organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-a new fda approved alzheimers bloo...

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-a new fda approved alzheimers bloo...: A LZHEIMERS NEWS-A NEW FDA APPROVED ALZHEIMERS BLOOD TES this is a copy of my spinal fluid amyloid and tau tests done not long after i was d...

alzheimers news-a new fda approved alzheimers blood test

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-A NEW FDA APPROVED ALZHEIMERS BLOOD TES

this is a copy of my spinal fluid amyloid and tau tests done not long after i was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment in 2010
at that time it was not proven to be alzheimers
i was having minimal symptoms that mainly showed up on an extensive neuropsychological memory test

the first study i was in was called the adni 2 or alzheimers disease neuroimaging initiative 2
i started out in the normal control group but after my neuropsychological exam i was moved over to the mild cognitive impairment study group for the study

as part of the testing i had done was a lumbar puncture to analyze my spinal fluid
they took out an extra tube for me to send off to a private lab for analyses
even though they were doing the same test in the alzheimers study
they dont share the results with you

the spinal fluid analysis showed a lower amyloid level and an elevated tau level
they do a ratio of the two to determine if the levels are compatible with alzheimers

if i did not have alzheimers my level should have been in the upper left of that graft above
instead it was in the lower middle level real close to 
consistent with alzheimers disease

my second spinal test if done would have shifted over to the far lower right
consistent with alzheimers disease

this is consider the mild cognitive impairment range of the disease

this test confirms that my mild cognitive impairment is due to alzheimers disease

a year or so later i had another spinal tap in the study and i collected another tube of my spinal fluid to send off to the private lab to see if my test results had moved into the
consistent with alzheimers disease

however
the university was doing an multiple sclerosis study and they desperately needed clean spinal fluid that day for the study so i let them have my spinal fluid
i never got to send in that second sample

of course a few years later i had an amyloid pet scan that showed amyloid plaques which confirms my diagnosis
mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease

a quick review
amyloid plaque accumulates which kills brain cells
tau protein in the brain cells unwind and kills more brain cells
then an inflammatory reactions sets in to do more damage

this is what happens in alzheimers disease
this all worsens as time goes on

so when someone has memory issues in 2025
they see their provider for an evaluation
they have
a good history and exam looking for other treatable causes
like a stroke or low thyroid or drugs on sleep issues etc

then labs are done eg cbc chemistry profile thyroid level vitamin b12 vitamin d3

then a memory test is done
i would do a moca a montreal cognitive assessment test or equivalent test

then based on the above results
an mri is done to rule out masses tumors aneurysm stroke brain shrinkage etc

then
a spinal tap for amyloid and tau levels like i had done could be done
or
the new gold standard is the amyloid pet scan 
if one has alzheimers both of these will be positive

then if one has alzheimers you can start treatment like improving ones health and taking a drug like aricept
the sooner you start it in the disease process the better it works
patients actually live longer who are started on this earlier in the diagnosis

and or
if you are early in the disease you could start leqembi or kisunia to remove the amyloid plaques from the brain
which will slow down symptoms some
i took aduhelm a cousin to leqembi which removed the measurable plaques from my brain

soon in the future
after you start the work up and before you do a spinal tap or amyloid pet scan
the first is invasive the second is expensive

a new fda approved blood test can be done
it tests for the amyloid and tau in the blood and a ratio is done
its over 90% accurate

if is negative you probably dont have alzheimers
if its positive then an amyloid pet scan or a spinal tap for amyloid and tau is recommended to verify the diagnosis

i have had 2 spinal taps for similar tests multiple blood alzheimers tests and multiple amyloid pet scans and multiple tau protein tests
i only know the results of two of those
a positive amyloid pet scan before starting my aduhelm study and a negative amyloid pet scan when i finished my aduhelm study

somewhere in some computer is my lab and scan results that i can not access
i have asked for the results but have not received any yet
and i probably will not ever receive them

this new alzheimers blood test linked here is a big deal in folks having a memory loss workup
they may not have to have a spinal tap or amyloid pet scan
a simple blood test could be used to screen folks for the disease

so far its the only fda approved alzheimers blood test

i suspect it will be used a lot for these evaluations
it is only used in patients who have symptoms

go to this link from being patient who has a good review of this new fda approved test
if you are in the alzheimers world sign up for being patients newsletter

yes
this is exciting news

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: garden news-my happy place

organicgreendoctor: garden news-my happy place: GARDEN NEWS-MY HAPPY PLACE in 2017 when i moved here to santa barbara i started gardening at this community garden several months before we ...

