keep that level up

KEEP THAT LEVEL UP

the bmj @bmj_latest

when i first retired i wasnt on any blood pressure medications
i was looking for ways to lower my blood pressure without
taking drugs
one way was to drop my caffeine intake
i tried caffeine free coffee
that only lasted one day
i tired half caffeine and half no caffeine
that only lasted one day

then
i later read an article on drinking 2-3 cups of java a day
it helped it seem to clear the mind
make one sharper in the morning
it may help to slow the memory decline in dementia
so
thats all i needed to know right there
back to the caffeinated coffee
like
it should be
strong and black

so
i went back to my three cups a day
i felt better
i felt more alert
i felt more energized

now i only drink it the first thing in the morning
not drinking any after lunch
since i noticed it seemed to interfere with my sleep
at night
something i already have problems with from the
alzheimers drug aricept (donepezil)

then
after reestablishing my caffeine levels back to my
normal levels
i
then attacked my blood pressure
using a low dose blood pressure medication to keep it
down to the new recommend levels of less than
130/80

im happy
with my blood pressure and my caffeine levels now

then
last week i read this article
british medical journal coffee consumption and health...
on caffeine intake
well
it just reinforced what i already knew and felt

it seems drinking 3-4 cups a day of java
lowers the incidence of
premature death
cardiovascular disease
liver disease
dementia
several types of cancer
gall stones
type 2 diabetes
im sure theres more

thats all i need to know about keeping my levels up
of caffeine
im in

the organicgreen doctor

is it, whats the difference

IS IT, WHATS THE DIFFERENCE
to those who were at my alzheimers presentation yesterday
here are the links to the online quizes i mentioned

21 question questionnaire

five best online quizzes




i got asked this question twice yesterday
is alzheimers disease dementia
or
is dementia alzheimers disease

the answer is yes and no

dementia is a general term that is loss of memory that interfers
with your daily life
it has several causes

one of them is alzhiemers disease
the most common type of dementia
it makes up 60-80% of all cases of dementia
inside the brain beta amyloid and tau protein accumulation occurs
that results in brain cell damage and death

vascular dementia
is the second most common cause of dementia
it represents 10% of all cases
commonly its caused by strokes or ministrokes
also on brain imaging vascular changes can be seen
sometimes these are silent changes
the symptoms can vary based on the area of the brain affected

dementia with lewy bodies
not as common as the other two above
its is caused by an accumulation of proteins in the cortex of the brain
called alphasynuclein
the diagnosis is made  by an experienced doctor like a neurologist
who puts the patients history together to make the diagnosis
final true diagnosis can only be made by autopsy

mixed dementia
it represents a mixture of more than one type of dementia
usually a mixture of alzheimers disease and vascular dementia
lewy body dementia can also be mixed with alzheimers disease
and or vascular dementia
mixed is more common than we realized before

parkinsons disease
it can lead to a progressive dementia
there can be changes caused by the protein alphasynuclein
like in lewy body dementia

frontotemporal dementia
the front lobes and temporal lobes are affected
think front of brain and over temples
they get changes in personality and behavior at a earlier age
they tend to progress faster than alzheimers disease
theres not the microscopic changes you see in the dementias above

creuztfeldt jakobs disease cjd
a very rare disease
a variant found in cattle called mad cow disease can be transferred
to humans
its a rapid progressive disease

normal pressure hydrocephalus
a rare one but its an important one since if its diagnosed
and treated with shunting a person might show marked improvement
there is increased fluid buildup in the brain which can be relieved for
some by removing the fluid by placing a shunt to the brain to drain
the fluid or ny removing the fluid by spinal tap

huntingtons disease
a genetic progressive disease

wernicke-korksakoff syndrome
is caused by a severe lack of vitamin b12 or thiamine
commonly caused by alcohol abuse
thiamine is needed by the nerve cells to provide sugar for energy
no thiamine no energy production so brain cells dont work

so in summary
yes alzheimers is the most common cause of dementia
but a patients dementia can be caused by many causes as above

an excellent online reference on dementia is
the alzheimers associations website
www.alz.org/what-is-dementia.asp

also
the organicgreendoctor team in the williamson county walk to end alzheimers
has its
online silent auction in progress now and will end on september 21th
www.32auctions.com/ogd

click here to donate or join
our team organicgreendoctor at the williamson county walk on september 27th

