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, September 7, 2018

alzheimers news-am done but just getting started

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-AM DONE BUT JUST GETTING STARTED
Image result for organicgreendoctor
eight years ago when i was first diagnosed the stats were

someone developed alzheimers every 69 seconds
now its every 65 seconds

its the 6th leading cause of death in the us
some think its now the 3rd leading cause of death

the cost of alzheimers care in the us is 277 billion a year
by 2050 it will be over a trillion dollars a year

there are 5+ million folks with alzheimers in the us
soon by 2050 there will be 14 million folks with the diease

1 in 3 seniors will develop alzheimers

those are the stats
we have to do something to slow this down

so
well im trying to do my part

here i am lying in the bed yesterday at the ucla infusion center receiving my last infusion in the biogens aducanumab or it may be the placebo study

for those who dont know
the aducanumab removes the bad beta amyloid from the brain
the beta amyloid is thought to be what starts the alzheimers train arolling in the brain
the hope is that removing this stuff will improve memory and slow down the disease process

in about two years the results will be out as to whether this stuff worked
somewhere in those results will be my data
my memory tests
my pet scan called amyvid pet scan that shows whether or not it worked on me
if i got the real stuff

deep inside i feel like i have been getting the real drug
i had a 67% chance of getting the real drug

in two weeks i go back to get my final pet scan or amyvid scan to see if there is still that bad stuff up there
my original scan looked like those scans in the first row below
no i didnt get to see it but you cant get in the study unless your scan is abnormal

if i got the higher dose it will be all gone
if i got the lower doses most of it will be gone
if i got the placebo the amyloid train will have marched on over the last 18 months unstopped

oh how i wish i could take a peak in two weeks as i walk out of the pet scannner
to look and see if my scan looked like this

the red stuff is amyloid
the first row is at the beginning
yes mine looked like these

the last row is after a year of aducanumab or placebo

im shooting for that last one
all that red stuff needs to be gone

now
in two weeks i also enter the long term extension part of this study
i will 100% for sure get the real stuff
but im not sure at what dose

im hoping for the higher dose
yes please

this part will last for at least 18 months but will most likely go on for a longer period of time
if it looks like its working


the other thing im doing is donating to folks alzheimers walk teams

that money raised
some of it goes to the research that needs to be done
some goes for local and national educational and support programs
these walks are the main reasons money is available to push alzheimers awareness and research forward towards treatments and a cure

Image result for alzheimer's white flower
there is a white flower that is reserved for the alzheimers persons who are found to be cured
i want to one day be able to hold up that white flower at an alzheimers walk
and
say
im one of the first

if you live in south arkansas
donate and or walk with my younger brothers team who many of you know died from alzheimers

here is the link to his team
#team joe nash
saturday september 22nd

here is the link to my walk to end alzheimers team at the santa barbara walk
organicgreendoctor
saturday november 3rd

or
donate to and or walk with your local alzheimers walk event

we are getting closer
help us get there

the organicgreen doctor

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