organicgreendoctor: will my brain get doged

organicgreendoctor: will my brain get doged: WILL MY BRAIN GET DOGED i was in an alzheimers research study of one kind from 2010 when i was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment due ...

will my brain get doged

WILL MY BRAIN GET DOGED

i was in an alzheimers research study of one kind from 2010 when i was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers until the end of 2013 when i finished my last aduhelm infusion and my last mri and my last amyloid pet scan and my last tau pet scan and my last almost 4 hours of memory tests and my last huge blood testing

there is a lot of data in my medical records that scientists and researchers have been accessing for the last 15 years and still are

now what is missing is to hold my brain in a researchers hand and have them analyze it to see what really happened in my brain when i was alive
they can compare it to what they saw on all those tests i had done

this is how they figure out if they are correct in their thinking and research and if the meds i took really worked 

it is arranged so that when i die i will be shipped to UCLA so they can remove my brain then my body will be returned back to santa barbara for cremation

this allows them to seek how my brain looks and compare it to my greater than 10 mris or my 5 or so amyloid pet scans or my 3 or so tau pet scans

thats how they know if what they are doing really works

an invaluable source of scientific information

alas 
this all may get doged
you know like doge
like musks doge

in this article linked here from scientific american  funding has been halted for the universiity of california davis alzheiemrs research center
this is happening at many other important alzheimers research centers

it is centers like these and the alzheimers research center at ucla that advances the research in the alzheimers world that gives us the advances like the aduhelm and leqembi and kisunia alzheimers drugs that may slow down the disease

its the basic research thats done that leads to the development of the drugs that we eventually use

these cuts or holds on funds are stopping research in its tracks 
even some of them that restart will be severely affected by the stoppage of the research
it will set research back 

we have been making good progress on alzheimers research 
now is not the time to have it stop

i dont want my brain that i have endured 15 years of my time my getting probed mentally and physically and getting all those scans and blood draws and infusions and scans to go to waste

i dont want my brain to get doged

call your congress representative and complain

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #217-yes i can help

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #217-yes i can help: MY STORY REVISITED #217-YES I CAN HELP over the last 15 years i have been contacted by a lot of folks asking for help for themselves or thei...

my story revisited #217-yes i can help

MY STORY REVISITED #217-YES I CAN HELP

over the last 15 years i have been contacted by a lot of folks asking for help for themselves or their loved ones who may or may not have memory issues

many are family or friends or former patients and many i dont know them

my advice is always if someone is having memory issues that they get evaluated for memory loss
__________
10-13-2015
ALZHEIMERS NEWS-CAN YOU HELP ME PLEASE

i frequently get messages like this via facebook email
messenger or texting
folks asking for help deciding what to do for
themselves or a loved one with memory issues

this person a former patient
no i consider them once a patient always a patient
messaged me
asking for help with her parent who lives with the family

my parent is having memory issues
my parent had an episode of several minutes where
they didnt know who they were or where they were
they were confused
then it cleared up
i dont know what to do

so i went into my doctor mode
my alzheimers disease memory loss mode

from hearing the story i knew this patient would eventually
end up at a neurologists office for definite care
however
knowing the system like i do it can take awhile for someone
to get into see a neurologist

so enter the primary care provider
the entry road to the healthcare system

i knew that there were possibilities causing this
some of them real bad
some of them that couldnt wait that long to see the neurologist

like a brain tumor a stroke a hematoma from a fall an aneurysm
too much fluid in the brain
things that really needed to be ruled out sooner than later
things like vascular dementia alzheimers disease could be
diagnosed at a slower pace with no rush in doing the workup

i recommended a primacy care provider appointment as soon as
possible
if before the appointment the episode occurred again
the parent should go to the emergency room

eg i remember my mom had slipped and fallen
when she was taken in a ct scan was done which showed
a subdural hematoma from the fall
luckily it was small and nothing had to be done about it
a larger one that continued to bleed would have required surgery

if i was the primary care provider for this patient
i would do a careful history and examination to look for causes
of their memory loss and confusion
an irregular heart beat eg atrial fibrillation can cause clots
to be sent up to the brain causing these symptoms
a fall uncontrolled blood pressure uncontrolled cholesterol
uncontrolled diabetes
medications that would affect the memory
symptoms of depression or severe anxiety or lack of sleep
on exam i would look for signs of neurological deficits
like drooping of face or eyelids or muscle weakness or
increased or decreased reflexes gait problems
confusion in answering questions

i would probably do a brief mental exam to generally find out
what the memory level was

my priority for this visit would be to find an acute cause
that could be life threatening that needed to be addressed

then based on what showed up in the history and exam
i would do screening labs like cbc chemistry profile thyroid level
vitamin b12 and probably add a vitamin d level while i was
drawing blood and add an urinalysis
elderly patients especially females can get confused from utis

then i would do an mri on this patient to rule out most of the
bad things that could be going on that would need sooner
treatment

other things to consider would be a carotid ultrasound to
check neck circulation

so a primary care provider could and should do all this workup
then fine tuning the care can be done by them
or referral to an appropriate specialist

on her parent the mri showed some brain shrinkage
and what sounds like white matter hyperintensities
although i dont have the mri to look at

