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