organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #218-now its here almost

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #218-now its here almost: MY STORY REVISITED #118-NOW ITS HERE ALMOST thats me talking at our family reunion about the time i wrote this blog about the new alzheimers...

my story revisited #218-now its here almost

MY STORY REVISITED #118-NOW ITS HERE ALMOST

thats me talking at our family reunion about the time i wrote this blog about the new alzheimers tests that have almost finally arrived 10 years later
that day i talked about some of the things in the old blog below encouraging my family members to be proactive in their health care to maybe slow down their risks
i apologize for making some of them cry and tear up including myself

now 10 years later this blood test the accurate one is about to gets its final approval by the fda to be used in doctors office 

the test is called the Lumipulse G pTau217/β-Amyloid 1-42 Plasma Ratio test

beta amyloid forms plaques first then later tau tangles unwind 
both leads to brain cell death
later neuroinflammation sets in to kill more brain cells

the ptau and beta amyloid shows up in the blood and can be measured
a ratio is done between the two

here is an article i have linked before from being patient that describes this test
__________
10-30-2015

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-A TEST SOON?

strewn across our family tree are lots of folks who died
from heart attacks and strokes
and
dementia probably alzheimers disease

when i reached 40 i had my first cholesterol level done
since it had been shown that an elevated cholesterol
especially the ldl cholesterol
the bad i always called it
was associated with an increased risk for heart attack and
later stroke was added to this warning

so because of my family history
my dad died of a heart attack my older brother had his
first one at 60 my mother had multiple strokes
interesting all three also had or probably have alzheimers disease
i decided to have my cholesterol labs or lipid profile done

whoa omg
is what i said when i got mine back
my total cholesterol was over 325 with normal less than 200
my ldl bad one cholesterol was over 240 with normal less than 100
my triglycerides were well over 500

so knowing what lay ahead for me
i did a lot of life style changes
diet
exercise
later a few years later i added the statins to my regimen
so
my lipids now are
total cholesterol less than 200
ldl cholesterol less than 90
my triglycerides less than 100

so having that blood test at 40
probably kept me from having a heart attack or stroke by now
both my dad and older brother had heart disease at my age

as it turns out
knowing now what we now know
it also probably slowed down the progression of alzheimers in
my brain
but at the time i didnt know that

remember whats good for the heart is good for the brain


now researchers have found a way to predict if you will get
alzheimers disease years before you develop it

now i am in a study at ut southwestern using an alzheimers blood test
that according to recent tests seems to be about 90% accurate
in predicting if you have alzheimers disease
years before symptoms start

yes folks that test or one like it will be in your doctors
before this decade is over

yes you can go to your doctor soon
get a blood test
yes you have alzheimers disease you will be told

so if i have alzheimers disease now
when i was 40 the disease process was starting to pick up
so that the bad beta amyloid and tau levels up there would
have been abnormal
my alzheimers blood test would have been positive

do you want to know
is society ready for this test
can you handle this back to the future test

i say yes i can
i sort of did 5 years ago when i got diagnosed
i made even more life style changes
like stricter diet exercise increased mental activity and
social activity more aggressive blood pressure and
cholesterol and weight control use of some
recommended vitamins and supplements that might help
etc etc

now also coming soon this decade
if the phase 3 tests show they work
new treatment and prevention medication can be used
to slow down or prevent this disease

so like the cholesterol test
the alzheimers blood test
can potentially add years and years of good health
alzheimers free

would you have it done
i know i would have
__________
so when i wrote this blog in 2015 i had already had a spinal tap which showed my amyloid and tau ratio was compatible with mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers
a blood test done at that time maybe would have made the spinal tap probably not necessary

i did have an alzheimers blood test in the first study i was in and have had them several times in the studies i have done
i just never were given the results

since my amyloid plaques are removed its possible my alzheimers blood test would not be positive now

where this new blood test which is 95%+- accurate fits in to the evaluation of memory loss is below