these are areas that start showing up in folks who may
have eventually have a stroke or have alzheimers
its associated with high blood pressure high cholesterol diabetes
i think of them as microscopic strokes in some cases
from either hemorrhage or ischemia
eg i have two of these on my scans but over five years there have
been no new ones

so she is left with a parent who has some mild atrophy of the
brain with memory loss

there is an upcoming neurology appointment
this parent should not let the parent go to any of their appointments
alone
so whats left to do
maybe more labs
carotid ultrasound
memory test probably in office or neuropsychological test to see where
the patient is with their memory and to act as a baseline

so if nothing else is found
this parent may have memory loss from vascular causes
ie vascular memory loss

the idea is to maximize a persons health
good control of blood pressure and diabetes and cholesterol
maintain good sleep habits
watch for anxiety and depression
be careful with medications
avoid excessive alcohol
do exercise even if its walking around the block once a day
be active
make sure the person is active socially
dont let them isolate themselves get them involved in something
make them stay mentally active reading writing using the computer
if possible
dont let them get stagnate

sometimes aspirin is added
sometimes based on what the memory loss looks like
aricept or (donepezil) like i take is added

then
they and their family need to be ready for the future
start planning now
make sure these documents are done now
will power of attorney power of attorney for healthcare living will
no cpr form for when things get worse
families wait too late sometimes to do this and it takes
the legal system and courts to get these done
please dont wait on these

i have all these forms done

then be ready as someone in this family will become
a caregiver
a tough tough job sometimes

then do all this
but
enjoy each day as much as you can with this person
sometime in the future you and your family will
be glad that you did

thats what i would tell her and others that ask me
enjoy the moment
___________
not long ago a former patient reached out to me about her retired husband whom she was worried about his memory issues

my advice is always get evaluated

he did although the system was slow about doing his evaluation

he had a good thorough workup like the one i mention above

his final diagnosis
he was depressed
his memory returned to normal after his depression was treated

i have seen similar stories
a patient with the diagnosis of severe sleep apnea
this was treated and memory improved

i have seen patients who were abusing drugs and alcohol who had their memories clear up after discontinuing these

i even had a patient a young man who started having memory issues who was about to lose his job
during the evaluation it was found he was remarkedly hypothyroid 

when his thyroid medication was started he gradually over several weeks returned back to normal

so
everyone who has memory issues warrants an evaluation to look for treatable causes like those mentioned above

get evaluated
make your appointment only for memory loss
you can start with your primary care provider
make sure the workup is a thorough one
if the person has memory loss they may need someone to go with them 

if you do turn out to have mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers or mild alzheimers consider taking the new antiamyloid drugs leqembi or kisunia to remove the amyloid plaques
you need to understand the risk of taking these medications though
i chose to accept those risks
I took aduhelm a cousin to these drugs for 34 months and it removed may amyloid plaques in my brain

also if you are diagnosed get started early on on aricept or donepezil or a similar drug as it may slow down symptoms

then
maximize your health

the organicgreendoctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-another reason to get a shingles shot

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-another reason to get a shingles shot: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-ANOTHER REASON TO GET A SHINGLES SHOT many of us had chickenpox when we were younger this gives us life long immunity agains...

alzheimers news-another reason to get a shingles shot

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-ANOTHER REASON TO GET A SHINGLES SHOT

many of us had chickenpox when we were younger
this gives us life long immunity against chickenpox

now kids get a chickenpox or varicella vaccine as kids
it gives them a life long immunity against chickenpox

thats good
however
the chickenpox virus even the attenuated one given with the chickenpox shot stores itself in your body to come back later as shingles
1% of those vaccinated for chickenpox can get shingles later in life
15-20% of those like me who had chickenpox as a child can still get shingles later in life

my wife she had it once
a dentist told her she needed a root canal because of the dental pain
i looked at her neck and said i think you have shingles
she did 
it was quite painful but responded to antiviral medication

i think i had it when i was sick 4 years ago when i had what i think was covid
i had a few lesions pop up on my forehead where the eye nerve runs along the eyebrow and forehead
i saw a doctor who put me on antiviral meds which shut it down quickly

yes my wife and i both can get shingles again

it waits for old age to set up with its decreased immunity and for some immunodeficiency to show up like eg covid or meds like steroids or immunosuppressive meds

shingles can be devastating to an older person



now i got the old shingles shot years ago but it doesnt work as well as the new one
so
i should get the new one called shingrex

now new research shows there is another reason to get your shingles shot when you reach 50

maybe it can keep you from getting alzheimers disease

add that to your alzheimers prevention repertoire along with living healthy and controlling you weight your blood pressure your cholesterol your blood sugar and eating right and getting adequate sleep and staying active mentally physically and socially and not smoking and limiting drinking and controlling anxiety and depression

in this study reviewed here by scientific american they found that folks who were vaccinated against shingles had a 20% less likely to develop alzheimers and other dementia

ok ok
so i got my shingles shot when i turned 60 but now i need to get my shingrex shot
ok ok
ill set that up to get it done
ill add that to my antidementia repertoire along with my aricept or donepezil and my infusions of aduhelm

doing what i can to slow this down

get your shingles shot

the organicgreen doctor