there youve done it again

THERE YOUVE DONE IT AGAIN
thats what i said yesterday as i finished the last part of the exam
im done for another year
maybe

huffingtonpost.com

we are at a crossroads now
in alzheimers research
we now have collected information for several years on folks
like me
eg in the adni study alzheimers disease neuroimaging initiative
we know how to identify folks early with testing to know with
a certain degree of certainty that alzheimers is present
now
its time to move to the next phase
lets treat it slow it down or cure it

i am in the fourth year of the adni study
the hope was it would be continued so that these
folks like me could be followed long term
but
no the funding has not been made available
thank you so much mr or ms congressperson for stopping
us in our tracks
youve done a lot for our country the last few years

not

so ill still be followed by the research center but in less detail
since the funding isnt there
so yesterday i started this new journey
still an adequate one but not one that had as much national significance

i am also still in the study where they are developing a new alzheimers
blood test as evidenced by all that blood they withdrew from my
arm yesterday
my wife she didnt faint but she didnt watch either
sometime in the future they will do this  blood test on you and be
able to tell if you will get or have alzheimers disease
they already know the answer on me

i still have the annual mental status evaluations
thats the one that really tells me where i am

theres the mmse 
a commonly used in the office test thats quick and easy
it will show if you are more advanced
you flunk this one and you definitely have a problem
i get all of it correct
not a helpful test for the future as we will be looking for people who
have minimal symptoms or none at all

then the mocatest
this one will pick up abnormalities earlier than the mmse
eg theres part of the test i have trouble with and i did again
yesterday so that my score for that test is off slightly
if it was in a doctors office they would send me for the neuropsych
test to better delineate my problem

then theres the full blown neuropsych test that really really tells
you where you are
it will tell if you have memory loss and if its short term or not
thats the hallmark of alzheimers disease
and im sorry to say thats where my deficit is in my short term memory
its still there maybe the same but probably slightly more advanced
most  people will not notice it in me
but i do and i have already developed some coping mechanisms
to help out

so here i am tested
know where i am
now wtf am i going to do now

stay active physically mentally and socially
check on that
control my weight blood pressure cholesterol
check on that
take my aricept (donepezil) the only medication that really at this
stage may help
check on that

now im at that crossroad
im sorry but i want more
i am doing all i can but i want more

research is now entering in that phase
where medications are developed that show promise
and
i want to be part of finding out if that stuff is going to work

the three promising ones are
the alzheimers vaccine solanezumab
being used in several studies now and in the next year

bace inhibitor will be used soon in new studies
it prevents the body from making beta amyloid the bad stuff

nasal insulin will be used in new studies soon
it will help by increasing glucose to the brain cells in the
hypothalamus where alzheimers starts
hopefully it will slow things down some

then there are lots of others in the works

so alzheimers research is at a turning point
i am at that peak with them
i dont want to fall off now
i want to go along for the ride

the organicgreen doctor

its that time again

ITS THAT TIME AGAIN
this will be the fourth time i go through all these tests
i did them when i started 3 years ago
then i do them every year


i am a study subject in the early mild cognitive impairment
group in the largest alzheimers disease research study ever
done
its called the adni or alzheimers disease neuroimaging initiative
its a multicenter center study that takes the data it collects and
once its all entered each year it is readily available to researchers
all over the world
hundreds of research studies have been written from this data

much of the newer stuff thats known on alzheimers disease
comes from this study
the new treatment studies that are starting up now uses the
information from the adni study to guide their studies

today i will have done
blood work like you usually will get at a doctors visit like a cbc
and a metabolic profile and a urinalysis
as part of another study they will run a new alzheimers blood test
they are working on that will identify folks who will get alzheimers
looking at protein markers and inflammatory markers comparing
what they find with the other tests and scans i have done
right now the test is about 90% accurate


a full neuropsychological test that takes about 2 hours to do
its the hardest test to do for the study and the one i dread the
most
i jokenly call it the torturre test
i dont even mind the spinal tap
this will be the 6th neuropsychological test that i have done for
this study
so i know when i take them if i have gotten worse or just stayed
the same
so far my results have been fairly stable
i know that if i have alzheimers disease that there is a point in the
future when a drop off will start to occur
they dont even have to look at my results
i can tell them the results when i walk out of the room

this year i dont get an mri
i have had 5 mris so far in this study
they all have been normal
they are looking at the under surface of the brain at the hypothalamus
to see if it has shrunken at all
thats where alzheimers disease all starts
right there

i also dont get the glucose metabolism test pet scan or the
amyvid pet scan this year
both these will show abnormalities in glucose metabolism or
in beta amyloid accumulation in the brain if alzhiemers is present
i dont get these pet scan results as they are protected by the study

then i dont get the spinal tap this year
they check for beta amyloid and tau protein accumulation in the
spinal fluid
abnormal levels of these two proteins occur in alzheimers disease
i had my fluid tested three years ago and its abnormal
last year when i had my tap done i donated the fluid to an ms study
that they desperately needed fluid for
forgoing a 2 year followup at a private lab which would have
given me another point on the curve to look at

this year i will discuss with them
about trying to qualify for one of the new treatment studies that
are starting up using one of the new alzheimers vaccines
called solanezumab or one using nasal insulin or one using bace inhibitors

these are three of the new ways that if they work a patient could
be treated early on in the disease or even before symptoms start
a lot of hope is put into these studies

plus i will always continue doing those things we all should be
doing to stay healthy
and keep taking my aricept (donepezil)

the organicgreen doctor

wtea, resveratrol etc, a break

WTEA

the walks to end alzheimers are starting across the nation
soon
go to the walk to end alzheimers page to find
the site nearest you

in central texas go to the
central texas chapter of the alzheimers association link
to see the four walks for this area this fall

if you would like to donate to my team
the organicgreendoctor.com team 
click the above link

feel free to donate or join the team
or start your own team

this last year my younger brother was placed in a long
term facility because of his alzheimers disease
it was not safe for him to remain at home
as he would want to wander off and had become
a potential risk to himself

one of my team members dad was diagnosed this year
with alzheimers and has already met her goal even
though its 4 months till our walk
she has now increased her goal for $$ raised
and is rapidly approaching that new goal

my egg laying country n girls are taking the proceeds
from donations for their eggs
today they are making a $50 donation and
plan to increase production to raise more

our team goal is $5000 which we met this last year
help support the alzheimers association in their fight
against this terrible disease
that will affect us all in some way eventually

RESVERATROL

am sure you heard that if you drink red wine every day that
you will live longer
well resveratrol is the supposed magic ingredient in there that
may be the reason that people live longer who drink red wine

i in fact drink at least a glass of red wine every night as it
appears to help raise you good cholesterol (hdl) levels
as mine are too low
along with niacin i keep ny levels in the normal levels

there is a theory that using resveratrol at high levels may
slow down alzheimers
the test dose that is used is equal to the resveratrol thats in
1000 bottles of wine
(sorry cant drink that much a day much less in several years)

you can actually be in the study if you qualify
read it about it at the alzheimers disease cooperative study website

two other studies that are ongoing involve deep brain electrical
stimulation
(this is already used in parkinson patients)
that may help slow things down and
looking at nasal insulin to increase glucose metabolism in the brain
which is decreased in alzheimers disease

(if youve read this blog you know that ive had the glucose metabolism
pet scan which shows decreased glucose metabolism in the brain
if alzheimers has progressed
so far my test has been normal-this pet scan can be normal in early mild
cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease)

A BREAK
i will be taking a weeks break from blogging
starting next monday
i will be posting five of my favorite blogs
this next week

the organicgreen doctor