alzheimers news-do you have any of these

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-DO YOU HAVE ANY OF THESE

almost eight years ago when i was told i had some short term memory issues i went to the alzheimers associations website to look up the 10 signs and symptoms of early alzheimers

here is the link to the alzheimers associations discussion of them

below
well these are my thoughts on the subject

memory loss that disrupts your life
forgetting dates and events and having to rely more and more on reminders like sticky notes everywhere or phone reminders

its ok to occasionally forget names or appointments

i must say ive not had any of these issues except i am known for not remembering names

challenge in planning or solving problems
you may have problems following a recipe or paying bills

its ok if you occasionally make errors in checkbook

i must say i dont have this problem
well i must say my wife she has this problem but dont worry its a life long problem she has

difficulty completing familiar tasks
you may have trouble doing some daily tasks or things like driving to a familiar place or doing a budget or remembering the rules of a game

its ok if you have trouble like with recording a tv show or doing settings on your microwave

i must say i have no problem dvring my favorite shows
well i must say i have trouble dvring shows when my wfe she says would you dvr that show ive been wanting to watch

confusion with time or place
you may lose track of days dates or where you are or how you got there

its ok to not remember the date or day of the week but you figure it out later

i must say that since i retired and especially since i moved here i have lost track of what the date is
in fact on my memory tests they ask and i commonly dont remember the date
now i always remember the day of the week
thank goodness for that

trouble with visual images and spatial relationships
you may have trouble reading or judging distances or trouble with colors and their contrasts
this especially affects driving

some think this is the first thing folks have show up is this spacial issue

its ok to have visual problems due to cataracts

i must say i think i have some of the spacial issues such that i am much more cautious when i drive
ive noticed the traffic lights are set differently here and the pedestrians and bikers seem to come out of nowhere sometimes

problems with words and speaking and writing
you may have problems following a conversation or starting one or you may lose your train of thought in the middle of a sentence or repeat yourself or use the wrong word for something

its ok to occasionally have trouble finding the right word

i must say i sometimes lose myself in the middle of a conversation or cant find the right word for something
thank goodness like a twin my wife she will pitch in to help but this doesnt happen to me that often

misplace things or cant retrace your steps
you put things in strange places or you lose something and you cant replace your steps
this may become worse over time

its ok to lose things but usually you can retrace your steps

i must say this is a rarity for me but i did lose my billfold once and found it wedged weeks later under my duct tape chair

well i must say my wife she has this problem with her keys and her cellphone
honey would you call me i cant find my phone
should i be worrying about her instead of her worrying about me

decreased or poor judgement
you make poor judgement or you give large amounts to telemarketers or you make strange large purchases

its ok to occasionally make a bad decision

i must say i dont really have this issue
well i must say if i could keep my wife she away from thrift stores and garage sales and estate sales ...

withdrawal from work or social activities
you may avoid social activities or hobbies or have trouble following your favorite sports teams

its ok if you get tired of work or family or social activties

i must say i know whats going on with all my favorite sports teams
maybe too much
i dont seem to be withdrawing too much from social activities and i enjoy my hobbies just as good as ever
well i must say my wife she is a much more social person than i but thats not new

finally

changes in mood or personality
you know this well if youve ever had a loved one with alzheimers disease
in fact this one for some families bothers them the most
you can get paranoid suspicious anxious depressed angry even violent

its ok to get a little irritable if things are done different than how you like to do them

i must say
ok ok i know im guilty of this one
well for a long time
well i  must say my wife she isnt that guilty of this one
ok honey youre right she says
just ticks me off when she says that
no im not displaying anger here

so if you are worried like all of us are that we are getting alzheimers disease or a loved one is getting this awful disease just look at this list real good

if there is an issue
get help early since its been found that folks who get help early on do much better over time

the organicgreen doctor

crs

CRS

thats what people frequently say to me
i cant remember stuff anymore
usually they are grey headed but sometimes they are younger

