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

Thursday, September 28, 2023

my story revisited #189-well maybe not

 MY STORY REVISITED #189-WELL MAYBE NOT

the old article about gamers being at an increased risk for alzheimers disease is not available online 
i linked it in the blog below that i wrote in 2015

so 
i did a google ai search asking this computer brain this question
does video games cause alzheimers

 and its answer is below

Some research suggests that playing video games may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. 
 Playing games can improve memory and cognition, and may reduce the risk of diseases like Alzheimer's. 
 One study found that playing games on a regular basis can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's by almost 50%. 
 Another study found that playing video games for 30 minutes a day can be effective against dementia in older adults. 
Playing video games can exercise a gamer's memory, especially short-term memory. Playing even occasionally can help seniors remember things like names, addresses, phone numbers, dates, and times. 
However, one meta-analysis found that brain games had “no superior effect” on critical cognitive domains like memory, executive function, visuospatial skills, and language. 

the blog below i wrote suggested in the article that i linked that playing video games like call of duty
could lead to alzheimers as one aged

maybe the problem was that the area affected is the area for addiction
its like with alcohol
drink a little its good for you
drink a lot its real bad for you

moderation may be the key 
_________
05-22-15
ALZHEIMERS NEWS-GAMERS BEWARE
gamers gonna game
if they can remember how when they get older

parents if your kiddos are big video game players
maybe you should read this blog today
and
maybe this article
Image result for hypothalamus
Image result for caudate nucleus and hippocampus
when alzheimers disease starts years and years before
symptoms show up
a process starts in the hypothalamus etal where beta amyloid
accumulation occurs then unraveling of tau proteins occurs
then plaques and tangles form
which leads to brain destruction
what  is seen eventually
is shrinkage of this area
underneath the brain
the hypothalamus
easily seen on mri scans
and
areas called the caudate nucleus and the hypothalamus
and the hippocampus
are greatly affected early on

so alzheimers disease affects the caudate nucleus and leads to
shrinkage in there and in the hypothalamus and the hippocampus

got it

now enter gaming
the research was done on people who play the game
call of duty

it seems when compared to folks who dont game
that gamers used the caudate nucleus twice as much
as nongamers

the caudate nucleus is an area associated with drug and
alcohol addiction also
its also affected by alzheimers disease

they found that gamers had decreased grey matter and
decreased functional brain activity in the hippocampus
where alzheimers really starts
its the area that controls memory emotions and learning

what this means that this decreased function puts gamers
at increased risk for neurological diseases
like alzheimers disease

so the question is does gaming lead to an increased risk
of alzheimers disease
or does it make the onset come on sooner in life

it seems if you are affecting the alzheimers starting place
in the brain early in life that you are priming that area
to more easily be overtaken by
alzheimers disease

more long term studies using brain scans and other research
studies are planned

in the meantime
im glad i was never a gamer
i stopped when i felt myself get addicted to atari games

maybe that helped slow down the process some
and
maybe thats why you dont see a lot of old old gamers
as
maybe they are all in long term memory centers
__________
i guess the bottom line is
moderation
anything like gaming and video games stimulate the brain which is important in slowing down alzheimers
so
game away  
just do it moderate amount of hours

maybe they should put video games in memory centers


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


the organicgreen doctor

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