grapes of wrath, fyi

GRAPES OF WRATH
alzheimers disease reeks a wrath of destruction inside
the brain
it starts years and years
20-30 years before symptoms start

a lot of effort and money is being spent to find things
that can slow down or stop that wrath from occurring

one of those things is a compound called
resveratrol
its found in red grapes

now at night each night i have a glass of red wine
inside that glass there is that compound
resveratrol

now part of the way that the red wine helps is
that it simply relaxes you some
something that has been shown to slow down or
maybe when added to other things could stop
alzheimers disease

now in that red wine im taking each night
its the relaxing part that helps me

too much though makes things worse

now if i wanted to drink enough red wine to get all
the resveratrol i would need to help slow down
alzheimers disease
well i couldnt drink that much wine in a days time
nor could anyone else

so they have taken the resveratrol from the grapes
concentrated it a lot
and
use it as a potential drug

recently at texas am a researcher
took old rats many who we destined to have a decline
in memory
they gave them resveratrol
those who got it had no decline in memory
measured by spatial memory tests
but
those who didnt take the resveratrol
failed the memory tests

so the thinking is that the resveratrol from red grapes
does something in the brain to slow down the process

it appears it decreases inflammation in the brain
remember me writing about the beta amyloid and tau
accumulation with it plaques and tangles
and
all the inflammatory reactions that occurs

well resveratrol decreases that inflammatory reaction also

plus
in patients like me who carry the double apoe 4 gene
there is a ratio of enzymes that are involved in the production
of the beta amyloid
the thing that probably starts accumulating and cause all
this mess up there in the brain
since this ratio gets flipped
the brain makes too much bad stuff
beta amyloid so it starts accumulating leading to the
destruction we call alzheimers disease

it appears that in the lab the resveratrol flips back that ratio
to where it should be
so the production of beta amyloid goes down

so thats how resveratrol from red grapes helps to prevent
or slow down alzheimers disease

there is a large study that is finishing up at mulitple well known
alzheimers research centers across the us
called the resveratrol study
the results should be out soon
so
we will know if taking large doses of this resveratrol
will work

so for now im drinking my red wine
and
i actually take a large dose of resveratrol each day

there will be no wrath at my house



FYI

next saturday at 100 pm
at the alamo drafthouse on south lamar
the alzheimers association is sponsoring a special showing of

still alice

the oscar nominated film with the oscar nominated best actress
julianne moore
the film is about a linguistic professor who develops
early onset alzheimers disease
a version of the disease that took my younger brother

afterwards
a local neurologist and i will be doing a q&a
on alzheimers disease

come join us

i will post the link next week on how to  buy tickets

the organicgreen doctor

now where did i put that...

NOW WHERE DID I PUT THAT...
if this is a problem thats getting worse
then read my blog today
and
the accompanying article from cnn

now i do lose things
i lost my keys to my car once
never did find them
sold the car
then years later found them
where else
but in the garden under a layer of mulch
a little rusty but still recognizable as clicker keys

we all lose things
but there is a point where it becomes abnormal

so if you are having memory issues
or a loved one is
or if a loved one is in the beginning of their decline
read on

first if you or a loved one have memory issues
they you should be evaluated
looking for easily treatable causes
like low thyroid low b12 depression sleep issues etc etc

then
take the time to read this

in the ucla study 
of only 10 folks
by dr bredesen director of the alzheimers research center at ucla
no fly by night researcher

he found 36 points to look at each patient that they could
do to maybe help out

so i put myself in that list

i have low b12 low vit d too high homocysteine
have sleep issues
have high blood pressure high cholesterol
have the apoe4 double gene that increases my chance of
having alzheimers disease
have low beta amyloid and rising tau levels in my spinal fluid

so using these things
i set up a regimen

reminder these were discussed with my family doctor
and my neurologist first

so i take 16 supplements a day
for inflammation
omega 3 vit e

to help decrease beta amyloid in the brain
some of these are anecdotal uses based on animal studies
i take bacopa tumeric acid

for sleep the stuff he recommends for me i have side effects
to and cant take

for gi health i eat a mediterranean diet and take probiotics
but dont follow his strict diet
i dont do a lot of simple sugars
i do the 12 hour fast which i was doing anyway

for possibly building better nerve connections
and
for more alertness i take several of the recommended supplements

since i have apoe4/apoe4 i take resveratrol every day
it will soon be proven or not if it works in a study to be released
next year
if it doesnt work i will stop it

i am taking vit b12 to replace my low levels
vitaming d for my low levels
folic acid for my elevated homocysteine levels

i exercise regularly by working on our country n property
volunteering doing habitat for humanity builds
and walk and hike

i maintain a normal blood pressure and cholesterol and weight
i stay happy
i meditate here at the country n
i stay active mentally

so of the 36 points he writes about in the original article
i am doing most of them
well i was doing most of them anyway

so
like 9 of the 10 folks in this study
after almost 3 months on this regimen
i notice a difference
more alertness
less fatigue in the afternoon and evening
i have noticed i have very few leg cramps now

my dreams occasionally get disturbing since
i stared this regimen
like last night a group of folks from one of those
apocalyptic movies was attacking me with swords and
knives
but i tricked them i yelled real loud and woke up
and they all went away
woke my wife she up also

my memory does seem better
adjusted some for my age
i am looking forward to doing my next neuropsych test to
see if it continues to improve
i think so

my guess is this stuff helps more early on in the process
than it does as things get worse
my guess is it doesnt stop the disease completely
just sort of dams it up a little but it bursts through
eventually

maybe it can slow it down enough until treatments get
developed that may be real close
maybe in this decade