i tell them
if you occasionally forget an appointment then remember later
if you make occasional errors balancing a checkbook
if you occasionally need help with the settings on a microwave or
recording a television show
if you get confused occasionally about what day it is but figure
it out later
if your visual changes are due to cataracts
if you sometimes have trouble finding the right word
if you make a bad decision occasionally
if you misplace things from time to time then are able to eventually
retrace your steps to find them
if you sometimes feel weary of work family or social obligations
if you develop very specific ways of doing things and become irritable
when a routine is disrupted

then
you have normal aging behavior

if its more than this i refer them to this link
at the alzheimers association at www.alz.org
that has the 10 early signs of alzheimers

things like repeating questions over and over again
being unable to follow a simple recipe or taking care of monthly bills
driving to a familiar place
forgetting where you are
having trouble judging distance or color contrast
having trouble following a conversation
putting things in unusual places
making poor judgement with money
removing yourself from social activities
easily getting upset outside of your comfort zone

then you may have a problem

again go to the link and read more

then if you or your family think there is a problem take
one of the online quizzes at this link
or the ad8 test at this link
or a family member can go to this link and answer
the 21 question test at this link

then if there seems to be a problem
you should get evaluated

remember there are a lot of treatable causes for memory loss
like b12 deficiency thyroid issues depression high blood pressure etc

when you go to a provider take the online quiz results
and your concerns
usually its good to take a spouse or loved one with you
the provider may want to interview them also

remember dont let the provider ignore your symptoms

get a good history
an exam
probably some labs
a good mental status evaluation like the mmse or mocha test that
is commonly used in the providers office

if indicated a full neuropsychological evaluation
if indicated an mri of the brain

remember the most important test is the history and exam

you are looking for an explanation for your memory loss

if the primary provider doesnt seem interested go to someone
who is interested in memory loss patients
a good source is an alzheimers research center like the one i go to
at ut southwestern medical center in dallas
every state has them
they wont ignore you and will do the workup thats needed

hopefully that answers that question
when someone asks me about crs

the organicgreen doctor

know the 10 signs # 10, walkin, more dreams

KNOW THE 10 SIGNS # 10
10      changes in mood and personality

the mood and personalities of people with alzheimers can
change     they can be confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful,
or anxious     they may be typically upset at home, at work, with
friends, or in places where they are out of their comfort zones

whats typical or normal
developing very specific ways of doing things and becoming
irritable when a routine is disrupted

now that sounds familiar

from alzheimers association website- www.alz.org
a wealth of information about this disease

WALKIN 
thats walking
thats healthy for you to do

here are 10 reasons
its recommended to walk 30 minutes at least 5 times a week
it only costs you for a pair of shoes-(which everyone has unless
you are from arkansas)(it ok for me to write that as im from
arkansas and use to go barefoot to school when i was in
elementary school)-with no gym memberships
it is atraumatic-no runners knee
it helps to raise your hdl (good) cholesterol-the higher the better
it lowers your blood sugar-if you are a diabetic just take your
blood sugar and then go for a walk and take it again
it increases muscle strength and endurance
it strengthens the bones-weight bearing exercise is one of the
preventative measures or treatments  for osteoporosis
it is part of the three prong attack on depression and anxiety
along with medication and counseling
it has been shown to increase neovascularization of vessels in the
heart to improve circualtion to the heart muscle
it improves circulation to the legs in the same way
it helps to lower your blood pressure
it delays or improves cognitive decline in mild cognitive impairment
and may slow down the development of alzheimers

ok that was more than 10 but you get the message

it dont cost nothing and it only takes 30 minutes a day
cant think of a good excuse not to do it

