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
