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

alzheimers news-getting it right

ALZHEIMERS DISEASE-GETTING IT RIGHT

in the past it was not always easy
to get the diagnosis correct
especially in the early stages of the disease

here are the stages that lead to alzheimers disease

prealzheimers-no symptoms yet

mild cognitive impariment(mci)-mild symptoms like me
some believe mci is early alzheimers

alzheimers disease-more advanced symptoms

even 7 years ago when i was diagnosed with mci
mild cognitive impairment
it was thought to be probably due to alzheimers disease
based on memory testing and history taking
but
really there were not anything else to do to come up with
a more accurate diagnosis

if you are wrong with your diagnosis
then you
start treatment with aricept (donepezil)
have the patient go through the side effects of the medicine
for years
and
if the diagnosis was wrong
well you just made a persons life more miserable than
the disease the person really had

of course in the workup of things that could cause memory issues
that are easily treated are ruled out
like abnormal electrolytes low b12 low thyroid depression
sleep disturbance etc

sometimes whats left is not always alzheimers disease
but may be caused by benign causes that really wont
worsen over time or will go much much slower than
alzheimers disease

so now in 2017
to have a workup for memory loss that appears to possibly
could be maybe alzheimers disease
the usual workup like i had at first is done
ruling out treatable stuff
if it all points towards alzheimers disease
then a more definitive diagnosis can be made

if its memory loss not due to alzheimers
you may not need medication and its accompanying side effects

if it is alzheimers
then there are a lot of research studies going on and are about
to happen on potential treatments for alzheimers
if you know you probably have it you can make yourself
more available for treatment

now you can have genetic tests done
for early onset alzheimers disease the inherited kind
apoe 4 gene signifying increased risk for alzheimers disease
a spinal tap and analysis for beta amyloid and tau
abnormal levels imply you have alzheimers disease

then
as a new study is showing
read this article on it
that the use of the pet scan amyvid for the bad beta amyloid
the hallmark of alzheimers disease
can rule out alzheimers disease as the cause of the
persons memory loss

insurance and medicare and medicaid will not pay for this test
however medicare medicaid and other organizations are sponsoring
a study to see if it really makes a difference these scans

its called the ideas study
i was attempting to get into this study to see if i could get the scan done
but i luckily qualified for the aducanumab study that i am in now

so what they have found is
that a significant number of people who have the diagnosis of
mild cognitive impairment and are on meds like aricept (donepezil)
really dont have alzheimers disease
based on the fact that their amyvid scans are negative

if your amyvid scan is negative you do not have alzheimers disease

i would hate to think that i took all this aricept (donepezil)
had all the side effects like dizziness blurred vision sleep disturbances
occasional veritgo fatigue leg cramps vivid dreams
and fasciculations

whats fasciculations
well eg you can look at my calves
and watch my muscle fasciculate
it looks like something is crawling back and forth under my skin
its from the aricept (donepezil)
people with other neurological diseases like huningtons disease
have them also

so these folks who have negative scans can now stop the aricept
i would love to be able to do that
and
almost get a reprieve from a terrible fatal diagnosis

granted their memory may not ever get better
but
it may not ever get worse either

physicians who referred their patients for the ideas scans
found that over half the mci patients didnt really have alzheimers
75% of the alzheimers patients did

no
sorry to say
my amyvid pet scan is positive
so this ideas study wouldnt have helped me any
except verifying the likelihood that i have alzheimers disease

note
other things can cause the scans to be positive
but
if its negative its not alzheimers disease

they need more folks for the ideas study
if you know someone who might qualify
here is the link
ideas study information

remember
we need financial support to fight this disease
and
emotional support to deal with it

join us as we walk this year

we will be doing the
alzheimers texas walk in georgetown texas
on saturday september 23rd
team name is organicgreendoctor

yes we will be in georgetown for the above walk
as we walk with our austin friends and family
do join us
come say goodbye to us

i also will have a team in the
santa barbara walk to end alzheimers 
on saturday october 28th
team name is organicgreendoctor.com

join us

the organicgreen doctor

this may help

THIS MAY HELP

examiner.com

alzheimers disease is a progressive fatal disease for which
there is no treatment or cure

so when you look at treatments and side effects eg
the medicine aricept (donepezil) which doesnt treat the disease
it just treats the symptoms
just slows them down some
if it was used for angina or diabetes or high blood pressure
then doctors and patients would not use it since it has so
many side effects

but
since we are talking about a progressive fatal disease for which
the only real treatment right now is aricept (donepezil)
then we use it for the alzheimers diagnosis since its our only
choice

so thats the view i use when i look at treatments for alzheimers
experimental and other ones
there are no choices as of yet
if something looks promising then ill do it
as the choices otherwise are what
thats right there arent any

now before i proceed forward
vitamins and supplements are like medicines they have side effects
and they interact with each other and other medicines
eg vitamin e interfers with coumadin

if you read this and you have memory loss that has not been
completely evaluated
dont do any of the things recommended in
the article unless you have had a complete evaluation with
a doctors exam and good medicial history labs mental status testing
scans medicine reviews etc

remember some memory loss causes are treatable and reversible

now
last week in the press there were articles on using vitamins and supplements
to reverse memory loss from an ucla research study
here are two links to two of those articles
abc news
ucla news

the second link is a more in depth article

now here is the link to the research article that was published in Aging
the title is
reversal of cognitive decline a novel therapeutic program
by dr dale bredesen from the department of neurology ucla

