Treatment and Prevention
Treatment of Alzheimer's disease usually involves treating the declining
memory and gradually worsening behavioral symptoms with a range of medications,
including:
- cognitive enhancing agents
- tranquilizers
- antidepressants
- anti-anxiety medications
- anticonvulsants
Newer medications such as donepezil*, rivastigmine and galantamine may also
be used to slow down memory loss. There is no medication that can halt or reverse
the brain damage caused by Alzheimer's disease; however, there are medications
that can relieve symptoms, and researchers are discovering many promising new
medications that can delay symptoms of the disease.
Recent evidence has shown that strokes are a major contributor to the progression
of Alzheimer's disease; therefore, preventing a stroke is important.
Prevention of stroke is the only potentially effective treatment for vascular
dementia. If you have high blood pressure, transient ischemic attacks (TIAs),
or have had a stroke, you should seek continued treatment for these conditions
to minimize their recurrence.
The key to caring for and helping people with dementia is to focus on the
many activities the person can still do. Encourage a person with dementia
to continue daily routines and maintain social relationships as much as possible.
Help them maintain a healthy lifestyle through exercise, proper nutrition, and
fluid intake. Special diets and supplements are generally unnecessary.
If you are caring for someone with dementia, the following may be helpful:
- Reminders: Provide written lists of things to do including times,
places, and phone numbers to help the person complete the task
- Structure and stability: Minimize undue noise and disturbances to
reduce anxiety.
- Speaking slowly and calmly: Present one thought or instruction at
a time.
- Information card: Reduce the risk of wandering and getting lost by
providing a pocket card with the person's name, address, and phone number.
- Safety: Make your home environment as safe as possible by keeping
furniture in the same place, removing clutter, installing locks on medicine
cabinets, and setting the water heater at a low temperature to avoid scalding.
- Driving: Don't allow someone with dementia to drive a vehicle. Drive
them or arrange for rides wherever they need to go.
Caring for someone with dementia can be difficult. It requires understanding,
patience, and compassion. Joining an Alzheimer's disease caregiver's support
group in your community may be helpful.
Be prepared for the eventuality that your loved one's condition will deteriorate
over time and additional full-time personal care may be needed. In some situations,
placement in a nursing home is in the best interests of the individual and their
family.
*All medications have both common (generic) and brand names. The brand name
is what a specific manufacturer calls the product (e.g., Tylenol®).
The common name is the medical name for the medication (e.g., acetaminophen).
A medication may have many brand names, but only one common name. This article
lists medications by their common names. For more information on brand names,
speak with your doctor or pharmacist.