the organicgreen doctor

you may need a little sun

YOU MAY NEED A LITTLE SUN

you need to drink your milk
your mom was right it seems

you need to cover up with a floppy hat long sleeve shirts
long pants gloves and put on  tons of sun screen to protect
your skin
good advice for preventing skin cancers
may be not as good for preventing or slowing down dementia
it seems

a recent study on the news showed that folks who had
decreased vitamin d levels seemed to have an increased chance
of developing dementia
the lower the levels of vitamin d the higher the risk it seems

those who were moderately deficient in vitamin d had a
53% increase risk in developing dementia
while those who had a severe deficiency had a 125% increase
risk in developing dementia

those are significant numbers

then those who develop dementia tend to stay inside and become
less active and eat less which may make their vitamin d levels
go even lower
maybe speeding things up some

so what do you need to do
get sunlight

if you over sunscreen lighten up some on the spf
dont cover up so much especially early in the day
so your skin can get some direct sunlight to do that
conversion in the skin to make vitamin d that can be
used in the body

drink milk eat cheeses eat yogurt and yes ice cream is ok too
these tend to be fortified also with vitamin d
milk not processed ie not forified if the cows dont get much
sunlight may not have as much vitamin d  in their milk
a free range cow who gets good sun exposure is best

fish especially salmon mushrooms the legal kind fortified tofu eggs
cereals kale organges orange juice
there isnt a lot of vitamin d in other vegetables

dont just start taking vitamin d without discussing it with your doctor
since too much vitamin d is not good for you
consider having your level checked
for your bones sake and your brains sake

so here is what i do
i wear a floppy hat
use spf 20+
occasionally in the early morning i skip sunscreen
wear short sleeves some but usually wear long sleeve shirts
eat cheese twice a day
eat a free range egg including the yolk since thats where the
vitamin d is located
and
of course have been known to partake in a bowl of
blue bell vanilla ice cream

maybe thats why my neuropsych tests are stable right now

join or donate to the williamson county walk to end alzheimers team
organicgreendoctor at this link 

look at our online silent auction thats ongoing and will last until
sunday september 21, 20014 at
www.32auctions.com/ogd

more items will be added over the next few days

enjoy the sun

the organicgreen doctor

obamacares

OBAMACARES
when i was diagnosed with early mild cognitive impairment amnestic type
that was thought to be possibly from alzheimers disease
i became uninsurable
because of my diagnosis

luckily for me i already had health insurance that i could cobri in for 18 months
or i could go onto my wife shes insurance which i did
as the cobra would run out and i might have trouble getting any insurance
or i would not be able to get any insurance to bridge me over until medicare
kicked in in 5 years

so the potential was that i would be left without health insurance for 3 years

this is what happened to this lady in this story from wjla.com
nancy halwick from huntington maryland applied for and received her
health insurance from golden rule a subsidiary of united health insurance that
is sold to people who need health insurance that dont get it at work or are
self employed etc

eg one of my sons has this insurance
and yes there are two health issues he had when he was a kid that are not
a problem now but they wouldnt cover anything related  to those issues
unless he had no problems with them for 5 years

such things as asthma allergies injuries high blood pressure high
cholesterol diabetes depression anxiety migraines seizures back pain
etc etc etc etc etc
could be included as a reason to deny coverage

so nancy applied and received her health insurance
then after 7 months when she was ill and in the hospital
golden rule refused to pay her hospital bill
why
months after receiving her insurance she had been diagnosed with
early onset dementia
it seems two years before she went to a doctor and had normal visits
and a normal mri
because of this they refused to pay her claims and canceled her insurance
so
she is now uninsurable like i am

but now come janurary 1 2014 she will be able to get full health insurance
with the obamacare health insurance plans
with no restrictions or riders on her dementia

we know
that her cost will climb as her disease progresses

so im glad that we in america have finally came to our senses
and have decided since its the national law to provide health care
for our citizens at a reasonable cost
of course
many states like texas and florida are leaving out those who will
be caught between medicaid and these new plans
there are thousands of these people out there who will remain
uninsurable thanks to our political systems disarray

yes there will be a lot of nancy halwicks out there
whom we will be paying eventually for their care
one way or the other

eg uncontrolled high blood pressure that leads to a stroke
which leads to a disability which leads to that person being
on medicaid or medicare instead of being able to be a productive
citizen
some one pays for all those expenses
thats right we do and its cheaper to pay earlier in a disease
than when it becomes catastrophic

so im glad obamacares
for nancy hardwick and her husband and her two kids

the organicgreen doctor