Any Treatment For Alzheimer’s

Fighting Depression And Anxiety

Other drugs including antidepressants, anticonvulsants, antipsychotics, anti-anxiety drugs, and sleep aids are sometimes used to treat behavioral problems associated with Alzheimers disease.

When counseling, support groups, or other nondrug methods dont help with depression or anxiety, doctors may prescribe one of the following drugs:

Because of potentially dangerous side effects, doctors prescribe other drugs with extreme caution.

Insomnia can be a problem for some people with Alzheimers, but sleep aids such as zolpidem can cause confusion and lead to falls.

Antipsychotics like risperidone can increase the risk of death in some older people with dementia, so doctors prescribe them only as a last resort to alleviate severe hallucinations, paranoia, agitation, and aggression.

Benzodiazepines, such as diazepam , should also be generally avoided in patients with Alzheimers disease. There is also some research that shows a correlation between benzodiazepine use and an increased risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimers.

Be Cautious About Alzheimer’s Cures

Because Alzheimer’s disease is so devastating, some people are tempted by untried or unproven “cures.” Check with your doctor before trying pills or any other treatment or supplement that promises to prevent Alzheimer’s. These “treatments” might be unsafe, a waste of money, or both. They might even interfere with other medical treatments that have been prescribed.

Who Does Alzheimers Disease Affect

Alzheimers disease mainly affects people over age 65. The higher your age over 65, the more likely youll develop Alzheimers.

Some people develop Alzheimers disease before age 65 typically in their 40s or 50s. This is called early-onset Alzheimers disease. Its rare. Less than 10% of AD cases are early-onset.

Recommended Reading: How Much Coconut Oil For Alzheimer’s

What Are The Stages Of Alzheimers Disease

Alzheimers disease organizations and healthcare providers use various terms to describe the stages of Alzheimers disease based on symptoms.

While the terms vary, the stages all follow the same pattern AD symptoms progressively worsen over time.

No two people experience AD in the same way, though. Each person with Alzheimers disease will progress through the stages at different speeds. Not all changes will occur in each person. It can sometimes be difficult for providers to place a person with AD in a specific stage as stages may overlap.

Some organizations and providers frame the stages of Alzheimers disease in terms of dementia:

• Preclinical Alzheimers disease.
• Mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimers disease.
• Mild dementia due to Alzheimers disease.
• Moderate dementia due to Alzheimers disease
• Severe dementia due to Alzheimers disease.

Other organizations and providers more broadly explain the stages as:

Dont be afraid to ask your healthcare provider or your loved ones provider what they mean when they use certain words to describe the stages of Alzheimers.

What is preclinical Alzheimers disease?

Providers typically only reference the preclinical stage in research on Alzheimers disease. People with AD in the preclinical stage typically have no symptoms .

There are now brain imaging tests that can detect deposits of a protein in your brain called amyloid that interfere with your brains communication system before symptoms start.

How Is Alzheimers Disease Diagnosed

Healthcare providers use several methods to determine if a person with memory issues has Alzheimers disease. This is because many other conditions, especially neurological conditions, can cause dementia and other symptoms of Alzheimers.

In the beginning steps of an Alzheimers diagnosis, a provider will ask questions to better understand your health and daily living. Your provider may also ask someone close to you, like a family member or caregiver, for insight into your symptoms. Theyll ask about:

• Overall health.
• Ability to carry out daily activities.
• Changes in mood, behavior and personality.

A provider will also:

• Perform a physical exam and a neurological exam.
• Perform a mental status exam, which includes tests to assess memory, problem-solving, attention, basic math and language.
• Order standard medical tests, such as blood and urine tests, to rule out other possible causes of the symptoms.
• Order brain imaging tests, such as a brain CT, brain MRI or positron emission tomography, to support an Alzheimers diagnosis or to rule out other possible conditions.

You May Like: How To Tell If Someone Is Getting Alzheimer’s

Reminiscence And Life Story Work

Reminiscence work involves talking about things and events from your past. It usually involves using props such as photos, favourite possessions or music.

Life story work involves a compilation of photos, notes and keepsakes from your childhood to the present day. It can be either a physical book or a digital version.

These approaches are sometimes combined. Evidence shows they can improve mood and wellbeing.

Find out how to live well with dementia and more useful information in the NHS Dementia Guide.

Page last reviewed: 05 July 2021 Next review due: 05 July 2024

Home Remedies And Lifestyle

Non-drug approaches focus on treating the behavioral, psychological, and emotional symptoms of Alzheimer’s by changing the way you understand and interact with the person with the disease.

These approaches recognize that behavior is often a way of communicating for those with Alzheimer’s. The goal of non-drug approaches is to understand the meaning of the challenging behaviors and why they are present.

Non-drug approaches should generally be attempted before using psychotropic medications since they do not have the potential for side effects or medication interactions.

