organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #185-it seems its helping some

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #185-it seems its helping some: MY STORY REVISITED #185-IT SEEMS TO BE HELPING SOME if you look at the amyloid pet scan below that first row of pictures is of a brain with ...

my story revisited #185-it seems its helping some

MY STORY REVISITED #185-IT SEEMS TO BE HELPING SOME

if you look at the amyloid pet scan below
that first row of pictures is of a brain with no measurable amyloid plaques
thats what my amyloid pet scan i will get next summer should look like

now look at that second row of pictures with all that red stuff
that red stuff is amyloid plaque
my original pet scan which i never got to see should show a lot of red in my brain

the question is if you remove all that stuff does it make a difference
yes it probably does
about 30% difference

when i wrote this old blog below about biogens aducanumab i was trying to get into that study called the engage study
my first attempt i was turned down
i did an online survey screen on their website
then
about a year after i wrote this blog i applied to be in the engage clinical trial of aducanumab at ut southwestern in dallas 
after they reviewed all my medical records including new testing and my amyloid pet scan which was positive for amyloid plaques
i was accepted to start the engage study in 2017

i finished that study and began the embark study after the pandemic
i have gotten a total of 18 placebo infusions and 32 aduhelm or aducanumab infusions
i have 10 more infusions after that

my amyloid scan like i wrote above should look like the first row of scans below
my memory remains in the normal range

it took me 8 years to get to this point
__________

03-27-15
ALZHEIMERS NEWS-A GAME CHANGER
first a few years ago i had an infant that i cared for that
developed seizures that were difficult to control
imagine having a baby having seizures you cant stop
they tried the usual meds
but they didnt work


a new medicine called keppra had just came on the market
since she was at childrens hospital they used it on her
it worked
after 2 years she tapered off it and has been seizure free since

this drug is now available in its generic form levetiracetam
in a study recently low doses were given of 62.5 mg to 125 mgm
twice a day
for seizure control 500 mgm twice a day is given up to
3000 mgm a day

this low dose was given to patients with
mild cognitive impairment amnestic type
thats my official diagnosis

the results were that their memory tests improved significantly
meaning
that patients with this diagnosis could have their memory
improved with this generic drug

bring it on is what i say

now
the game changer

inside the brain of someone that has alzheimers disease
and
even years before symptoms start
the bad stuff beta amyloid starts to accumulate

it is easily seen on a amyvid pet scan like this one
thats all the red stuff on the scans

now
several companies have developed new drugs
that i call the alzheimers vaccines
using antibodies to capture that bad stuff beta amyloid
in the brain and removing it

there are several large studies going on right now
in patients with positive scans with no symptoms
in patients with the dominant gene
in patients with mild cognitive impairment
in patients with mild alzheimers and moderate alzheimers

a company called biogen has one called aducanumab
it was given to 166 patients in a phase 1 study who had early
alzheimers disease and positive amyloid scans

they were followed up to 41/2 years
the higher the dose used the better the results

the placebo group who received fake stuff
had no decrease in the amyloid on the scans or improvement
on memory tests

the treatment groups especially the higher dose
showed a decrease in the beta amyloid in the brain that was
seen on the brain scans
that correlated with
an improvement in the memory tests

this was significant

what this means is
the alzheimers vaccine seems to work by removing the
bad stuff amyloid
thats seen on scans
and
the patients memory improves noticeably at the same time

this is what we want right

so
the company is skipping phase 2 studies and are going
straight to phase 3 studies on a much larger group of folks

phase 3 is the stage that really proves if it works or not
then if it does it gets fda approval for
treatment of alzheimers disease

if it works
these drugs will be given to folks at high risk for alzheimers
years before the disease shows up as symptoms
slowing down the disease process
or
if we are lucky
preventing it

this folks is a real
game changer

i will be first in line for this one for sure
__________
now 8 years later
i
still drive
drive down into los angeles
still travel 
do all our financial planning our taxes
write almost daily 
usually speak for a few minutes at the walk to end alzheimers the last 13 years
am the volunteer garden manager of a large organic community garden
am the chair of our garden committee that runs the community garden
do most of our grocery shopping

none of this i thought i would be doing when i was first diagnosed in 2010

yes something is helping
hopefully its the aduhelm 

a game changer for sure


join me for our santa barbara walk to end alzheimers on saturday october 14th
join us and or donate to our organicgreendoctor team 