MORE DREAMS-episode # 3
last night i flew fighter aircraft for the air force along with
my brother he (he flew the awacs for the air force) and with
roy willliams the wide reciever for the cowboys
the problem was that roy and i did not know how to fly the
planes on our first mission so my brother the ex pilot and
financial planner had to show us how as we went along
dont know if we made it back from our first mission or not
because i woke up and could not go back to sleep to find
out how we did
am worried as we might have had a bad experience like the
cowboys did this year

dont think i want to stop this medicine
wonder if lsd is a derivative of this drug

the organicgreen doctor

know the 10 signs # 9, bees r back, smart phone security, dreams

KNOW THE SIGNS # 9
9    withdrawal from work or social activities
a person with alzlheimers may start to remove themselves from
hobbies, social activities, work projects or sports

they may have trouble keeping up with a favorite sports team
or remember how to complete a favorite hobby
they may also avoid being social because of the changes
they experienced

whats typical or normal
sometimes feeling weary of work, family, and social obligations

weve all been there right

my mom loved to go to church every sunday even as she
progressed in her disease        in the nursing home even when
more advanced she still enjoyed the church services and singing

one problem with patients with alzhiemers and other diseases is
that people dont go and visit the patients as they worsen
this is true of a lot of diseases-terminal cancer, huntingtons, als,
hiv etc
this sometimes is when patients need the visits the most
think most of us are  afraid because we see ourselves  and
dont want to face the inevitable end of life

from www.alz.org/10 signs

BEES R BACK
remember the africanized bee scares
remember the colony collapse of native bees that was
affecting crop production

apparently the africanized bees and native bees have
developed a new bee that is more resistant to the colony
collapse and the bees are making a comeback

maybe bad things can be good things, sometimes

SMART PHONE SECURITY
there lays my wifes shes cell phone
i pick it up and go right to her email and twitter and facebook
accounts without any problems
that aint right

my wife she has an android
she can password protect her phone or she can swipe protect
her phone
she can simple set a simple dot connecting pattern that opens
her phone that will prevent me and someone else from getting
her information
hackers are going to get in no matter what you do

my wife she can also shut her phone down if it is stolen
and can track the phones location remotely
(recently thats how a man tracked his stolen car  
he directed the police to the stolen car which had his cell
phone in it)

DREAMS
man that aricepts higher dose makes my
dreams go from regular tv to hdtv
think ill start me a reality show and  call it
'the organicgreen doctors dream machine'

the organicgreen doctor

know the 10 signs # 8, morning sickness, duct tape, football

KNOW THE 10 SIGNS # 8
8     decreased or poor judgement

people with alzhiemers may experience changes in judgement
or decision-making
for example they may use poor judgement when dealing with
money, giving large sums to telemarketers
they may pay less attention to grooming or keeping themselves clean

whats typical or normal
making a bad decision once in a while

my mom had a real problem with giving excessive money to
charities and to telemarketers
its obscene how they take advantage of the elderly
no one does anything about it
we put her on a do not call list, added caller identifier to her phone,
and put her on a no junk mail list
i even did a change of address  to a lot of them to send her junk
mail to my house
she died almost 3 years ago and i still get requests from charities
etc for donations

MORNING SICKNESS
i personally want to apologize to all those women who have had
or having morning sickness and especially to any i treated for it
sorry i was not more sympathetic
well now i have morning sickness every morning for 4 hours after i
take the new dose of the aricept
but at least i can take medications that work for the nausea
pregnant women cant take certain medications during pregnancy
for the nausea

sorry

DUCT TAPE-IT AINT RIGHT
from article on duct tape
the only thing duct tape cant fix is a broken heart
they have almost every color now
they now have a burnt orange tape with the longhorn
logo on it
but worse is
they will do a maroon texas am duck duct tape
this year
it aint right
unless you are an aggie

lets see bevo taped up with maroon aggie tape or
the aggie dog (revelie) taped up with burnt orange tape
the razorback taped up with yellow tiger tape or
a red buckeye taped into a ball with Michigan duct tape
or ......

maybe the high schools could get their own duck duct
tape to sell to raise money for their schools

