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, January 25, 2019

alzheimers news-update

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-UPDATE
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two weeks ago when i went back for my new five year extension of the biogen aducanumab study as i was being interviewed and filling out all the paperwork i could see the excitement on her face
she being the physician who was the research director for the study here at ucla

i recognized that look
i saw it on the face of the director of the alzheimers research center in dallas as he was examining me at the beginning of the study almost 3 years ago.
he was quite animated and excited while usually he was more business like in his approach

he who just was written about in the news for his new drug that is an injectable vaccine that induces the body to produce antibodies against both the amyloid protein and the tau protein in the body
even though his drug may end up to be a better one than the aducanumab drug im on he was still quite excited about the aducanumab my drug

then
i also recognized it on the face of the study research director at dallas when he first interviewed me for this study

all three are alzheimers researchers and their excitement was contagious

in the extension of this study i will receive 60 more infusions so when its all over the total will be somewhere around 85+- infusions of aducanumab if i wasnt on the placebo to start with
i feel like i got the real drug and not placebo at the beginning

i will have 10 more brain mris over the next 5 years plus multiple neurological exams and memory tests and ekgs and blood tests and an amyvid pet scan sometime along the way maybe at the end
if  the aducanumab works my last amyvid pet scan should be read as negative
my amyvid pet scan was positive at the start of the study

the infusions if they make to the market will costs around $4,000 for each infusion
if you do the math i will receive about $340,000 worth of medications during this study

thats about what 2-3 years in a nursing home or memory center will cost

is it all worth it
for me i think so
if this stuff should really work well then i could die of something else besides alzheimers disease
like
maybe
folks will say
yep
he just died of old age

if that happens
then
im good with that

the organicgreen doctor

2 comments:

  1. Dewayne, I can't imagine the journey you've gone with your diagnosis. But what I do know is the fight you've endured, the efforts you've contributed, and the research you've shared will serve to benefit many others who face the diagnosis of alzheimers. It's more than obvious that through your personal challenges with this disease, you have continued your physician role to help others struggling with this dreaded disease. God bless and heal you

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  2. thank you for your kind words.
    i think i have a unique perspective on this as a patient a physician and as a family member.
    education on this disease is important for folks to get the help when its needed and maybe before it shows up.
    togd

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