alzheimers news-i think he had it

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-I THINK HE HAD IT

i know an author who wrote several books about him
says he didnt have alzheimers disease when he was president

reaganlibrary

well
i think
ronald reagan was in the early stages of the disease when
he was president
he had to have been

i read that his doctors back then in the 80s said he showed
no evidence of alzheimers
did he have memory tests like trump had earlier this year
the one i have had several times over the last 8 years
the moca test
no reagan didnt have that since it was developed in 1997
the other one used commonly is the mmse
it was developed in 1975
it could have been given to reagan but i doubt that it was

if you are early in the disease the mmse misses the diagnosis
the moca test usually doesnt

so my guess he was never ever really tested while in office
even by his private doctors

i was a primary care doctor having graduated in 1982
and finishing my residency in 1985
starting private practice in 1985
i will admit i never recall actually diagnosing alzheimers
disease in my career
it was something like cancer you didnt talk about with
patients
it sort of got ignored

my guess is that his symptoms were ignored
and not tested for

ive watched reagan on tv clips since i was diagnosed
and now knowing a lot more about the disease

you can hear it in his speech
you can see it in his face
the stare
if you have had a loved one with this disease
you recognize that stare
you know what im talking about

there are three stages in alzheimers
prealzheimers with normal memory tests and abnormal spinal fluid and a positive amyvid scan
mild cognitive impairment with slightly abnormal memory tests and abnormal spinal fluid and a positive anyvid scan
alzheimers with abnormal memory tests and abnormal spinal fluid and a positive amyvid scan

if trump will develop alzheimers as he ages he would be prealzheimers now
he would be in the white area
i have mild cognitive impairment
i am in the pink area
reagan at the end of his second term probably had early alzheimers disease
he would have been in the grey area




this is the alzheimers graph
the graph of the typical late onset alzheimers patient
it shows the development of symptoms and testing that we
now have available

this graph was developed from data from the large research
study that i was in called the adni 2 study

he died at 93
he quit the presidency at 77
plot those points on the graph
he was first president at 70 years old
plot that point on the graph

if this was his path which it probably comes close to
at 70 he probably had early mci or mild cognitive impairment
if you had done the moca test on him it might have been abnormal
not like the good score trump had

he probably noticed things himself
maybe his wife
probably not others unless they knew him real well
if he had had a full neuropsychological test it would
have been there
its the gold standard memory test
his spinal tap analysis for the bad amyloid and the tau
would have been abnormal
his amyvid pet scan the one for the bad beta anyloid
the hallmark of alzheimers disease would have been
positive
maybe early changes would even been seen on a mri scan

so i think when he was first inaugurated as president
these would have been positive

i have been exposed in the last eight years to a lot
of folks who have mci and real early alzheimers
they function quite well
they work they write they give lectures they drive
they travel they do all their financial stuff
most folks dont even know

when he was first inaugurated
my guess he would have qualified to be
in the aducanumab study that i am in now

wouldnt that have been interesting
if a sitting president was undergoing a novel treatment
for alzheimers disease

it probably would have been the best thing that
could have happened to the alzheimers movement

but none of this was available

my guess is he functioned quite well in his first term
my guess is that he started to have issues in the end
of his last term
issues he noted
his wife nancy noted
his close white house staff really noticed
and
they were able to protect him
he did a good job at the end
but
had his disease been a faster progresser
it might not have been a good ending on that second term

so
i believe
knowing all i know now
that he could have been diagnosed while in office
alzheimers just doesnt pop up one day
its a usually slow gradual process that can take
like in him
30 years to fully develop and cause death

lets dont be ashamed if he did have it while in office

the organicgreen doctor

the graph

THE GRAPH

this is the graph of alzheimers

this is the present theory of what happens in alzheimers
those who will get it will began to accumulate a substance
called beta amyloid in their early 40s

this beta amyloid is normally made in the body and is cleared out
from the brain without any problems
this theory will soon be tested this year and we will know if
it is accurate

in the 40s something happens and the drainage system doesnt
work right so the beta amyloid starts to accumulate years before
symptoms of alzheimers starts

as it accumulates brain cells start to get damaged

look at the graph between 40-65
go straight up to the amyloid line
the beta amyloid is starting to accumulate in larger and larger
numbers but
the person remains normal cognitively
no one the patient or family or friends or coworkers notice anything

its about this time that inflammation and cell damage occurs
tau protein becomes elevated as the nerve fibers get damaged

still no outward signs that anything is going on
its like cancer thats growing slowly without symptoms until
it reaches a point then symptoms start

then somewhere around 65 the beta amyloid has almost reached its
maximum accumulation
the destruction is accumulating
all of this is irreversible
then the early symptoms may start to show

it may be too late at this point as too much destruction has
happened and the dying of the brain cells cant be stopped

so for me if i have alzheimers
when i was 40 i finally finished my federal obligation and began
to practice family medicine in a large clinic north of here
i worked 40+ hours raised two sons and was physically active
bicycling and enjoying life

but look at the graph at 40-50
the amyloid was starting to accumulate
by the time i moved to the austin area at 50
it would be 50% accumulated
still no symptoms

then 10 years later
boom
abnormal neuropsych exam with no one noticing symptoms
diagnosis very early mild cognitive impariment (mci)
find that on the above graph
and at that point
theres 90% of the beta amyloid has accumulated
theres 60% of the inflammation and cell injury already occurring
damn it

what if in my 40s i could have a test that shows that im accumulating
this beta amyloid in my brain
what if they could give me something to take away all that beta amyloid
what if removing that beta amyloid would prevent that brain cell destruction

that what if may be today
there is a test called the amyvid pet scan that will identify the beta amyloid in the brain


then there is iv medicine that will be given to people in this situation where
i might have been in my 40s that will remove that beta amyloid from the brain

and hopefully none of the cell destruction will occur

thats where we are headed folks and its getting closer

two large studies are using iv anitbodies against beta amyloid on individuals
in their 30s and 40s that are genetically predestined to get alzheimers in
their 40s and early 50s

their graph is shifted to the left by 20-30 years
my younger brothers graph is shifted 20 years to the left
my graph if i have this disease is shifted probably 10-15 years
my mothers graph would have looked like this one

those in the studies will be given this stuff now before the beta amyloid
accumulaton starts on that uphill curve that you see on that graph above
it will flatten out the curve by removing the beta amyloid as its produced
hopefully stopping the development of alzheimers

so if it all works i could have an amyvid pet scan and if im loaded with a
beta amyloid in the brain unless things have advanced too far
i could get those iv antibodies that bind to the beta amyloid and remove it
my course of this disease could be significantly altered

wow what if this could happen

the organicgreen doctor