this study may have the only recommendations that are available
right now in medicine for ways to slow down
or reverse memory loss

yes i wrote reverse memory loss

in this study he took 10 people who had memory loss and treated
and followed them for two years
there were patients with sci or subjective memory impairment which
means you think you have memory loss but it doesnt show up on
memory tests
studies have shown that these folks many of them develop eventual
dementia or impairment

there were patients with the diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive
impairment
that is what my diagnosis is
these patients have abnormalities on memory tests and some have
abnormal scans of the brain

then there were patients with early stage alzheimers disease

there was one patient with later stage alzheimers disease

this regimen on these 10 patients had 9 of the 10 improve
on their memory
many of them were able to return back to work

the only one who did not get better was the patient who
had the more advanced disease

now i know this was on a small number of patients
but the findings seem quite significant
there will be more studies done on a larger number of patients
who will be followed for several years
then we will definitely know

sorry but i dont have time to wait for that study
for me this seems like evidence enough to proceed

so i will use myself as an example as to how this study will be
used to treat me

first i have had a very thorough evaluation for memory loss over
the last 4 years
as good an evaluation as you can have
neuropsych tests labs mri scans spinal taps pet scans
so i feel like my diagnosis is accurate

i am also followed by my family doctor and by my neurologist
and by the alzheimers research center at ut southwestern
on a regular basis

i have sat  down with my family doctor and my neurologist and
have discussed my trying this new treatment regimen
i have their blessings

there are 36 points to the treatment regimen
many i was already doing

exercising

eating a mostly vegetarian diet
i only occasionally eat meat
i rarely eat simple carbohydrates and dont eat a lot of grains
i usually eat at 6pm and dont eat again until 6am so i have a fast
during that time and have 3 hours fasting before bedtime
this fasting or ketogenesis may be helpful in providing ketones
as a source of food for the brain cells

getting adequate sleep by taking an afternoon nap to compensate for
my two hours of sleep i lose at night

i try to meditate or stare i dont do yoga
i use my walking and my gardening as my meditation times

i stay active physically and mentally
eg for this blog today i have spent over 4 hours reading and writing it

i maximize my health as much as possible controlling my weight
my blood pressure my cholesterol
i stay happy and content and dont really feel stressed out

in the article there are references for each recommendation
these are based on research articles that are referenced
not much of this is anecdotal but is based on research

as baseline labs i did
vitamin b12   25-oh vit d3  
homocysteine level   crp c reactive protein  these two measure
inflammation in the body
my levels of these two were elevated in the past

thyroid level    testosterone level
my wife she said for me not to do that one but i did anyway

these are not back yet but i expect them to be normal except
for the homocysteine level and the crp
for that i will take folic acid to lower the homocysteine level
for the elevated crp i will use things that help inflammation
vit e  omega 3 fish oil curcumin or tumeric acid and will
be good about dental hygiene
and take vitamin b6

for sleep i tried the low dose melatonin but felt drugged all day
so i will utilize the nap system to get my 7-8 hrs sleep
dont plan things with me after lunch please

for mediation which lowers beta amyloid i will do the walking
and gardening version

for gi health i couldnt do the gluten free diet which i dont get much
of anyway
i will add probiotics to my regimen

for reduction of beta amyloid i will take curcumin and
will try the indian herb ashwaganda
when i tried it the first time i got 8 hrs very restful sleep
but i had the most god awful disturbing violent dreams ever
and have not taken it again
it also lowers blood pressure so i have to monitor  my blood
pressure closely
i plan to try half the dose again when i can get the courage to do it

for cognitive enhancement i will take bacopa monniera

to increase nerve growth factor i will take alcar or acetyl-l-carnitine

to provide synaptic structural components-thats where the nerve
endings meet-i will take citicoline and fish oil

to optimize antioxidants i will take omega 3 fish oil and eat antioxidant
foods in my diet and take alpha-lipoic acid

to optimize mitochondral function the batteries of the brain cells
i will take co q   alpha-lipoic acid   alcar   and drink a glass of red wine
ok maybe two glasses sometimes

to increase focus i will take pantothenic acid (vitamin b5)

to get median chain triglycerides i will be taking coconut oil twice a day
i chose not to take the prescription food axona even though i have some
as its expensive and is a hassle to mix up and take each day

so there it is
my treatment plan for reversal of cognitive decline

ive looked at patient number two in this study as he seems closer
to my history
his ten year decline seems to have been halted in its tracks
thats what im after

so
i take or will be taking 17 supplements each morning along with
my regular medicines
a handful for sure
i started yesterday and have noticed no side effects so far
i was worried about nausea but that didnt happen

i plan to add ashwaganda again at a lower dose but will stop it if
those dreams still occur
it was shown in studies to lower the bad stuff beta amyloid

if my labs are abnormal i will start replacements if they are needed
like vit b12 or vit d3 or thyroid or testosterone

since i have regular neuropsych tests done and moca tests and mmse tests done
at the research center i will know if im better
plus i will know myself

so in summary
make sure your memory loss has been thoroughly evaluated before
trying this
talk with your doctor before you start it
remember these things are like medicines they have side effects and
can interact with prescriptions
look up the supplements also on this link on webmd
its one of the best ive found

www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/

do not do this without doing all my recommendations

then
donate and or join us this weekend for the
travis county walk to end alzheimers at camp mabry at 1100am
on sunday october 12
our team is austin regional clinic

the organicgreen doctor