garden news-my happy place

GARDEN NEWS-MY HAPPY PLACE

in 2017 when i moved here to santa barbara i started gardening at this community garden
several months before we moved here i was in santa barbara to scout out a community garden to garden since we were going to live in an apartment complex or condo 
i would need a place to garden
so
i found this garden below
i did a one hour tour of the place and told my wife she this is where i want to garden

i rented the plot a few months before we moved

the day after we arrived i planted my first plants in my garden plot
malabar spinach multiplying onions both which i brought with me from texas tomatoes peppers squash

originally i had one plot then i moved to two plots
i has 400 square feet of garden space
i have moved to a more sunny location in the garden to where i am now

originally before covid i volunteered once or twice a week in the garden
the number of volunteers were probably around 5 a week

after covid i became more involved with the garden doing more volunteer hours

i became sort of the back up garden manager

in this article linked here from california grown there is a link to this video and to a well written article on our gardens titled
a garden that gives back



the person in the video is our previous garden manager
she was a graduate student doing this is a part time job
she has now moved on now that she has finished school

when i and others interviewed her for the job we knew we wanted to hire her
when you watch the video you know why 

i was the backup garden manager so i took over when she left
i now am the volunteer garden manager for this beautiful well kept secret community garden

last year we raised over 7000 lbs of produce we donated to several groups
like
an organic soup kitchen a hospice program for the underserved a half way house for women a half way house for men homeless shelters and a few food banks

we now operate with about 20 volunteers a week that do all our work
i probably volunteer 15-20 hours a week here
its my happy place

my grandkids all four of them love to come here and roam around the 2+ acres

we have over 900 feet of garden rows that we grow organic vegetables
we grow tomatoes peppers several different squashes green beans kales lettuce carrots beets swiss chard malabar spinach collards broccoli cauliflower fava beans onions leeks sweet peas celery and more
we have around 40 fruit trees like lots of citrus  probably around 20 varieties guava papaya mango cherimoya jujube bananas avocados mulberries passion fruit sugar cane and some fruits i cant spell or pronounce

all of this gets donated to those in need

i get the privilege of managing all of this
i am the volunteer manager

i also am the chair of the committee that runs this place

we operate from grants and donations and fund raisers
one new grant source is seedmoney.org which happens in November for a month
it is a crowdfund source for community gardens

we do fundraisers like plant sales twice a year and have an evening in the garden in september and do educational classes

some folks donated via their ira end of year charity donations and others donate during the year

when it all adds up we get enough funds to keep the garden financed

we also run a fall educational program for about 500 local elementary students that is a 2 hour program that starts in our front pumpkin patch then to the rainbow food section then the session about bees and nature under the big ole pepper tree then a walk through the banana grove and finally ending on a session on seeds

kids love this program and each gets to pick their own baby pumpkin to take home

we also do a lot of tours each year eg we recently did a one hour tour of the garden with a girl scout troop who got to plant our squash seeds and our green bean seeds for our garden
they also got to take home fruits and veggies and worms and rolly pollies and feathers 

so this is my happy place
each day i get to go there and play is a good day

im happy 

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: new alzheimers vaccines

organicgreendoctor: new alzheimers vaccines: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-NEW ALZHEIMERS VACCINES when i first heard about the new drugs that were antibodies against amyloid plaques i called them al...

new alzheimers vaccines

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-NEW ALZHEIMERS VACCINES

when i first heard about the new drugs that were antibodies against amyloid plaques i called them alzheimers vaccines

actually they were monoclonal antibodies that were manufactured in the lab against the amyloid plaques
thousands and thousands of these antibodies were given with an infusion

my drug aduhelm was derived form a collection of antibodies obtained from older folks who did not get alzheimers disease

aduhelm was a collection of these antibodies as is the new drugs leqembi and kisunia
but
they are not vaccines

vaccines are like mmr flu covid rsv tetanus dpt  polio to name a few

these are antigens given in the shot that stimulates the body to produce our own antibodies against a particular virus or bacteria

several years ago they developed an alzheimers vaccine against alzheimers using antigens that were the whole amyloid protein so the body made antibodies against the amyloid protein
the problem was the body uses the amyloid protein for good things too
the vaccine worked but it also made people sick real sick like brain swelling sick
so
it was discontinued