Read Also: Tracking Watches For Dementia Patients

Treatment Of Alzheimer’s Disease

However, treatment of Alzheimer’s disease with either – or 2-adrenergic agonists has proven ineffective, and has even exacerbated pathology, suggesting that cognitive dysfunction cannot be wholly attributed to a loss of norepinephrine or adrenergic receptor activity (Riekkinen et al., 1999

G.Z. Feuerstein, … L.J. Rutkowski, in, 2007

Fdas Accelerated Approval Program

Aducanumab was approved through the FDAs Accelerated Approval Program, which provides a path for earlier approval of drugs that treat certain serious conditions. This helps people living with the disease gain earlier access to the treatment. The approval of aducanumab was based on the ability of the drug to reduce amyloid in the brain. When using the accelerated approval pathway, drug companies are required to conduct additional studies to determine whether there is in fact clinical benefit after the drug is approved. If the follow-up trial fails to verify clinical benefit, the FDA may withdraw approval of the drug. Results of the phase 4 clinical trial for aducanumab are expected to be available by early 2030.

Recommended Reading: What Are The 5 Stages Of Alzheimer’s

Neurodegenerative Pathways Implicated In Ad

Several overlapping mechanisms have been proposed to explain the underlying pathology of AD, and both current and potential future treatments are based on modification of these pathways

Aetiology of Alzheimer’s disease with therapeutic targets. A secretase enzyme inhibitors B NMDA receptor modulators, eg memantine C immunotherapy, including immunisation and direct anti-amyloid therapy, including monoclonal antibodies D anti-tau therapy E anti-inflammatory treatments, including NSAIDs F anticholinesterase inhibitors, eg donepezil. APP = amyloid precursor protein NFTs = neurofibrillary tangles NMDA = N-methyl-D-aspartate NSAIDs = non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Use Of Medication To Delay Symptom Progression

High-quality primary care remains the cornerstone of disease management: regular visits at least every four to six months, frequent contact with family members, availability by telephone, general health maintenance and minimization of medications with potential effects on mood or cognition . However, specific drug treatment options are available and can be offered to patients and their families. Currently, two cholinesterase inhibitors are available for use in treating Alzheimer’s disease: tacrine and donepezil . Several others, such as metrifonate8 and rivastigmine, are in the late stages of development and testing. Effects are modest: a good response to either drug will return the patient’s function to the level that was present between six and 12 months before medication was started. Beneficial effects on behavior symptoms also have been reported in some patients, and the use of tacrine has been shown to delay nursing home placement.1Figure 3 provides guidelines for the use of cholinesterase inhibitors in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.9

You May Like: Does Dementia Cause Excessive Sleepiness

What Causes Alzheimers Disease

An abnormal build-up of proteins in your brain causes Alzheimers disease. The build-up of these proteins amyloid protein and tau protein causes brain cells to die.

The human brain contains over 100 billion nerve cells and other cells. The nerve cells work together to fulfill all the communications needed to perform functions such as thinking, learning, remembering and planning.

Scientists believe that amyloid protein builds up in your brain cells, forming larger masses called plaques. Twisted fibers of another protein called tau form into tangles. These plaques and tangles block the communication between nerve cells, which prevents them from carrying out their processes.

The slow and ongoing death of the nerve cells results in the symptoms of Alzheimers disease. Nerve cell death starts in one area of your brain and then spreads to other areas.

Despite ongoing research, scientists still dont know what exactly causes these proteins to build up. So far, they believe that a genetic mutation may cause early-onset Alzheimers. They think that late-onset Alzheimers happens due to a complex series of brain changes that may occur over decades. A combination of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors likely contribute to the cause.

Is Alzheimers hereditary?

Researchers dont know why some people get Alzheimers disease and others dont. But theyve identified several factors that increase your risk for Alzheimers, including genetic factors.

The Keys To Lecanemabs Success

Eisais positive results were a long time coming. Research on lecanemab began in the mid-1990s, as the companys scientists continued their hunt for a drug to treat Alzheimers. In 1996, the company had successfully brought the second medication ever for the disease, donepezil , to the market after the FDA approved it for people with mild-to-moderate Alzheimers. The drug does not change the progression of the disease but can improve some of its cognitive symptoms.

Encouraged by that success, while at the same time realizing that donepezil fell short of treating the disease, Eisais scientists focused on tackling the amyloid buildup in the brain that contributed to memory loss and other cognitive symptoms of Alzheimers. They decided to find and target one of amyloids more noxious forms: protofibrils, which are particularly toxic to nerve cells in the brain.

But isolating just the right form of amyloid, and finding ways to remove it without causing other side effects, was a long and arduous process. Researchers trying to develop Alzheimers treatments reported many false starts, and patients and families became more desperate. When we met with patient advocacy groups, most of the time the first thing I said to them was, Sorry, says Ivan Cheung, chairman and CEO of Eisai Inc. They wanted to know why it was taking so long, and were we not trying hard enough, or were we not intelligent enough? We disappointed a lot of families.

Read Also: How Do You Stop Dementia

What These Results Mean For Alzheimers Patients

Eisai continued to complete its phase 3 trial, in a much simpler format this time, with the confidence gained from the detailed phase 2 study that the results would likely show that lecanemab improved patients cognitive function.

