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

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

my story revisited 36-alzheimers vaccine

MY STORY REVISITED 36-ALZHEIMERS VACCINE
Image result for organicgreendoctor
the blog i wrote below about what i called the alzheimers vaccines occurred about 9 months after i was diagnosed
although i was in the adni 2 study for 5 years i was always on the look out for a treatment study for something that might slow down this disease
the research director for the study understood that i would be jumping ship to a treatment study if something became available
in fact i skipped my last amyvid pet scan for the amyloid in the brain at the end of the adni 2 study
it would have been my last one in the adni 2 study

there was a new study i was looking at at that time called the biogen aducanumab study
had i done that last amyvid scan i would have either not qualified for that study or would have had a 6 month to 12 month delay in getting evaluated to be in the study

well history was kind to me i got into the biogen aducanumab study

back in 2011 a study from pfizer using bapineuzumab popped up on my radar
it was a antibody against part of the amyloid protein
patients were given this antibody against amyloid and it looked like it would remove some of the amyloid from the brain
but
it ended up not doing as good a job as what the later developed biogen aducanumab did
eg
it removed 25% of the amyloid
aducanumab removed all the measurable amyloid on the amyvid scan afer 12-14 months of treatment

the bapineuzumab study was stopped as it didnt work like it was expected to

today
aducanumab has advanced to where it may get fda approval
im still waiting to hear when i get to restart the monthly infusions

i am glad i didnt go after this bapineuzumab study since it didnt work as well plus i may not have qualified for the aducanumab study
i knew that when i made my decision on a treatment study i might only get one chance
looks like i may have chosen correctly

i also wrote about all the healthy things i decided to do not long after i was diagnosed

all these decisions i made back then when added together are the reason i am doing much better than i ever expected to be 9 years later

i did all those healthy things i mention below from that old blog
i also took vitamin b12 since my levels were well below normal
i did take vitamin d3 since my levels were also low
i began blood pressure meds and cholesterol meds
i no longer take omega 3 since i get bad indigestion when i take it

i did get at least 7 months of the real not placebo aducanumab
knowing that 12 months of aducanumab mostly removes all the measurable amyloid i figure that i removed 7/12ths of my amyloid

hopefully ill finish off whats left when i start my infusions back up next month

now i made up the word alzheimers vaccine
it sounded good
folks sort of understood what a vaccine is

XXXX
09-09-2011
ALZHEIMERS VACCINE
there is a new alzheimers vaccine that is entering the phase 3 trials
this year
it may be 2-3 years away before its available to the general public
it will be given every few months for the life of the patient
it will cost several thousands of dollars a year to receive it
(of course insurance probably wont cover it)
the name is bapineuzumab jab
i am sure they will put a more fancier name on it when its marketed

it works by using antibodies against beta amyloid in the brain
the beta amyloid is what is thought to be the end result of the
alzheimers process
the antibodies attach itself to the beta amyloid and can remove
as much as 25% of it in some studies

will i take this vaccine when it becomes available
yes i will
even though its less effective in patients like me who have
the double hit apoe 4 genotype for alzheimers disease

what have i got to lose
this disease is like a terminable cancer that has no definite
effective treatment
what harm will it do to me to take this vaccine
none in the long run
if it helps even a little its worth the cost and risk

ive decided to do anything that can slow this down as long as it
has been scientifically shown it may help

these may help
maintain normal weight-check
maintain a  normal blood pressure-check
exercise at least 30 minutes a day at least 5 days a week-check
eat a low fat mediterranean diet with fruits veggies nuts-check
maintain a normal ldl cholesterol-check
stay active mentally-check
stay active socially-check
get sleep-partially check as the aricept causes some sleep problems
take omega 3 fish oil-check also take this for high triglycerides
     this may help those more who are apoe 4 negative ie apoe 3 or apoe 2
     screwed again as im apoe 4 positive
take folic acid-check
take turmeric root (curcumin)-check
i am considering taking vitamin d
i need to listen to more music especially classical music

take medications such as aricept early on
it appears that taking aricept early on in the diagnosis can increase
the length of time the aricept is effective
its appears that if you have the apoe 4 genotype like i have that
the effect of the aricept will last even longer if taken early on
im not screwed on this one

remember dont use any of this stuff unless you clear it with
your doctor
for me there appears to not be long term health effects from
these treatments
even though they are not completely proven to help there is the
suggestions from some research that they may help

what do i have to lose
XXXX

so far after 9 years i have gained from doing all of this not losing

the organicgreen doctor

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