FOOTBALL
now we are down to two teams
two old teams
two cold weather teams that will play in jerrys house
with the thermostat
now that aint right
they need to open the roof so these cold weather teams
can play in real football weather
maybe itll snow

the organicgreen doctor

know the 10 signs # 6, w1ad10, happy countries, basketball

KNOW THE 10 SIGNS # 6
6     new problems with words in speaking or writing

people with alzheimers may have trouble following or
joining a conversation     they may stop in the middle of
a conversation and have no idea how to continue or they
may repeat themselves     they may struggle with vocabulary,
have trouble finding the right words or call things by the wrong
name (eg. a watch a hand clock)

whats typical or normal
sometimes  having trouble finding the right word

W1AD10
this is week 1 day 0 of aricept (donepezil) 10 mgm
today i start the 10 mg dose of aricept (donepezil)
have been on the 5 mg dose now for 4 weeks
have gotten adjusted to the medication with only a few side
effects

have vivid dreams(last night i worked at factory to earn extra
money for medical school and also found out i had to take another
chemistry class to go to medical school       the night before i
worked in a poor undeserved rural clinic in southern arkansas)
am actually enjoying the dreams as they are like a tv show im
watching

one side effect is my sleep patterns are affected
ok i still fall asleep on people like ive done since college
that did not change

another side effect is the increased energy during the days
get er done is my new motto

hope this new dose doesnt cause more side effects or mess
with my tv show dreams

well here goes round 2
next is a follow up neurology visit in 1 week

HAPPY COUNTRIES
according to yahoo.com ranking of 110 countries in the world
that cover 90% of the worlds population ranks norway as the
happiest country in the world
it has a per capita income of $53000
spending on health care is the second highest behind the us
they also have a lot of oil and gas reserves

denmark is #2
it has the highest standard of living in the world
they are happy with their government
they have a lot more civil freedoms than most countries

finland is #3, australia is #4, and new zealand is #5
china and india are #88
the us is #10

BASKETBALL
today #10 longhorns play the #2 jayhawks
longhorns have never won at kansas
the jayhawks have the twin twin towers
the longhorns are fun to watch this year
the team chemisty appears to be good
much better than last years team
its going to be tough for horns to win
prediction   kansas wins
hope im wrong



the organicgreen doctor

know the 10 signs # 5, riders not ryders, apoe gene, ask not

KNOW THE 10 SIGNS # 5
5     trouble understanding visual and spatial relationships

for some people having visual problems is a sign of
alzheimers     they may have difficulty reading, judging
distance and determining color or contrast     in terms of
perception they may pass a mirror and think someone
else is in the room
they may not recognize their own reflection

whats typical
vision changes related to cataracts

as i read these and write these signs each day i reflect
back on my moms journey with this disease and see
things that we did not recognize as a problem early on

later on in her disease these were very obvious to everyone

RIDERS NOT RYDERS
from yahoo.com
a high school whose mascot is the rough riders bought
new jerseys for their high school basketball team
the company that made the jerseys misspelled the name
of the team      they spelled it ryders instead of riders

the company admitted the mistake
problem is the school has to send the jerseys back first
then the company will send the corrected jerseys

the problem is the team is in the district basketball play
and cant send in the jerseys      besides they are the best
team in the district

one    know where those jerseys were printed
two    maybe they could get ryders to sponsor the team
three  dont change the jerseys while they are winning
          would be bad karma

 APOE GENE
the gene called apoe produces a protein called apolipoprotein e
it occurs on chromosone 19 and has been associated with
alzheimers
there are several forms(alleles)
apoe 2, apoe 3, apoe 4

apoe 2 is rare and may protect against the disease

apoe 3 is the  most common  it has a neutral role in the disease
           maybe it affects it or maybe it doesnt
           if lucky it doesnt

apoe 4 is the sucky one     am afraid thats the one i have and
           my mom had and my close relative has
           40% of people with this gene gets alzheimers
           more people with alzheimers have this form than
           people without the disease
           1/3 of the people with alzheimers do not have the
           apoe 4 form

next month i will be tested for this gene and will let you
know what the results are

the final diagnosis of alzheimers can only definitely be made
at autopsy
at my death i will  agree to have my brain donated to
ut soutwestern alzheimers research so they can compare
what was found clinically with the final pathology of my brain
this is how research scientists can definitely know their diagnosis
was correct