you first need to have memory issues
you need to be i think around 55 years old

you get a history and physical from your provider looking for treatable causes of your memory loss
you get labs like a cbc a thyroid level a chemistry profile and a vitamin b12 some would add a vitamin d3

a brief memory test like a moca test or a mmse test can be done in the office
based on the results a full neuropsychological exam may need to be done

an mri of the brain may need to be done to rule out treatable causes or other reasons for memory loss like strokes masses tumors too much fluid brain shrinkage etc or like rfkjr  a brain worm

then
a blood test the new alzheimers blood test could be done
if thats positive and the evaluation agrees with the diagnosis
then
you can stop there
or
if treatment is being considered an amyloid pet scan for amyloid plaques can be done

then
one might consider treatment with the anti amyloid monoclonal antibodies like leqembi or kisunia which my lower the memory decline by 30% +- 

also if your evaluation says you have alzheimers you probably need to take aricept or donepezil also to slow down symptoms

in clinical trials now are other meds to remove amyloid plaques and meds to remove tau tangles and meds to treat neuroinflammation

so today soon we will be where i hoped we would be 10 years go when i wrote this blog

we are here now 
almost

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-this is me

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-this is me:   ALZHEIMERS NEWS-THIS IS ME that is my wife she and i hugging at the covid walk to end alzheimers in santa barbara in i think 2020 a friend...

alzheimers news-this is me

 ALZHEIMERS NEWS-THIS IS ME

that is my wife she and i hugging at the covid walk to end alzheimers in santa barbara in i think 2020
a friend did this jacket for her
she always wears it at the alzheimers walks

as i was reading this article from the american heart association interview with dr daniel gibbs i thought
this is me

i realized that our history is similar
i seem to be a few years behind him

i have followed dr gibbs for several years since he wrote his book a tattoo on my brain

he is a retired neurologist
he was on the faculty for the university of oregon and was a research scientist

he quit because he struggled with part of what sounds like a neuropsychological memory test
he developed a 50% drop in his verbal memory
i quit because i did the same thing

he didnt want to cause harm
i didnt want to cause harm

he has the homozygous apoe4 gene
so do i

he writes a blog on his journey
so do i

he entered the biogen aduhelm treatment study
so did i

he had a massive brain bleed with his treatments
his mri showed small stains where he had the bleeds that he calls a tattoo on his brain
i only had ocular migraines
my mri hasnt changed since 2010

he almost died
i didnt

he dropped out of the study
i finished the study

he had amyloid plaques and still does
his disease has progressed some since i have been following him

my amyloid pet scan initially was positive for amyloid plaques
now it is negative
my memory has improved and has remained normal
however
recently i have noticed some subtle things that suggest my disease is taking off some
his has too but as he describes in this article he still functions so many folks dont notice anything unusual
but his wife does

he now has mild dementia
i am stil at mild cognitive impairment which is earlier in the disease process

he still writes and does interviews but his wife screens things and helps him
he no longer drives and does any financial stuff

i still drive
i still write
i still do all our financial stuff
that isnt affected 
yet
but i know its coming i just dont know when
what i notice is more subtle things 

i plan to follow him closely as he progresses since i seem to be following his course somewhat
i seem to be a few years behind him
we were diagnosed about the same time and are about the same age 

however
each alzheimers patient can do things differently
when youve seen one alzheimers patient youve seen one alzheimers patient

i feel i am lucky to have made it this far intact
I am hoping ill stay that way for awhile

I also use to say my younger brother was a mirror i saw myself
he and i were a year apart in our age
he as diagnosed with mild alzheimers in his mid 50s and the disease progressed into the final stages about 8 years later

it was disturbing whenever i saw him as i know thats where i will be one day
it also is disturbing when i read about dr gibbs
knowing that i am headed that way soon 

i am just glad i have had these last 15 years intact and hope for a few more years like this
knowing
when it does happen i will feel good that i had those extra years that he and others didnt get


this is me 
now
happy to be here intact so far
enjoying life for now

the organicgreen doctor