welcome to the organic green doctor blog

i am a family physician who was diagnosed with
early mild cognitive impairment(mci) amnestic type on december 21, 2010
this is a precursor to alzheimers disease
because of this diagnosis i have opted to stop practicing medicine
this blog will be about my journey with this disease
please feel free to follow me along this path
i will continue blogging on organic gardening, green living,
solar power, rainwater collection, and healthy living
i will blog on these plus other things noted to be interesting

Thursday, January 13, 2011

how does donepezil (aricept) work, lady bugs

HOW DOES DONEPEZIL (ARICEPT) WORK
donepezil (aricept) works in the brain by inhibiting the
enzyme acetylcholinestrase that breaks down the chemical
acetylcholine
thus it is called an acetycholinesterace inhibitor

acetylcholine is is a chemical that helps many brain functions
such as memory, attention, reasoning, and language
(doesnt help me remember names-long time problem)
(does make me more attentive-know now what people with
add feel when they get on medication so they can focus and
be productive)

in alzlheimers there is a destruction of the cells that produce
acetycholine  so the levels of acetycholine drop

by inhibiting the enzyme the levels of acetycholine go up in the
brain and remain up for a while
this helps to slow the decline in memory

however its effects are short lived-a few months to
a few years

it is not a cure for alzheimers
it does not slow down the progression of the disease

the problem with alzheimers is that the diagnosis is usually
made too late to slow down the symptoms much

it is important that an early diagnosis be made (as is in my
case-very early diagnosis) so that medication can be
started (donepezil-aricept) and
testing can be done (labs, genetic tests, spinal tap anaylysis,
mri and pet scans ) and
life planning can be done

then when this medication doesnt work any more another
medication is usually added-most commonly used is exelon

www.alz.org (alzheimers association web site)

LADY BUGS 

on a lighter note
add lady bugs to an organic pest control program
can buy and release them in your garden
every one loves lady bugs

demonstrated that once in the clinic
we developed a problem with aphids and flies on
the plants in the clinic
i did not want them to call a  pesticide
company to come in to drop some toxic bomb
in the clinic to kill the insects so
i bought a bag of lady bugs and
released them everywhere in the clinic

people and patients dont like spiders, ants, other bugs
but they love lady bugs
we had lady bugs everywhere

they were on many of the plants going to work
they love aphids

kids would let them crawl on their arms and some
took them home even the adults and elderly enjoyed them

eventually they all disappeared but hopefully the kids
and employees learned something about green gardening
from the lady bug exposure

the organicgreen doctor

10 comments:

  1. That would have been fun to visit the office when the ladybugs were there. My mother-in-law had a ladybug problem for a few years in her home. Every year ladybugs would crawl through the cracks and cover her livingroom. There were literally hundreds and hundreds she would sweep up everyday. We didn't like ladybugs after that. :)

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  2. That would have been cool to see. I wish I had been there when that happened. I know jennifer would have loved that. She used to always let them crawl all over her. :)

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  3. Celeste just opened your letter from ARC, and she said: "Does Dr. Nash need a doctor to help him? I'll be a doctor and help him. I'll help everyone who is sick."

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  4. shes cute
    hope she will be a doctor one day
    togd

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  5. wj
    would have loved to collect them and release them at my house
    we got a lot inside after i bought a large batch of them
    i just scooped them up and put them outside
    togd

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  6. ms
    maybe she will be an entomologists
    togd

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  7. just recieved the"letter" from arc.Thank YOu for so many years of service to me and my boys Jacob, Aaron, Matt. we will surely be lost without you. I also have had family members with alzheimers. I am very proud of you for taking these steps of help!! My prayers I will keep you and your family in. So now I'll have to get another dr. to fix my arms!! Keep gardening! stacy

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  8. rocklady
    thanks
    be careful with the rocks
    togd

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  9. We have used ladybugs in our gardens before and it's so nice to see nature working. I love that you would think to release lady bugs in your office. That is what makes you an amazing human being. You have been a wonderful doctor for Brianna, William and myself. I enjoyed the visits and chats about chickens and gardens. You and your family will be in my prayers. Thank you so much.

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  10. jg
    thanks
    keep up the good work
    with the garden and chickens
    love those kids
    togd

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