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, May 19, 2021

my story revisited #87-the numbers arent any better

MY STORY REVISITED #87-THE NUMBERS ARENT ANY BETTER

the numbers today 8 years later are not any better 
they are even worse

the pandemic has increased the numbers of deaths in people with alzheimers disease
so many of the folks who died from covid 19 were in long term facilities
many of those who died had alzheimers disease 

some think alzheimers may be number 3 on the list of leading causes of death in the us
covid 19 probably has surpassed alzheimers though this last year

thats  a sad way to lower the incidence some of alzheimers cases

it will be interesting to see or should i say sad to see what the final statistics will be when this pandemic is over for alzheimers disease deaths

its almost euthanasia via infections

at www.alz.org/facts are these updated statistics
there are over 6 million folks now with alzheimers in the us
alzheimers deaths increased by 16% during the pandemic
in 2021 alzheimers will cost the us 355 billion dollars
by 2050 that cost will be at about 1.1 trillion dollars

on a happier note
in the biogen aducanumab study reassessment i have had my memory testing and neurological evaluation and blood work and screening mri done
the screening mri was negative
the memory testing was normal based on my assessment
the labs i dont get the results

after review i have now been approved for an amyloid pet scan then later a tau protein pet scan next month
if these meet their criteria for the study i would get approved for the infusions to start soon afterwards

the fda will vote next month on whether to authorize its use 
if it does it will be available eventually to the general public
if
we can afford it as a nation
and
if
we have enough infusions sites to do the infusions

will it make those statistics better
no
it wont
but
it may slow down the disease some
as i have written before in the alzheimers world we will accept slowing down 

remember this disease wins in the end
__________
03-22-2013
NEW NUMBERS

well here is some new numbers on that nemesis

alzheimers disease
its not better its worse

1 in 4 of the females who read this or dont read this will get
alzheimers disease if they live long enough

1 in 8 of the males who read this or dont read this will get
alzheimers disease if they live long enough

1 in 3 seniors die from alzheimers or similar dementias

deaths from alzheimers disease increased 68% from 2000
to 2010
while deaths from other major causes of disease including
the number one heart disease decreased

5,000,000 americans have alzheimers disease today
they will all die from the disease
its 100% fatal

in 2012 the direct costs of caring for alzheimers or similar dementias
will cost us $203 million of which $142 million is the cost to
medicare and medicaid

by 2050 those numbers are expected to increase by 500 percent

it may be the disease that breaks our health care system

its the 6th leading cause of death in the united states and
of the top 10 leading causes of death its the only one which
is not treatable or preventable

there are no alzheimers disease survivors
you either die from it or die with it

450,000 people will die from alzheimers disease this year

grim statistics arent they

how many of you have a loved one or family member or
friend who has or has had alzheimers disease

then if the answer is yes which is the majority answer then you
know personally the devastation emotionally physically and socially
this disease can cause

support your local alzheimers chapters and donate to the (www.alz.org)
alzheimers association and participate in its walk to end alzheimers in
your area
and
encourage your congressmen to increase funding for research
on this disease that really affects us all
__________
hopefully we can do better in the future with these numbers

the organicgreen doctor

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