ASK NOT 
fifty years ago yesterday jfk gave his inaugural address that
launched the new frontier
it included the famous phrase

ask not what your country can do for you
-ask what you can do for your country


remember its a good football weekend

the organicgreen doctor

know the 10 signs # 4, onions, crop failure, temple grandin

KNOW THE 10 SIGNS # 4
4   confusion with time and place    people with alzheimers
can loose track of dates, seasons, and the passage of time
they may have trouble understanding something if it is not
happening immediately     sometimes they may forget where
they are or how they got there

whats typical   getting confused about the day of the week
but figuring it out later
(whew that one had me worried at first)

ONIONS
here in this area now is a good time to plant onions
as always you must have good soil
add 3-4 inches of compost (i make my own-chickens
keep it all stirred up for me)
add some organic fertilizer to the mixture
work all this into the soil
i plant my onion plants (not bulbs) every 4 inches in a
raised bed      then over time as they grow i thin them out
by picking every other one as my wife she tells me she
needs an onion

plant them about 1 inch deep and water in with seaweed
or an organic fertilizer like johns recipe

i will sprinkle with the organic fertilizer and work it in
every month or you can add the liquid organic fertilizer
every 2-3 weeks
i loosely put pine straw over the beds     i remove the
pine straw when the weather gets warm

the onions are ready to be picked when the tops die
here its usually in june

FAILED CROP
go to google to the right and type in cole crop and read
about my cole crop garden
cole plants are cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, caul-
flower, and kale and i include greens
well had the best plants have ever had since ive been
gardening
had them under the white row cover to protect them
from insects and the cold
well little did i know that there were aphids galore and
white flies just loving that nice warm environment
i was busy with work and dealing with my new diagnosis
so did not check on it like i should have
when i did make it to the cole crop they were covered
with the aphids and flies
had to pull every one of them up
the chickens loved them
they got to eat the aphids and flies plus got to eat he
cole plants also
double treat they said

TEMPLE GRANDIN
if you dont know who temple grandin
is go to her website
www.templegrandin.com and read about
her

if some one in your family or if you have
a friends family  with autism or aspergers
you should read all about her
you can see what it is like to have autism
or aspergers
she is now a big advocate for autism

claire danes won a golden globe for portraying her in the
hbo move  'temple grandin'

temple couldnt speak until she was 4 years old
she now has a phd and is an author of several books
see the movie and go to her website

the organicgreen doctor

know the 10 signs # 3, sargent shriver, duct tape 2, tax cut, dreams

KNOW THE 10 SIGNS # 3
difficulty in completing  familiar tasks at home, at work,
or at leisure.
people with alzheimers often find it hard to complete
daily tasks     sometimes, people may have trouble
driving to a familiar location, managing a budget at work
or remembering the rules of a favorite game

whats typical or normal
occasionally needing help to use the settings on a
microwave or to record a television show
glad thats typical    my wife she has to do all of that
for me      but thats been for years

from www.alz.org 

SARGENT SHRIVER
sargent shriver died
he was involved in the founding of special olympics,
peace corps, head start and job corps
at 88 he announced his diagnosis of alzheimers
his family took over his care and began
educating people about alzheimers

his daughter maria shriver-author, journalists,
and former first lady of california-has worked
hard to raise the awareness of this disease    
she and the shriver family are actively
involved in the alzheimers association

TAX CUT
many of you may not know this but you got
a 2% tax cut this year     there is a decrease
just this year of 2% in the fica taxes you pay
(except for those school teachers who
work for districts that dont pay fica taxes)
thats $1000 for someone making $50000 a year

DUCT TAPE 2
another medical use although painful is using duct tape to
remove unwanted body hair
this is well demonstrated in television shows and movies
ouch ill skip that one

DREAMS
one of the side effects of the medicine aricept (donepezil)
is vivid dreams
i could write a movie script each night about my dreams

so far this week lebron james and dwyane(he spells it wrong)
wade spent the night at our house
they were very good house guests

another night i was admitted to icu for some reason and had
to spend the night there     they were not able to find my wife
to let her know that i was in the hospital
but when i woke up there my wife she was

the organicgreen doctor

know the 10 signs # 2, football, duct tape use, aig

KNOW THE 10 SIGNS # 2
from the alzheimers association website
on knowing the 10 signs of early alzheimers

