Life as I see it: 2025

Monday, March 24, 2025

My Travel Through Alzheimer's Disease #2

In theatrical jargon,
what follows is know as an aside.
You might prefer "down the rabbit hole."

I apologize for the weird font type and size changes. I can't figure out how to control them because they all look good now.

My first teaching assignment was a 3/4% contract at Monte Vista in 1973. I graduated from Monte Vista. While I was in college, I was a paid assistant in the Monte Vista science department while doing half of my Student-Teaching assignment there. At the end of the 1973 school year, the principal of Monte Vista wrote a note to the person in charge of hiring new teachers saying he wanted to hire me without a district interview.

The first time I interviewed for a job in education was my hiring at Point Loma Nazarene University. I got that job.

The only other job I interviewed for was Great Oak High School in Temecula in 2004. I got that job, too. I retired from high school science teaching from there in 2012.

I continued to teach extension courses in for Azusa Pacific University's teacher credential program in San Diego and Temecula until 2019.

I worked part-time, teaching the required upper-division writing class for PLNU's School Of Nursing, until I had a lacunar stroke on December 31, 201 at 3:30 PM 9. I stopped teaching for Azusa Pacific at the same time.

The hardest result of the lacunar stroke to live with is the feeling that there is a constriction brace on my right foot and ankle.

I began writing stories when I worked at Monte Vista. One story won an award in a competition for teacher-writers. I kept writing when I was at Point Loma Nazarene University. A different story was published in a book produced by the PLNU. I also had different stories published in anthologies of science fiction stories in 2018 and 2019.

What's your point, Chuck?

I like to write.

I'm going to continue to write as long as possible. I'm hoping it's a long time. That hope is based on the massive amount of research being done on Alzheimer's disease. Some of the work now in clinical trials is getting dramatically positive results.

I was accepted into a study whose main purpose is to determine how safe the study drug is and the degree to which it works to alleviate symptoms when given to people with mild to moderates Alzheimer's disease.

I start the study on April 2, 2025.

BTY: I chose the symptom "social isolation" referred to last week. That's what I've found myself doing over the past two years. It's not social isolation from me by those around me.

More about Alzheimer's disease next week.

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Friday, March 21, 2025

My Travel Through Alzheimer #1

Figure 1. The physiological structure of the brain and neurons in (

a) healthy brain and (b) Alzheimer’s disease (AD)

https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/24/5789 brain

Two of my father's brothers and several cousins on that side of the family died of Alzheimer.

I wasn't worried. After all, my father was fine.

I'm not fine.

What is Alzheimer?

Alzheimer’s first damages the parts of the brain involved in memory. It later affects areas responsible for language, reasoning, and social behavior. Eventually, the disease damages many other areas of the brain.

A hallmark feature of Alzheimer’s is the buildup of abnormal clumps of protein. These Amyloids form plaques, piles of proteins, held together by Tue tangles, think of it as a glue. These disrupt the usual functions of brain cells.

The loss of connections between nerve cells (neurons) is another change that happens with the disease. Neurons send messages between different parts of the brain, and from the brain to muscles and organs in the body. With Alzheimer’s, many neurons stop functioning properly, lose connections with other neurons, and eventually die. Many other complex brain changes are thought to play a role in the disease as well.

What causes it?

Lists like these abound.

High blood pressure after the age of 40
High cholesterol after the age of 40
Obesity
Diabetes
Lack of exercise
Lack of sleep or poor sleep quality
Excessive alcohol consumption
Smoking and secondhand smoke
Air pollution
Traumatic brain injury
Depression
Lower levels of education
Social isolation
Untreated hearing loss
Untreated vision loss

The two in red are the only ones that apply to me. I marked social isolation, but I don't think so. Some I know disagree, hence their inclusion in my list.

Enough for today. I think is a good start.