
the interviewer caught my essence in the article she wrote
i would say it was one of the better interviews that i have had since i started my journey with the disease

you can always tell an experienced and skilled interview when its happening
the four interviews i have done where the interviewer was skilled was this one the one done by the austin american statesman not long after i was diagnosed the one done by the ny times about my involvement in the aduhelm clinical trial and one done not long after i moved to santa barbara by a now deceased reporter for the local santa barbara paper which has since closed

the article mentioned by the blog below was set up by a former patient who worked for the local independent newspaper
The reporter did a great job with the interview
here is the link to that article

__________
10-10-2024
ALZHEIMERS NEWS-MY ESSENCE

over the last 5 years since my diagnosis i have been
interviewed multiple times by newspapers and television
and radio reporters
but last week i was interviewed by a reporter from the
above newspaper

here is the link to their website
the article will be available online soon
its now available in paper form at local businesses
and at their office

when i got home i told my wife she
that was one of the best interviews ive had of all
that ive had done

the reporter seemed to know what questions to ask
she when i read the newspaper article
caught
my essence

maybe at my funeral one day
hopefully years from now
someone will read that article aloud to all who attend

this my friends i want them to say
is the essence of
the organicgreen doctor

he did good

for others

special thanks to ka for setting this all up

today i do another alzheimers talk in a town nearby
called burnet
it is to the local state agri extension clubs annual meeting
there will about 50+ folks attending today

i like doing these talks
like in the above article
i talk about how i was diagnosed
my family history my personal history
what testing should be done for memory loss
what new testing is available now and will be available soon
what a person can do to maybe slow things down
what new treatment studies are going on
what links for more information
then the best part
i answer questions from the audience to hopefully give them
answers they are not finding elsewhere

yes
thats my essence alright

here are some slides from my presentation for you
and those who attended it today


those above the question marked tests are the ones
that most need to have to have a complete memory loss workup
those who havent had those may not have had a complete
evaluation


these things above may slow down the development
of memory loss
some think in some cases they may even prevent
memory loss
you should be doing all this anyway
all your life
i attribute my improvement to doing all of these
aggressively
and
taking my aricept (donepezil)


these are treatment studies that are ongoing now
they are looking for study subjects
the top three are on folks who have no symptoms
the colombian study is on a family with the dominant alzheimers gene
who have no symptoms
all three are using one of the new alzheimers vaccine
the sniff study is using nasal insulin
the bace inhibitor is a pill that inhibits an enzyme that
produces the bad beta amyloid

folks they are looking for volunteers
go to www.alz.org  or click this link


the www.alz.org is the best website for finding out information
for patients families caregivers or medical providers
the texas capital website is the local chapters
they can provide a lot of information for whats available
locally
the clinical best practices is about what workup and treatment
is available
its from the texas health department website
the last is the research center where i go
which by the way is where i will be week from today


__________
the initial workup for memory loss is the same except now if needed an amyloid pet scan is done to confirm the diagnosis of alzheimers disease or a spinal tap for amyloid and tau or soon a screening alzheimers blood test will be done

for treatment
its doing all the healthy things one needs to be doing
adding aricept or donepezil early on in the disease
then
consider taking infusions of leqembi or kisunia that may slow down symptoms by about 25-30%
they work better if started early in the disease
there will be more treatments available in the future

these studies i mentioned are mostly done
the a4 study showed the drug they used didnt help
i am not sure about the apoe4 study
the colombian study showed the moncolonal antibodies didnt work in early onset genetic alzheimers disease
the sniff study wasnt done 
the bace inhibitor study showed the bace inhibitors didnt work but instead made it worse

the clinical trials for aduhelm leqembi and kisunia showed these monoclonal antibodies may help slow down symptoms
i am glad i did the aduhelm clinical trial study treatments 
having all the amyloid plaques removed makes me feel better knowing its all gone
i just hope it helps slow down this disease

the alzheimers association website www.alz.org is still the best website to get information on alzheimers

i still do a lot of volunteering doing the same number of hours per week
i mainly just volunteer in our community garden as the garden manager and as the chair of the garden committee

so when i die
i want folks to say 
he gave back
he educated us about alzheimers and gardening

makes my life complete

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