2     challenges in planning and solving problems   some
people may experience changes in their abillity to develop
and follow a plan or work with numbers     they may have
trouble following a familiar recipe or keeping track of
monthly bills     they may have difficulty concentrating and
take much longer to do some things that they did before

whats normal     making occassional errors when balancing
a check book

thankful that i dont have this problem but my wife she does
with the checkbook

FOOTBALL
well predictions -2
jets shut down pats and bradys offense
seatle looked like they did not belong in the playoffs
now the games get better
new favorite is jets

cowboys got ryans bro for defensive coordinator
go jason
a little fire will be put into that defense

DUCT TAPE USE
besides dr duck am also known as dr duct tape
there are thousands of uses for duct tape

the way i used it in medicine was to use it to cover
warts     if used correctly will remove most warts
i would have patients cover the wart with the duct tape
and remove the duct tape weekly  until the wart was gone
there was an 80% chance it would work

(one brand of duct tape is called duck tape-you know
which one i had in my office)

AIG
that dirty word from the financial crisis
just repaid $47 billion to the federal
reserve and paid off the balance
of $85 billion from the bailout fund

however they did not pay back the
damage they did to you and i and
the american economy


the organicgreen doctor

i have a dream, w4ad5, asparagus, 10 signs #1, shower water, bday

I HAVE A DREAM
today is mlk day
shame on two local schools for not celebrating his day
his i have a dream speech is one of  the most famous speeches
of the last century

i remember where i was when jfk was killed
i remember where i was when mlk was killed

mlk was one of the most important figures in american
history during the 1900s
his peaceful movement for civil rights had ended up
transcending all races, all politics, both genders
the rights we all have from that movement may not have
occurred without it

the 60s was a radical time
thank goodness that cnn, msn, and fox wasnt around then
there was a radical antigovernment, antimilitary, antieverything
movement that could have destroyed us

the mlk movement transcended all of that

take a moment of silence for this great man and what he stood for
and hope that we continue to progress peacefully into the future

i have a dream...

W4AD5
week 4 aricept (donepezil) 5 mgm
no new side effects
still with more energy in daytime
still with some insomnia
no changes good or bad are noted
next week go to w1ad10

ASPARAGUS
there is an aspargus crowns shortage at the local nurseries
because of the excessive rains in the western united states
they should be available soon
it wont be too late to plant them

10 SIGNS OF EARLY ALZHEIMERS
will post these warnings signs for early alzheimers each day

i dont have any of these signs yet
as i have early mild cognitive impairment amnesic type that is
thought to be the precursor to early alzheimers

my findings only show up on more elaborate neuropsychological
testing however i do notice them but others dont yet

#1 memory changes that disrupt daily life.   one of the most
common signs of alzheimers, especially in the early stages is
forgetting recently learned information     also including forgetting
important dates or events, asking for the same information over
and over and relying on memory aides( eg reminder notes or electronic
devices) or family members for things they used to handle on their own.

whats typical or 'normal'
sometimes forgetting names or appointments, but remembering
them later

this is from the alzheimers association website www,alz.org

FOR KD RE WASTING SHOWER WATER
a local organic gardener keeps a 5 gallon bucket in his
shower to catch that first run of water until the shower water
gets hot      this water is then used for flushing, watering plants,
etc

he also has a feature on his shower head that limits the flow
rate on the shower and a lever that you can turn off the shower
if you are doing a navy shower

he also catches the excessive water from showering and uses
it to flush his toilets

if you have a rainwater collection system you are more
sensitive to the overuse of water
if you overuse it you run out

thats not good

thats not ever happened here even with  the droughts we have had






BDAY
today is the birthday of another great american
benjamin franklin
(he was also noted for this swimming ability)

the organicgreen doctor