willie day

WILLIE DAY


yesterday was willies day
4/20
if you dont know what 4/20 means
just ask any high school student

its the day to celebrate marijuana
weed

now before i get started
i dont smoke the weed
i smoked the weed twice while a college student
i unlike bill clinton did inhale
but
i decided the risk to my future career was not worth
using the weed
so
i stuck to alcohol
which of course has destroyed more lives probably
than all other drugs legal and illegal combined

in my practice it was the second most common of liver
disease i saw
second only to obesity of the liver
called fatty liver

food of course is legal in the us and is a source of abuse
just look around you
and
if you are in health care you know the effects of this abuse


now they are asking all the presidential candidates
did you ever smoke marijuana
most say yes in my youth
except hilliary said no
but
her husband bill did but he didnt inhale
why didnt he just answer by saying
yes

i say if they all did it now congress would get along
and
we might get something done in our governments

now many states have medical marijuana
its that first stage to full legalization
its so easy to get  a prescription

now its been shown that marijuana has benefits
for anxiety
for uncontrolled seizures
for ms
for use in chemotherapy to control nausea

it may slow down the progression of alzheimers
willie is over 80 and shows no dementia signs
he may be the poster board for its use in dementia prevention
granted he does look old real old
but he sure still sounds good when he sings

if it was legal in texas i would probably be a regular user
for sleep
for slowing down alzheimers

when you read the history of marijuana and why its illegal
it really makes no sense
it has a lot of do with politics and racism

so heres what i propose
make it legal to grow you own
sell it and tax it
then use the tax money collected to educate people
about our biggest health threat
obesty

please oh please make it more easier for researchers to do
research on its medicinal uses

i always say that if you
spend money to do tests on every high school student and
teacher in texas for a drug test
parents will be surprised at the number of positive tests
it might cost less than those steroid tests we were doing
here in texas which hardly ever were positive

it is sad to see folks move to colorado to get medical
marijuana treatment
when it should be available here

i think maybe
willie is on to something

the organicgreen doctor

links end

LINKS END
last friday i think i could have answered questions from
the audience all afternoon
and
they would have kept on asking me questions

here are some links i promised to post today

first
for the lady whose husband may be experiencing some
memory loss

here below is a link to a pamphlet in the form of a pdf file
there explains dementia and what workup and treatment
should be done for this disease

the texas dept of health came out with clinical guidelines
for evaluating and treating dementia and memory loss
click on the far right pdf file

also here is a brief summary of what will be put in the
algorithm for evaluation of a patient for memory loss
that will eventually be available to all the primary care
providers in the state
the gold standard to be followed for evaluation of memory
loss

the first thing you need to do is go to this link
21 question questionnaire
answer the questions about your husband
score the answers
this gives you a good idea of where his memory loss is
copy this form off
take the answered and scored form with you when you
and he go to the doctor
yes dont let him go by himself

also make a written list of what you and he have noticed
to give to the doctor

he should have a good thorough medical history taken
and a good examination
looking for causes of memory loss
like
old head trauma  excessive alcohol   depression   anxiety
stress   sleep disorders like sleep apnea or restless legs
medications side effects   drug abuse   poor controlled
blood pressure or cholesterol   lack of exercise
obesity   diabetes    family history etc

then a memory in office test is done
they may do
a minicog test-3 words are named then you are asked to
draw a clock and put the time on a clock then you are
asked to recall the 3 words
if you dont do well on this one the patient may be more advanced

most neurologist will do a standardized test
the best to use is the moca test
its more sensitive for picking up early memory loss
eg i didnt do well on this one at my first evaluation

if the score on this one isnt normal
the full neuropsychological test should be done
administered by a psychologist or neuropsychologist
its the gold standard of memory tests

then
labs
almost all neurologists do these
cbc   metabolic profile(electrolytes, kidney and liver function and
glucose levels)   tsh for thyroid function   b12 level   vitamin d level
others would add
folate   homocysteine level(elevated levels may be associated with
stroke heart attack and alzheimers disease)   lipid profile hiv
my b12  and vitamin d levels were low
my homocysteine level was elevated

then
a mri should be done to rule out explanations for memory loss
like stroke old head trauma tumors too much fluid in the brain
brain shrinkage etc

after this complete evaluation then your husband should know
why he has memory loss
and
then can be told what he can do to help

other things to consider if further workup is desired but they
are not usually covered by health insurance are
the beta amyloid scan amyvid that shows if he has the bad
stuff beta amyloid built up in the brain

spinal tap for beta amyloid and tau proteins
these protein levels are abnormal in alzheimers disease

hope this is useful
anything less than this for workup of memory loss is
not acceptable

also
for the others who asked
if you go on your computers
not on your smartphone
go to my blog
at the top are links to
a video my wife she and i did for the
alzheimers center
a newspaper article form the austin american statesman
a newsletter from the alzheimers center at ut southwesteren dallas

thanks for attending the dementia and aging conference
and
for asking such good questions

the organicgreen doctor

how it feels

HOW IT FEELS
last fall while at a walk to end alzheimers i met the
head of the department of dementia and aging
at texas state university

he invited me to talk at the luncheon at a demetia conference
the department was having later that week
i had a previous commitment for that day
but
i said i would be glad to do a presentation at a future event
so
i got a phone call from his office
talked to him and his assistant

would you do a talk at the luncheon during our dementia seminar
aging dementia and the family
todays the date

we want you to talk about how you feel about being diagnosed
with possible alzheimers

well lets see
it sucks when i sit down pause and think about it
but
i guess i cant say that today can i
well maybe i can

now i dont pause often and ponder this
i did think a lot about it when my older brother
oldest of 5 boys
was diagnosed recently with early alzheimers disease

and
of course i really think of it a lot at the birthday of my
younger brother
youngest of 5 boys
since he died a year or so in the final stages of the disease
a terrible last several months to the course of this disease
disturbing it is when i think about him
one he was my younger brother
two i felt like i was looking in a mirror when i saw him
or think of him even now
for
this will be my fate im afraid when my time comes
im just hoping ive pushed that time down the road some

it all started with my mother developing this disease
so insidious in its onset
then it became obvious to all
then it just got worse

then my dad probably had it but he was spared the
course of the disease as he died of a heart attack

so ive seen it up close
and
personal

it sucks

i also viewed alzheimers as a doctor
since i had a few patients with the disease
i just didnt do a good job of treating them
a do over would be good

then
personally
since i may have alzheimers disease
the symptoms have improved some since i got my
diagnosis
i guess thats why i dont think about it as much as i
use to
out of sight out of mind right

but
its there
its not going away
like someone with cancer in remission
you just keep waiting for the time when it raises its head
again

time will tell

i plan to talk about this today as ive mentioned above
then
i will let the audience ask me questions for the rest of
the allotted time
an audience of professional workers in memory centers
students in the dementia and aging department
professors
maybe some caregivers
they ask the best questions since they dont usually
get good answers to their questions

wish me luck today

the organicgreen doctor