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

Friday, October 5, 2012

volunteers

VOLUNTEERS


two years ago i volunteered to enter an alzheimers research study
as a normal volunteer to be in the normal control group
this was done because i wanted to do my part in fighting this 
terrible disease
since my mother had the disease and my father probably had it and 
my younger brother now has it

they need people as normal volunteers so they can have results
to compare to those people with symptoms or those with the 
disease

i also wanted to be monitored on a regular basis because of my 
family history of alzheimers disease
so early on i would know if i was having symptoms of the disease

in my case i just didnt realize that that time had already arrived

after my diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment i reentered the 
study called  the alzheimers disease neuroimaging inititative
not now in the normal group but in the mild cognitive impairment 
group 
i will be in the study for at least 5 years and if the study is 
extended i will be in the study even longer

this is the most important study done yet on alzheimers disesase
without volunteers with and without the disease the study 
could not go on and the results that are coming out of this
study would not happen

yes it takes time and effort to be in these studies but in the end
you will feel like you have contributed your small part in 
fighting this disease

in some cases some of the studies actually have treatments that 
have helped some 
the iv gamma globulin study eg when given at high doses stabilized
the disease for three years without significant changes
if that was your dad or your mom that would have meant that
they would not have progressed in those 3 years
thats a long time when it comes to someone with the disease
as some  people can go from driving a car to being institutionalized
in a long term care facility in those three years

those treatments could not be tested without those volunteers

soon in the future this is how they will find treatments for this disease

so please volunteer and help
we cant do it without you

you can go to www.alz.org and click on research to find studies
near you or click here

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MY WIFE SHE

the organicgreen doctor 

4 comments:

  1. Thirty eight years ago today, I married my very best friend. Just months before I bravely asked, "Friend's having a party...wanna come?"
    What a party it continues to be...
    My-wife-she

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Anniversary!!!!! Party ON! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Whoa! My parents went to parties?? This cant be true.. Congrats Ma n Pa

    -Your favorite youngest son

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy Anniversary to the best couple I know.
    Love and hugs,
    Your cowgirl friend and sometimes neighbor

    ReplyDelete