Alzheimer's Disease
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- What is Alzheimer's disease?
- Symptoms of Alzheimer's disease
- Causes of Alzheimer's disease
- Prevention of Alzheimer's disease
- Risk factors for Alzheimer's disease
- Complications of Alzheimer's disease
- When to see a doctor about Alzheimer's disease
- Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease
- Conventional treatment of Alzheimer's disease
- Alternative/complementary treatment of Alzheimer's disease
- Living with Alzheimer's disease
- Caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease
Conventional treatment of Alzheimer's disease
Conventional treatment for Alzheimer's disease consists of a combination of a number of treatments, with quite a few drugs that are prescribed to try to halt or at least slow down symptoms and prevent further cognition decline.
Memory and cognition symptoms
There are a few drugs which are approved to help with the memory problems:
- Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors - these drugs block the activity of acetylcholinesterase, which is an enzyme that destroys acetylcholine, a very important neurotransmitter involved in memory. These drugs are used for people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (these drugs are available on the PBS in Australia for a small fee, but to continue being prescribed the drugs after 6 months of treatment, the patient must show some improvement in symptoms)
- Memantine - this drug blocks the neurotransmitter glutamate and prevents too much calcium moving into the brain cells and causing damage. This drug is used for people with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease (this drug is not available on the PBS in Australia and must be privately prescribed)
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Behavioural and psychological symptoms
There are a variety of different classes of drugs used to treat the behavioural and psychological symptoms that start to appear once the disease progresses
- Anti-psychotics - these drugs are used to treat symptoms such as delusion, aggression, hallucination and agitation in people with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. These drugs can cause side effects which some people cannot tolerate well, so alternatives may be advised (or lowered dosages)
- Anti-depressants - these drugs are used to treat depression symptoms that are often present in people with Alzheimer's disease. Anti-depressants medications help to reduce the depressive feelings that often occur in people with Alzheimer's disease
- Anti-anxiety medications - benzodiazepine drugs are used as a short-term treatment for anxiety, fear and agitation that may occur in people with Alzheimer's disease. The reason these drugs are only used for a short term, is because the effect of these drugs may lessen over time and cause a number of side effects
- Sedating medications - these drugs (usually tranquilisers) are used to help with the sleeping problems experienced by people with Alzheimer's disease. Care needs to be taken with sedating medications as they can cause an addiction, so should only be used on a short term or "as required" basis
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< 8: diagnosis 10: alternative treatment > Last reviewed: 7 October 2007 || Last updated: 12 March 2009
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NOTE: Mega doses of any type of vitamin, mineral, amino acid or herbal supplement cannot cure illnesses and in fact can be very dangerous and produce toxic side effects and interfere with medicine you are taking. Always ensure you consult your doctor before taking any type of complementary supplements.
Disclaimer: This guide is not intended to be used for diagnostic or prescriptive purposes. For any treatment or diagnosis of illness, please see your doctor.