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: it also causes dementia

organicgreendoctor: it also causes dementia: IT ALSO CAUSES DEMENTIA the incidence of dementia is higher in areas that are more polluted los angeles may be one of the worst for the incr...

it also causes dementia

IT ALSO CAUSES DEMENTIA

the incidence of dementia is higher in areas that are more polluted
los angeles may be one of the worst for the increased incidence of dementia due to air pollution
add to that asthma emphysema heart disease to the list

as we drive to ucla every month we zoom down the 101 and hit the heavy traffic about 5 miles before you hit the 405 which is worse
for those in the austin area think i35 on a bad day
i look up at the office buildings and the apartments that peek over those high concrete freeway fences that i guess are to block out the sound but it doesnt im afraid block out the air pollution
it gradually oozes into those apartments and offices
doing so the occupants gradually inhale all those fumes
that cant be good for you over a lifetime

country living out does city living when it comes to not polluting your lungs your heart and your brain

that picture above is from a nasa satellite of texas louisiana arkansas
the red then the darker stuff is nitrogen dioxide which gets in the atmosphere as the sun hits all that stuff we dump in the air

i think those clouds just southeast of new orleans on the picture is probably clouds
i sure hope so since they are black

that strip between san antonio and austin is lit up 
its getting almost solid growth on that corridor now
so is the pollution

of couse houston is darker 
think cars and refinery fumes


this is the satellite view of southern california
in the article linked here there is timed videos that shows the pollution grow over time during the day

los angeles is that dark dark red almost like a dropped drop of blood
south of there is san diego 
santa barbara where i live is northwest of los angeles along the coast
its pretty clear of red and black areas

so santa barbara may be a good place to live so you wont get air pollution dementia

so will probably living in rural areas in most of the us

you are what we eat
but
we also are what you breathe

sadly you can control what you eat
but
you cant control what you have to breathe

makes you want to move doesnt it

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: this bothers me

organicgreendoctor: this bothers me: THIS BOTHERS ME nasa photo this is a picture of earth from space probably from the space station see that blurry spot down at the south pole...

this bothers me

THIS BOTHERS ME

nasa photo

this is a picture of earth from space
probably from the space station

see that blurry spot down at the south pole
i wonder if thats because the earth wobbles

no dont worry thats not because of wobbling
but
when i read this article linked here from nasa jet propulsion lab i started to worry about whats happening to our earth
i didnt know it wobbled

is this why i get vertigo sometimes

i always thought of the earth like the globe in the library that you can spin around to look at the different countries
when i would spin the globe it never wobbled

i know we had an earthquake near here a couple of weeks ago
5.1 it was on the scale
the building shook and the light fixtures swung around
but
it didnt wobble

are we causing it to wobble more 
those things we are doing to change the earth

probably 

have you ever take a coin like a quarter and spun it around
as it slows down its starts to wobble
then it wobbles worse and worse before it falls over 

is that whats going to happen to our earth

the ice melting especially in greenland and iceland leading to bigger chunks dumped into the ocean may be contributing to make this wobbling worse

the wobble is gradually wobbling back towards england
i didnt know a wobble could move

then
apparently 
since we are removing so much ground water from the earth we are making it wobble more and making the wobble to move

i wonder if they can see the earth wobble from space
maybe that blur at the south pole is a blurring from movement

is this another bad thing happening from climate change
a worse wobbling earth

nothing good can come from this
thats why
this bothers me

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-middle age determines your risk fo...

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-middle age determines your risk fo...: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-MIDDLE AGE DETERMINES YOUR RISK FOR DEMENTIA it comes down to mainly drinking smoking sedentary live style obesity high bloo...

alzheimers news-middle age determines your risk for dementia

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-MIDDLE AGE DETERMINES YOUR RISK FOR DEMENTIA

it comes down to mainly drinking smoking sedentary live style obesity high blood pressure cholesterol mainly in your middle age years that leads to dementia as you get older

my younger brother was in his mid 50s when he was diagnosed
i was 60 when i was diagnosed with mci due to alzheimers
i think i was helped because i aggressively altered some of my middle age risk factors when i was in my middle ages
had i not done so i probably would have been affected sooner
or had a heart attack or stroke at an early age

this morning i read this yahoo news linked fortune review of an article from the british medical journal about 11 key factors that could predict ones risk for developing dementia later in life

