organicgreendoctor: gardening is good for the brain

organicgreendoctor: gardening is good for the brain: GARDENING IS GOOD FOR THE  BRAIN i already knew this before i read this article i can feel it every day when i go to the garden especially ...

gardening is good for the brain

GARDENING IS GOOD FOR THE  BRAIN

i already knew this before i read this article
i can feel it every day when i go to the garden especially in the early morning
i feel my brain relaxing 

when i garden i dont listen to music or podcasts or the radio
i just think and soak in the smells sounds and things i can see
birds chickens hawks crows squirrels wind and the smells and tactile sensations as i go about the morning doing my garden duties

whenever i can i reach in and grab the soil or grab a handful of compost preferably with my work gloves off
sometimes i even dig in the soil with my hands
like with a handful of compost i can almost feel something being transferred from my hands to my body to my soul

those gardeners know what i am talking about

its all probably in my head but thats where i want it to me

yes i knew all of this before i read this article linked here titled  
this surprising springtime activity is good for the brain

according to this article gardening challenges the brain and reduces the stress levels
plus it activates all of your senses

you get physical activity mental engagement stress reduction sunlight and vitamin d and lifetime gardeners tend to have better mental health and cognition when they get my age

also you get to eat all those organic healthy vegetables and fruits that you grow 
all are on the mind diet we should all be on

There are lots of good reasons to garden all your life
now
i am glad that i have done that for years

maybe i will add that gardening all my lifetime to the reasons i am doing better now
i do garden more the last 16 years since i was diagnosed

so 
i am adding gardening to my treatment plan for slowing down mental decline

you are never too young or too old to start

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my amyloid office visit

organicgreendoctor: my amyloid office visit: MY AMYLOID OFFICE VISIT yesterday i had my first office visit at cedars sinai neurology in los angeles to help me decide whats next for me i...

my amyloid office visit

MY AMYLOID OFFICE VISIT

yesterday i had my first office visit at cedars sinai neurology in los angeles to help me decide whats next for me in my battle with slowing down my alzheimers disease

here is my story on how i got here
i must say after an hour of memory testing i am wandering is all of this worth it
my wife she and i both think so

as i told the neurologist yesterday i was accidently diagnosed in 2010 when i volunteered to be in the adni2 research study in the normal control group
during the neuropsychological exam i was found to have memory loss greater than it should be
i was sent to a neurologist who diagnosed me with mild cognitive impairment that was later confirmed to be alzheimers based on positive spinal fluid analysis and later on an amyloid pet scan

after this i was placed in the mild cognitive impairment wing of the study
i received 2 amyloid pet scans multiple mris of the brain multiple memory testing two spinal taps and lots of blood tests

in 2015 i finished the adni2 study
 
in 2016 i qualified for the aduhelm or aducanumab clinical trial because of my memory testing and an abnormal or positive amyloid pet scan

in the theory of what happens in alzheimers
amyloid plaque builds up and damages brain cells
tau proteins in the nerve cells get damaged and unwind and form tangles killing more brain cells
inflammation then sets it to kill even more brain cells

right now we have drugs leqembi and kisunia that are antiamyloid antibodies that remove the amyloid from the brain
it looks like doing this slows down memory loss by about 30%

these two are on the market now and available for use in mild cognitive impairment and mild alzheimers

the earlier you start one of these two drugs the better they work
if you wait too late well its too late they dont help

in 2016 i was accepted into the aduhelm or aducanumab study where i received 34 months of aducanumab
the study was stopped in 2024 since aducanumabs sister drug leqembi worked better
so the study was stopped and aducanumab was taken off the market

my last study visit was 2025 which showed my memory was back to normal for my age

my last amyloid pet scan was negative for amyloid plaques per a verbal report

now enter yesterday
i was waiting for what to do

i am ready to make the next move 

is it to start leqembi maintenance dosing to keep the amyloid plaques from reoccurring

leqembi aducanumabs cousin is given for 18 months then a monthly dose is given to keep plaques from reaccumulating

kisunia is given for several months to remove the amyloid plaques then no maintenance is given