now
researchers figured out if they broke the amyloid protein into parts and used the parts implicated in alzheimers that the body would make only antibodies against those parts and it seemed to work without all the bad side effects

in the theory of the development of alzheimers amyloid plaques form and kills brain cells
later
tau proteins began to unravel and form tau tangles which kills more brain cells
later
inflammation occurs that makes it worse

now
there are vaccines against the amyloid plaques
there are vaccines against the tau tangles

when do you give these
researchers are lookiing at folks who are early in the disease with minimal symptoms or even those who have no symptoms yet

maybe
even giving them long before symptoms start

the thinking would be to identify those with positive biomarkers for alzheimers disease
yes those will be available soon like within 5 years at your doctors office
if yours are positive then you could be given an alzheimers vaccine against amyloid plaques or tau tangles
maybe preventing you from getting alzheimers

these clinical trials are ongoing now 
some are in the phase 3 stage
which means they could be available for the public in 5 years

if they work

would i take one of these if i was 40 or 50 and had positive amyloid biomarkers and or positive tau tangle markers
the answer is with no hesitancy
yes
you betcha

pending of course no unusual or bad side effect that shows up in these studies

remember one thing that came out of the clinical trials for aduhelm leqembi and kisunia was the small incidence of brain bleeds called aria 
some were fatal

most at risk were those who carry like me the apoe4/apo4 gene

it wouldnt have and it didnt prevent me from taking my 34 monthly infusions of aduhelm

luckily i did  not have any aria

here is a nice article on this in being patient

count me in

organicgreendoctor: the unreal id

organicgreendoctor: the unreal id: THE UNREAL ID i dont have a real id and my passport is outdated so i will not be able to fly and will not be able to enter some federal buil...

the unreal id

THE UNREAL ID

i dont have a real id and my passport is outdated so i will not be able to fly and will not be able to enter some federal buildings
it is not that i dont want one i havent taken the time to do it yet

a real id will soon be required to fly later this month or to enter some federal buildings
you can get by on a passport to fly but im not sure about getting into a federal building

yes i plan on getting both of them 
maybe
after seeing this story below unfold im not sure i want to try

heres the story 
a sad story 
a screwed up story on where we have gone crazy

a relative of ours has a friend that plans to fly to san francisco from santa barbara to visit her daughter
this is a trip she makes once or twice a year

its an easy one
you drive about 10 min to our airport hop on a plan to san francisco and her daughter picks her up at the airport
its about a 45 minute flight to san frrancisco from here

if you drive it it can be 4-8 hours depending on the traffic

she is 93 years old
she is retired
she lives alone
she still drives so she has a real california state drivers license
she shops for herself
she goes to the doctors alone
she does her own banking
she cooks for herself and i might add is an excellent cook
she married about 50 years ago and was divorced later 

so now she has to have a real id or a passport to fly
she has no passport
her flight is paid for and is next week

so off to the dmv to get her real id
my wife she went with her to help get her through this 

she has a birth certificate
she has her divorce records
she has her state drivers license
she has her social security card
she has her utility bills
she has her bank statements
she has her rental agreements

so they waited in line and waited in line
you know how that is
then
that lady behind the desk that controls your future
said
no we have to have your marriage certificate to prove what you name is or use to me
not sure why
so where were you married 
i dont remember but i think it was santa barbara
no 
her relative thinks it was las vegas
it apparently was santa barbara almost 70 years ago
so they get out of line and off they go to the county office 
well
that was a long time ago the lady said it will take us a while to track it down
so our friend waited and waited and a week later they went down to the office again
no its gonna be awhile before we can find it
we will let you know
you know what they mean right its in the mail or ill call you

so 
back to dmv again
waiting in line
waiting in line
theres that lady again
no you gonna have to get that marriage license to prove your name

hint to that lady look at her drivers license you gave her and the rental agreement and the bills she had and her income tax form and her social security card and her social security checks

what else do your want
sorry
we need your marriage license

I do wonder if her name was smith or jones instead of an hispanic name would they have acted different

so
her grandson will drive her the long long trip to san francisco
her daughter will drive her back to santa barbara on a return long long drive

why

i realized if i wanted to fly somewhere right now i couldnt since i dont have an unreal id and my passport is outdated

i didnt renew it since i didnt think i would ever need it again
was i wrong huh

i wonder if we will soon have to go through all of this to vote

the organicgreen doctor