early on

EARLY ON
a couple of years ago i met this guy in the discussion group
in the alzheimers association website www.alz.org


his name was sandy halperin
he was recently diagnosed with early onset alzheimers disease
and like me was anxious to tell his story about his disease
and probably like me wanting to tell it while he could

now i have early amnestic mild cognitive impairment
that stage between normal and full blown alzheimers
i have no doubt that i have alzheimers disease

so ive communicated some with sandy halperin over the
last two years via email and facebook

he was a dentist in florida who use to teach at harvard in
their dental school
while working in florida on the state dental board when
he would review cases he noticed that he couldnt recall
the material he read so he eventually got evaluated

he being someone like me i guess who wanted to know
as much as possible where he was with the disease

he quit working and has been an advocate for alzheimers
disease education and research
like i have been

i feel this kinship with him even though he is slightly
more advanced than i am

recently dr sanjay gupta from cnn has done a series on
dr halperins story
below is the first of the series


i found it hard to read and watch but i did it

here is the link
click on the video and watch it

click here

in there are symptoms that i have but maybe not as bad
but i know im headed that way

also read his story below the video
the more we see people early on and talk about it
maybe more people will reach out for help early on

maybe more people will understand what its like early on

this week i read an article about a ucla research study looking
at 10 people with memory loss using 30+ treatment therapies
on each one
they all got better and some returned to work
the only one that didnt improve was a more advanced
alzheimers disease patient

i am doing many of these of course im not taking hormone therapy
but i do stare some as i mentioned in a recent blog
thats sort of like yoga

so maybe there are things sandy and i and others can do
to slow down the process
larger studies on greater numbers are planned

i have a lot of admiration for sandy halperin exposing himself like
this so we can understand what its like early on
in this disease  process

upcoming walk to end alzheimers events we are participating
donate and or join us or join your local walk
help sandy and i out some

travis county walk to end alzheimers october 12
team austin regional clinic

bell county walk to end alzheimers november 1
team organicgreendoctor

little rock arkansas walk to end alzheimers november 8
team #joe nash

the organicgreen doctor

this is exciting news

THIS IS EXCITING NEWS

its not often that you get to write about exciting or good news
about alzheimers disease
its such a sad disease
you get it and really cant do that much really to stop it
maybe slow it down some

as many of you know my mother had alzheimers disease
my father died of a heart attack but probably had moderate alzheimers disease
my younger brother died a month ago with this terrible disease
and
i probably have early early alzheimers

the future will prove whether i have it or not
i personally am proceeding along the lines that i have it
(i take my aricept (donepezil)
so i can be prepared as much as you can for when that day comes
and
do whatever i can to slow it down
including
looking for any research where there is treatment that might work
early on like in cases like mine

i carry the apoe4 gene the double version
which increases my chances 15 times that i will get or have
alzheimers disease

yesterday an announcement was made  and is well described in this
article from the associated press which if you have a loved one with
early symptoms like i have you  should read it
and
this one with interviews with dr hilfilker and dr halperin about all this
one a physician the other a dentist
both whom i occasionally interact with online some
dr hilfilkers blog watching the lights go out is one i follow
and is on the right side of this blog in my favorite blog list

yesterday i gave a presentation about my story with possibly having
alzheimers disease to a small group
and much of what i talked about was in these articles

the federal government instead of a war on syria
has declared a war on alzheimers disease

the federal government was suppose to be funneling 100 million dollars
to fund alzheimers research
but
thanks to budget cuts that was not funded
however
the director of the national institutes of health has scrounged up
several millions of dollars to fund alzheimers research

one study will look at 650 people who carry the double gene apoe4
which means me
they will be given one of the new drugs yet to be determined to those
of us with the apoe4 gene hoping that it will slow down or prevent
the disease

i think this is the study that ive been waiting for
just please dont put me in the placebo group
most of the previous upcoming treatment studies i dont qualify for
since im so early
eg dr hilfiker is in an alzheimers treatment study using one of the new
alzheimers vaccines but  he is a little more advanced than i am

so folks this is my chance to maybe do something for myself that
might slow down the disease in myself

i plan on being the first to sign up

thank you
to the federal government for supporting this war

ACTIVITIES
next wednesday september september 25th i will be doing a presentation
on my story with possible alzheimers disease
at the sun city cowan amenity center andice room
1433 cool spring way
georgetown texas
rsvp deanna at tiffinhouselcd@gmail.com
there are a few seats left

next saturday september 28th
the williamson county walk to end alzheimers
at san gabriel park
georgetown texas
sign in at 800am walk at 900am
sign up on line or the day of the walk
the walk is free but a donation is appreciated
click here to donate or join my team organicgreendoctor

my younger brothers team #joe nash was scheduled to walk in
the el dorado ark walk to end alzheimers on november 2nd
that walk has been canceled and his team information
will be posted later at a different walk location
ill keep you informed

please take a moment
support us this year
the alzheimers association is the 3rd largest supporter of research
in the world behind china and the national institutes of health
and almost all their funding comes from donations
and
most comes from these walks to end alzheimers

thank you
:))
the organicgreen doctor