interesting is almost all of these things are controllable
eg controlling your blood pressure below 120/80 in middle age eliminates that risk factor
controlling your ldl cholesterol to a normal level like less than 100 does the same

so 
here are the 11 mostly modifiable risk factors
age greater than 65
lack of education
history of diabetes
history of or current depression
history of a stroke
parental dementia
economic disadvantage
high blood pressure
high cholesterol
living alone
being male

add to these
being overweight
smoking
drinking too much
being physically inactive
being socially inactive

i have written about altering these things in your middle ages to reduce your risk for developing dementia
actually
one should do these starting the day you are born to have the maximum effect on lowering your dementia risk
also it lowers your risk for heart attack and stroke as well as dementia

as you can see
whether you develop dementia may be totally determined by how well you alter these risk factors
yes
you can overcome any inherited risk factors for dementia except probably for the rare early onset at an early age alzheimers dementia that is genetic


join me for our santa barbara walk to end alzheimers on saturday october 14th
join us and or donate to our organicgreendoctor team 

the organicgreendoctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #184-mind your mind with mind

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #184-mind your mind with mind: MY STORY REVISITED #184-MIND YOUR MIND WITH MIND the mind diet is the recommended diet to be on during your lifetime to slow down the chance...

my story revisited #184-mind your mind with mind

MY STORY REVISITED #184-MIND YOUR MIND WITH MIND

the mind diet is the recommended diet to be on during your lifetime to slow down the chances of developing alzheimers disease
here is a link to a nice flyer on the mind diet from the barrow neurological institute

the mind diet according to this flyer followed by older folks for around 5 years reduced the risk of alzheimers by 53%

now if you followed it for a lifetime like maybe start your kids on this diet we would see a decrease in the incidence of heart disease strokes and alzheimers
you could also add diabetes kidney disease liver disease and cancer to the list

maybe we should be paying attention to eating this diet especially since our life expectancy has dropped the last few years in the us especially in the south

we are paying the price of not eating right
__________
03-20-15
MIND FOR MIND
a new study just came out
showing that a new treatment
well not a new treatment
could reduce the risk of alzheimers by
53%
yes thats
53%

it doesnt need to get approved by the fda
or
your prescription drug plan
or
your health insurance plan
or
medicare or champus

heck
you dont even need to get a prescription for it
or
even get it a a drug store

its really simple
you grow some of it yourself
all legal of course
or
buy it at a farmers market
or
a grocery store

this new treatment is called

the MIND DIET

an acronym for
the mediterranean-dash intervention for neurogenerative delay
cute arent they
but
it does sort of stick with you

oh yes i am on the mind diet for my mind

the mind diet is a tweaking of the
mediterranean diet and the dash diet
in a simpler to follow form
the berry industry will love it

the dash diet was developed for folks to stop hypertension
and heart disease
it like the mediterranean diet also helps with dementia

remember
what is good for the heart is good for the
brain or should we say
the mind

here simply put is the
MIND DIET

there are 10 brain healthy food groups
green leafy vegetables   other vegetables   nuts   beans   berries  
whole grains   fish   poultry   olive oil and wine

there are 5 food groups that should be limited
red meats   butter and stick margarine   cheese   pastries and sweets
fried and fast foods


that seems pretty easy and clear to me
they especially recommend blueberries and strawberries
note i have 40 strawberry plants in my garden now

here are the stats for reduction of the risk for alzheimers disease
mediterranean diet 54%
dash diet 39%
mind diet has 53%

however
if some one moderately follows
the mind diet the risk is reduced by
34%
the mediterranean diet the risk is not reduced much
the dash diet the risk is not reduced much

so even if you half ass follow this mind diet it helps a lot

so if you are a relative of my mind
siblings   cousins   nephews   nieces   sons   and their kids
you need to be on the mind diet

you are programmed im sorry to say
to have a much higher risk of getting alzheimers disease
than most people

if you mind your diet you can reduce that risk by 53%

as we well know in our family
that misery associated with the alzheimers disease effect weve seen
so far
and
that we are about to see in the future
is not a very pretty happy picture to look at

we all want a cure for this disease
this may be as close to a cure as we will get
for awhile

just do it
_________
i am doing good today 
much better than i expected to be doing 13 years ago when i was diagnosed
one thing i think that has helped is being on the mind diet
i mostly adhere to it
i am about a 90% vegetarian
i eat a lot of organic veggies out of my garden 

take care of you mind with the mind diet


join me for our santa barbara walk to end alzheimers on saturday october 14th
join us and or donate to our organicgreendoctor team 

