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, April 27, 2022

my story revisited #132-theres more than those five things

MY STORY REVISITED #132-THERES MORE THAN THOSE
FIVE THINGS

in this old blog i wrote about five things to notice about a person who might have alzheimers disease

none of this has changed much since i wrote the blog below about these five things that are clues to having alzheimers disease
except
the one about blood pressure has changed
now your blood pressure should be around 120/70 throughout your adult life
even slight increases in those blood pressure numbers in early middle age can harbor harm to your brain kidneys and heart


yesterday i got my 10th infusion of aduhelm or aducanumab in the biogen aduhelm clinical trial at ucla since it was reactivated last year
i got 7 infusions of the aduhelm or aducanumab in the trial before the pandemic shut it down
i got 18 infusions of a placebo prior to that
i would have preferred to have got the real drug instead of the placebos

had i got the real drug every time this would be my 35th infusion of aduhelm or aducanumab and my amyloid plaques that could be measured would be mostly not there now
instead i have to go about another year before i reach that point

i have been doing aggressively all the things mentioned below to stay healthy and to slow this down
im hoping all this works

look at these healthy things listed below and start doing them especially if you are middle age
thats when it really makes a difference
on
your brain
your kidneys
your heart
your cancer risk

i would add to that list of things to check is your blood biomarkers for amyloid and for tau
these biomarkers will soon be available in your primary care providers office
if yours is elevated then you need to get real busy to take care of your health since alzheimers is probably in your future

do the healthy things below
watch for clinical trials of new drugs to treat you to prevent or slow down the risk for alzheimers disease
__________
04-18-2014
FIVE THINGS
researchers have found 5 clues to risk factors for alzheimers disease

blood glucose not just diabetes
but a high normal blood sugar is associated with a increased risk of dementia
i have had slightly elevated blood sugars recently although they are normal now

high systolic blood pressure
middle age folks yes middle aged folks with a 10 pt elevation of systolic
blood pressure
thats the top number
>140-150

have an increased level of biomarkers for alzheimers in their spinal fluid

that would be tau protein
a protein that becomes elevated in the spinal fluid as beta amyloid
accumulates in the brain
causing cell destruction which leads to the release of these
tau proteins
scary huh

walking funny
folks with a shortened stride and slowed walking pace may have memory loss

depression
folks with depression have a 2 times increase chance of getting alzheimers

heart disease
eighty percent of alzheimers patients have heart disease

so
ive said this before
control your blood sugar with diet and exercise
keep your blood pressure under good control
control your depression
control your heart disease risk factors
ie blood pressure cholesterol diabetes weight not smoking

it seems that a lot of what we can do to control our risk of alzheimers
and dementia is in our hands

how many of these do you have

taking care of ourselves can make a difference
in our risk of getting this terrible disease
alzheimers disease
__________
so
control your blood pressure your glucose your weight
stay physically mentally socially active
control depression and anxiety
dont smoke
limit your alcohol intake
have your numbers checked regularly ie blood pressure glucose cholesterol
when available check your blood levels of amyloid and tau
then
do something to correct any abnormal numbers

remember
most risk factors for alzheimers disease can be controlled or treated

the organicgreen doctor

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