heres hoping

so read the ucla article
on reversal of cognitive decline
and
read the cnn article
on we may be able to reverse signs of early alzheimers disease
also
look at the beginning of the article at
7 ways to fight alzheimers disease
and
click through the 7 pictures and read the captions

to get an idea on what may be done to help you/them

my view is
this stuff does not seem harmful to me
there are some side effects
its not all proven to be effective
but
you cant deny that 9 out of 10 got better on the regimen
for me
the alternative is to do nothing
which
im not willing to do
neither should you

good luck

now where did i put my glasses

the organicgreen doctor

reverse a trol

REVERSE A TROL

thats a misspelling i made up for the chemical
resveratrol
its a hope that i have and that researchers have
that reverse is what it can do

more in a minute

a correction to last fridays blog
i wrote the results of the ucla study was not anecdotal
the author when i went back to review it says clearly
these results are anecdotal
only
i guess when a more lengthy study involving more people
with a control group is done then this can be considered
not anecdotal

as i said last week
time is not on my side
i cant wait for that to happen

i got all my labs back
my crp was normal
8 years ago it was elevated
its a measure of inflammation
i still plan to continue the vit e omega fish oil curcumin and
good dental hygiene


patientadvocates.com

my homoscysteine level is elevated
8 years ago it was up and now its higher
this time its is 13.7 with the recommended level <7

it is an amino acid that has been shown if it is elevated
a person may have a doubled chance of getting alzheimers disease
the treatment which i will do is to take folic acid at 0.8 mg a day
the dose a pregnant lady takes in her prenatal vitamins
and will also take b12 and vit b6 also which may help decrease
the homocysteine level


my vit b12 level was slightly low at 162 with the normal level
being >192
for this result i was surprised
i dont eat a lot of  meat
i do eat an egg a day
i do eat cheese twice a day
i dont eat fortified cereals
i rarely ever eat seafood
or fish
i think my low level may be due to the chronic reflux i have
and the fact i take acid reducers every day
so
i will start taking a vit b12 supplement level every day to bring
the level back up to normal
i will take 1mgm or 1000mcg a day
remember
a low b12 level can be a cause of memory loss
although my level is probably not low enough to cause memory loss
but it could have eventually got there


my 25-oh vit d3 level was slightly low at 46
recomended levels are 50-100
this one i was surprised at since i get so much sunlight
i frequently use sunscreen but will leave it off some
so i can get sunlight directly on my skin
if you saw my farmers tan you would believe me
i dont ever drink milk but do eat cheese twice a day
so
i will add 25-oh vit d3 at a dose of 500-1000 units a day

my thyroid levels and testosterone levels are normal

i will repeat these levels on the above tests in 6 months to
ensure they are back to normal
and will probably have to stay on the supplements long term

now back to reverse a trol

resveratrol is a chemical that is found in grapes peanuts blueberries
and dark chocolate
it is thought to reverse the srti ratio in the brain which means it
increases the production of an anti aging enzyme

a 12 month study done at multiple sites in the us will be published
this year
patients were given high doses of reverse a trol (sic) and levels
of the bad stuff beta amyloid and tau protein were measured
as well as neuropych tests were done
anecdotally theres that word again some people reported an
improvement in their memory during the course of the study

for me this supplement may be important as people like
me who have the apoe4 gene have a reversal of the srti ratio
which means we dont make enough anti aging enzyme
so
by taking the reverse a trol (sic) the ratio will be increased
and the disease process may slow down

so
heres another supplement ill add to my regimen today

resversitol starting at 500 mg then ill probably max it out
at 2000 mg if i tolerate it ok
i will adjust the dose some when the study results are published

so now im all ready for my regimen of
16 supplements

godspeed

the organicgreen doctor

new studies, hacked password

NEW STUDIES
here are some new studies on alzheimers that are being done
one is on resveratrol
its found in red grapes and red wine
(yes i have a glass of merlot every night)
however the amount of reveratrol used in this study is
the amount found in bottles and bottles and bottles of merlot

they are now looking for study subjects with mild or moderate
alzheimers disease
could it help
this study could be the one that would show that it does or
doesnt prevent or slow down the development of alzheimers

you can go to the resveratrol study website to see if the study
is being done near you
i would enter this study but know that i cant since im in the
adni-2 study

the next study looked at patients with autosomal dominant
alzheimers disease
it you have this gene you will get alzheimers disease

they looked at beta amyloid and tau protein in the spinal fluid
beta amyloid levels go down in the spinal fluid as the beta amyloid
get stuck in the brain
this is what is thought is the end result of the process that causes
alzheimers
tau protein is released when the nerve cell nutritional channels are
damaged and the levels go up in the spinal fluid

with alzheimers disease you have low beta amyloid levels and high
tau protein levels in the spinal fluid

(i had these tests on my spinal fluid and i have indeterminate levels of
both which could match my diagnosis of early mild cognitive
impairment if it is due to alzheimers disease)

the other test they looked at was the beta amyloid pet scan
(available now as amyvid pet scan) using
a radioactive labeled product that binds to beta amyloid and will
show as a red highlighted area as below

what they found is that the beta amyloid and tau levels were found
to be abnormal in these patients as much as 25 years before
symptoms occur

also the beta amyloid pet scan were found to be positive as early
as 15 years before symptoms occur

family members without the gene had normal levels and normal scans

so we can or soon will be able to detect whether a person will get
alzheimers disease
now all we need is a good treatment or preventative treatment

thats coming soon
but will it be soon enough

HACKED PASSWORD
saw this on komando.com this am
if you have a yahoo email account your password may have been
hacked recently
go to this website to see if you password was hacked
typed mine in and it had not been hacked
whew

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