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, September 2, 2022

alzheimers news-the 7 stages of alzheimers

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-THE 7 STAGES OF ALZHEIMERS

when my mother and brother were diagnosed with alzheimers disease i would look at the 7 stages of alzheimers disease and its associated symptoms to help decide how far along they were
even though my dad wasnt officially diagnosed with it i feel like he had it
later after his death from heart disease i looked at the 7 stages list and tried to figure out where he was
then
when i was diagnosed i looked at the 7 stages again and tried to figure out what stage i was in 

now the alzheimers association has the list of the stages linked here from their website
its basically mild moderate and severe

for me 
i like this one linked here from an article i read recently
it has 7 stages with a good description of each stage
the stages range from stage 1 or the prealzheimers stage
you have no symptoms but your biomarkers for amyloid and tau are positive
your memory test will be normal

the last stage stage 7 is the last one where everything can shut down neurologically
both my mom and my younger brother died in the final stage 7

i place myself when i was diagnosed in stage 2 headed toward stage 3
today 
if i was to reassess myself
i would put myself in stage 1
i have normal memory testing with abnormal biomarkers of amyloid and tau
i notice no memory issues except what a normal 72 year old male would notice

i do think being on aricept or donepezil for 12 years and doing all the healthy things im suppose to be doing and maybe being on two years of aduhelm or aducanumab infusions to remove amyloid
all of these have moved me up a stage

if you or your loved one have alzheimers disease then look at this article to see where they or you are in the stages of this disease

it helps to have a feel for where you are with the disease and what to expect somewhat in the future

i do like this classification of the 7 stages better than the one that the alzheimers association does

i realize for me that when things start to get worse with me that i will probably move fast from stage 1 or 2 to the later stages since im delaying symptoms but maybe not delaying the disease progression
things sort of catch up with you eventually

but 
i must say i have enjoyed this 12 year reprieve i have gotten
i will cherish any more of this in the future if it comes my way

you can join and or donate to our organicgreendoctor walk team for the santa barbara walk to end alzheimers on saturday november 5th
this is our 12th year to do the alzheimers walks

help us find a treatment or cure for this terrible disease

the organicgreen doctor

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