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

Monday, November 26, 2018

alzheimers news-yes i read about it

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-YES I READ ABOUT IT
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yesterday several people messaged or called wanting to know if i saw or read about the new alzheimers research study

yes i said
ive known about this study now for a few  years

eight years ago i signed up to be in 2 studies at the university of texas southwestern at the alzheimers research center
click here and here to see a video on my wife she and i that they made and also a newsletter article on me

the studies were part of the tarcc studies and the adni 2 study

as part of the study i had to see a neurologist once a year for a neurological exam
several times i was honored to see the head researcher and director of the center

his name was dr rosenberg
picture a greyheaded man who looked like a research scientist but who also looked like a grandpa
his personality was that of a man whom you would want to be your grandpa

he would walk in with this yellow pad and start asking me questions
once when discussing my issues with sleep i told him i only took a tiny dose of melatonin at 0.25 mgm
he just smiled and said thats a placebo dose
i said well if it is its working for me

ive seen several neurologists over the last 8 years as part of research studies
each time i dont tell them i have weakness and abnormal reflexes in my big toe
a residual defect from my ruptured disk
it doesnt ever bother me

he is the only one that picks up that deficit on exam
the other neurologists miss it
he doesnt

he is business like but friendly then moves on
twice though he paused and became quite animated and excited about alzheimers research
spending a long time talking with my wife she and i

one was the biogen aducanumab study that i am in now
i started the study there but later transferred to ucla when we moved

he felt like many other well known researchers felt that this was an exciting study that may help slow down the disease

another time he started talking about his new alzheimers vaccine study that he and other researchers had developed
he felt like if it was effective as it was showing in animal studies that his new vaccine may help slow down the disease also

his vaccine uses skin cell stem cells injected under the skin
these induce the body to make antibodies against the amyloid and the tau tangles that cause the brain cell destruction in alzheimers

the theory is that the amyloid protein gets deposited first which kills brain cells
then
the tau inside the brain cells get tangled up and released
they then cause more brain cell destruction
then inflammation occurs leading to more destruction of brain cells

dr rosenbergs vaccine leads to antibodies against the amyloid and the tau tangles

my drug aducanumab is man made in the lab and given as an iv infusion
it attacks just the amyloid not the tau

thats part of the treatment im missing is the tau removal part

here is the article from forbes on dr rosenberg and the study

yes
im excited about this new treatment
it moves the ball farther down the field

would i take it
i sure would
i would be lining up now to be in that first few folks who get his vaccine

if i had to chose between his and mine if they were both available
i would probably chose his since it does more to remove the bad stuff than my aducanumab will

im excited but sad that i may not qualify for this study since it may be awhile before this gets tested on humans
when i stop my aducanumab i will be ineligible for a long time for any new studies
if at all

thats a decision i made when i entered the aducanumab study
i viewed it as my last chance study

all that said
i am excited for dr rosenberg and his research study that may do more for slowing down the disease than my aducanumab

its exciting times for alzheimers treatments in the future
it may be there for our kids and their kids to take advantage of so they wont get the disease

yes
i read about it
yes
again
i cried
i know what it all this means for me and you

the organicgreen doctor

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