There is a study starting now where patients who have no symptoms but who have plaques are given leqembi to see if by treating real early then this drug may even work better since its given early

my neurologist i saw yesterday was my neurologist when i was in the aducanumab study but now is at cedars sinai

i have not seen her as a patient since 2020

She was so happy to see my wife she and i

she could not believe i was doing so well

as i was told yesterday if i went into an neurology office and had memory testing without al the history they would have just sent me back to my primary care doctor
but
they were surprised i was doing so well 10 years after starting these treatments

they told me i was now a clinical study of one
there are not many of you like you out there they said

we were excited to reconnect with the neurologist

so yes i had to do those dang memory testing again which were normal for my age group
i am 76 so my memory is normal for my age

so the plan is 

do an amyloid pet scan to see if any amyloid plaques have reoccurred
do an mri to make sure my brain looks ok
numerous mris in the last 16 years have been normal

if plaques have reaccumulated then leqembi treatment or maintenance will be started as infusions or as at home injections

i am apoe4 apoe4 positive which puts me at risk for aria or brain bleeds
i did not have any aria with my 34 infusions so i shouldnt have an issue with the leqembi

if my amyloid pet scan is negative i will probably wait until the amyloid reaccumulates to get treated again

i might have to have a spinal tap to quantify how much amyloid and tau is in my spinal fluid

so my amyloid office visit was a good one
we are happy we reconnected with a neurologist who is up to date on these treatments

It is important to get diagnosed early probably maybe even before symptoms start
There are blood tests coming on the market this year that will be used as a screening test for alzheimers

i am living proof of that
early diagnosis can make a difference

yes
it was a good day 
i might have more time left after all

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: it is time

organicgreendoctor: it is time: IT IS TIME that is what i want to do is end alzheimers however i am realistic since i know that i can not in 2026 end alzheimers  but i can ...

it is time

IT IS TIME


that is what i want to do is end alzheimers
however i am realistic since i know that i can not in 2026 end alzheimers 
but
i can slow it down
so
that is what i am trying to do is
slow it down some

for those who dont know my story i will review it

i was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment that has turned out to be due to alzheimers disease

how do i know that

i had several neuropsychological memory tests that document that
the first was in 2010 when i applied to be in the adni 2 or alzheimers neuroimaging initiative 2
i was suppose to be in the normal control group but after my memory test i was placed in the mci or mild cognitive impairment group
i did this study for 5 years getting numerous memory tests lots of blood work a couple of spinal taps and several amyloid pet scans and several mris of the brain

during ths time i was being treated by a neurologists who placed me on aricept or donepezil did spinal fluid analysis for amyloid and tau and did genetic testing

my spinal fluid was compatible with alzheimers and my genetic testing showed i had the apoe4 apoe4 gene the late onset alzheimers gene

i maximized my health eating a mind diet controlling my cholesterol blood pressure weight and staying active mentally physically and social and all the other things should be doing

a quick review of what happens with alzheimers

amyloid plaque accumulates in the brain early on before symptoms start
this starts killing off brain cells
then
tau proteins in the damaged cells unwind and form tangles that kill more braincells
then
an inflammatory reaction occurs causing inflammation which kills more brain cells

this all starts 20 years before symptoms start

aduhelm and leqembi and kisunia remove the amyloid plaques
now
scientists are doing clinical trials which i dont qualify for to treat and remove the tau tangles and remove the inflammation

i have completed step one
my amyloid plaques are removed but they will return over time

after finishing the adni2 study i progressed to being in a clinical trial for aduhelm or aducanumab which removes the amyloid plaque from my brain
my initial amyloid pet scan was positive for amyloid

i received 18 monthly infusions of placebo then received a total of 34 monthly infusions of the drug aduhelm
at the end of the study my final amyloid pet scan was read as negative 

my diagnosis is solidified by having abnormal memory tests a positive spinal fluid and a positive amyloid pet scan
yes i have alzheimers

now what do i do now
there are treatments in clinical trials that will remove amyloid and remove tau proteins and treat inflammation but those may not be available for me for 5-10 years
thats too late for me

so what do i do now

there are probably 2000 of us in the world that has this problem
we received aduhelm which removed our amyloid plaque
now
what do we do

what i want to do is to start leqembi monthly maintenance infusions to keep the amyloid from reaccumulating in my brain
this may slow down the disease some

if i do nothing it will reaccumulate over the next 5-10 years and i will be back to where i was 16 years ago

removing the amyloid plaque reduces memory loss by 30% but the longer its used and the more its used in patients the better it seems to be working
plus the earlier you start it in the disease process the better it works
i was treated real early 

fingers crossed

so in 2 weeks i meet with a neurologist at Cedars Sinai in los angles to discuss all of this to see if i qualify to receive the leqembi infusions monthly
or
since leqembi is getting a self administered version you can use at home i would like to try eventually to get on this

i am at risk for brain bleeds since i am apoe4 apoe4 positive
our local neurologist wouldnt treat me because of this risk
she advised i go to a tertiary care center to get it done

i fear there will be a lot of red tape to go through to get this done
luckily the neurologist i am seeing was running the clinical trial on aduhelm that i was in

i really have no other options right now besides living healthy and taking my aricept

my last aduhelm infusion was almost 2 years ago
my last amyloid pet scan was almost 1 1/2 years ago

the good thing is my last moca memory test was normal in july 2025 as was my memory tests in 2024

it is time but i now have to wait to see whats next

the organicgreen doctor