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: thank you trader joes

organicgreendoctor: thank you trader joes: THANK YOU TRADER JOES apparently this is a picture from walmarts of one of its checkout machines now i shop at walmart some but its all onli...

thank you trader joes

THANK YOU TRADER JOES

apparently this is a picture from walmarts of one of its checkout machines
now i shop at walmart some but its all online
the nearest one to us is about 40 miles away so i do online ordering
there are just a few items i get from there since their prices for these items are better than the places i usually shop
so i dont get to use their self checkout machines
shucks huh

last weekend i went to cvs to get a bag of items
in the past i liked to visit with the check out person as i got my groceries checked out
now they dont want us to use their checkout checkers but instead use the machine self checkout ones

now if things work fine its actually faster to do it that way
but
i like the human touch the human interaction
heck i could do all this online and they would deliver it free

on this day i took my bring your own reusable bag full up to the checkout machine
there was two checkers working but there was a long line for both of them
commonly they have 0 thats nada or zero checkers around
i guess folks can just walk out and no one will know
i thought i would try that just to show them how vulnerable they were to stealing
but
i didnt since i figured i might get caught and get arrested
so
i self checked out

all went well until the machine didnt like my bag i was using
the checker had to come over and fix the machine
then
the machine didnt like two of my items that i scanned
when i paid it didnt like what was happening so the checker was summoned
then
he supposedly fixed it by rescanning things to be sure it worked
then
i was able to pay again and go own my way
then
i got home and one item was missing that i paid for

my plan is to go in there and stick it in my pocket and just walk out with it

after going through all this at cvs i went to trader joes
what a breath of fresh air
i pushed my buggy up to the cashier
she said a friendly hi and a smile and said how are you today
what you doing today
she asked me as she seemed to be happily checking my groceries
then
she happily sacked all my groceries with a smile
i asked her 
do they send you to grocery sacking school 
no she said
we learn it on our own
bye she said with a smile 
have a good day

why shouldnt all of our shopping be this way

later i read this article where trader joes was asked if they were going to add self checkout to their stores
no they said 
never
we like to use humans to check folks out

dear target cvs walmart you name it stores
read this article linked here and find out what trader joes is doing right
make your customers like you like we like trader joes

yes
thank you trader joes

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-another reason to get your vaxxina...

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-another reason to get your vaxxina...: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-ANOTHER REASON TO GET YOUR VAXXINATIONS thats me speaking at last years 2022 walk to end alzheimers in santa barbara the fir...

alzheimers news-another reason to get your vaxxinations

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-ANOTHER REASON TO GET YOUR VAXXINATIONS

thats me speaking at last years 2022 walk to end alzheimers in santa barbara
the first walk we did since we skipped 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic
our 2023 walk to end alzheimers will be saturday October 14th
it will be our 14th year to do the walks
join us and or donate to our team

i just read an article on the three vaxxines that someone my age should be getting this year in the fall
i always say i want to die from something i couldnt prevent
these 3 germs kill older folks
getting vaxxinated against them can prevent that from happening 
it also prevents you from feeling bad even if you were to catch a mild case

these vaxxines are
rsv or respiratory syncytial virus
flu
covid

yes 
you can catch these from your grandkids and travel and interacting with others
so
do some prevention and get your 3 shots this fall

now i have to time mine between my monthly infusions
10 days before or 10 days after my infusion
i plan on getting my flu and covid together and my rsv at another day
the covid always makes me feel bad for a couple of days
im not sure how the rsv will make me feel
thus 
2 shots one day and 1 shot another time
you can get all 3 at once but im not going to do that

im watching for the newest version of the covid shot this fall 

then after reading about the 3 vaxxines this fall i saw this article linked here
it says that getting vaxxinated can lower you risk of getting alzheimers

eg
getting a flu shot each year can lower your risk by 40%
that should make you want to get a flu shot each year

now the same researchers have found that getting a tdap or td shot a hz or shingles shot and a pneumococcal shot can lower the risk by 30%, 25% 27% respectively

the thinking is that these shots stimulate the immune system which influences the development of alzheimers in a good way

so
there are two good reasons to get your vaxxines
not dying from infection
alzheimers prevention

sounds like good reasons to me

the organicgreen doctor