In a way, the circumstances surrounding aducanumabs failure relieved some of the pressure for Eisai and lecanemab, as the Alzheimers community now set lower expectations for what to expect from an anti-amyloid drug. Complicating the study, COVID-19 created challenges for the participants, who had to visit clinics or hospitals to receive the drug as an IV infusion over about an hour twice a month. We set up home infusions, remote safety assessments, and remote cognitive assessments, says Irizarry. We tried a whole lot of things to make it easier for people to participate.

Read More: We Will Find a Breakthrough for Alzheimers Disease

Fortunately, the unmet need for a treatment for Alzheimers ensured that less than 20% of volunteers dropped out of the trial previous studies of drug candidates often saw 20% to 25% of participants leave the study.

In September 2022, Eisais long game paid off, when the company announced that lecanemab was the first anti-amyloid drug to help patients slow their cognitive decline in a phase 3 study. The phase 2 results ended up being quite predictive of the phase 3 results, and we expected that, says Irizarry.

Read More: How Exercise Lowers the Risk of Alzheimers by Changing Your Brain

What Is Alzheimers Disease

Alzheimers disease is a brain condition that causes a progressive decline in memory, thinking, learning and organizing skills. It eventually affects a persons ability to carry out basic daily activities. Alzheimers disease is the most common cause of dementia.

The symptoms of Alzheimers worsen over time. Researchers believe the disease process may start 10 years or more before the first symptoms appear. AD most commonly affects people over the age of 65.

What is the difference between Alzheimers and dementia?

Dementia describes the state of a persons mental function. Its not a specific disease. Its a decline in mental function from a previously higher level thats severe enough to interfere with daily living.

A person with dementia has two or more of these specific difficulties, including a change or decline in:

• Dementia due to Parkinsons disease.

Read Also: What Stage Of Dementia Is Hallucinations

Alzheimers As A Shipping Problem

The new theory proposes that Alzheimers is essentially an internal shipping problem. To stay healthy, a cell must ship cargomostly proteinsfrom one site in the cell to another.

The health of neurons, more so than other cells, says Small, depends on shipping cargo in and out of one particular site: the endosome.”

About 20 years ago, Small found the first signs that traffic jams of cargo in the endosome might be initiating the disease. The study was one of the earliest in-depth studies of the neurons first affected by Alzheimers.

A few years later, a genetic studyled by Richard Mayeux, MD, chair of neurology at Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and othersrevealed that endosomal genes are linked to Alzheimers, providing more support for the theory.

Since then, Small and other researchers around the world have gathered more evidence for the endosomal traffic jam theory, connecting shipping problems in the endosome with amyloid and other signs of Alzheimers.

In Alzheimers, the flow of cargo coming out of the endosome is blocked, and we think that causes the other problems we see in the disease: the amyloid, the tau tangles also common in the Alzheimers brain, and the neurodegeneration, says Small.

Its not that amyloid has nothing to do with Alzheimers, he adds, but that its role has been misunderstood. Amyloid is the smoke, not the fire. Clearing smoke can do some good, but it will not extinguish the fire.

Targets Of Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention Research

Researchers are exploring these and other interventions that may help prevent, delay, or slow Alzheimer’s dementia or age-related cognitive decline. Other research targets include:

• New drugs to delay onset or slow disease progression
• Diabetes treatment
• Blood pressure- and lipid-lowering treatments
• Sleep interventions
• Vitamins such as B12 plus folic acid supplements and D
• Combined physical and mental exercises

You May Like: Is Hearing Loss Connected To Dementia

What Is The Treatment For Alzheimers Disease

Theres no cure for Alzheimers disease, but certain medications can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms. Medications and other interventions can also help with behavioral symptoms.

Beginning treatment as early as possible for Alzheimers could help maintain daily functioning for a while. However, current medications wont stop or reverse AD.

As AD affects everyone differently, treatment is highly individualized. Healthcare providers work with people with Alzheimers and their caregivers to determine the best treatment plan.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved two types of drugs to treat the symptoms of Alzheimers disease:

• Cholinesterase inhibitors.
• NMDA antagonists.

The FDA has given accelerated approval for aducanumab , the first disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimers disease. The medication helps to reduce amyloid deposits in your brain.

Aducanumab is a new medication, and researchers studied its effects in people living with early Alzheimers disease. Because of this, it may only help people in the early stage.

Cholinesterase inhibitors

The following cholinesterase inhibitors can help treat the symptoms of mild to moderate Alzheimers disease:

• Donepezil . This is also FDA-approved to treat moderate to severe AD.

These drugs can improve some memory problems and reduce some behavioral symptoms of Alzheimers disease.

These medications dont cure Alzheimers disease or stop the progression of the disease.

NMDA antagonists

Clinical trials

Support For Family And Friends

Currently, many people living with Alzheimers disease are cared for at home by family members. Caregiving can have positive aspects for the caregiver as well as the person being cared for. It may bring personal fulfillment to the caregiver, such as satisfaction from helping a family member or friend, and lead to the development of new skills and improved family relationships.

Although most people willingly provide care to their loved ones and friends, caring for a person with Alzheimers disease at home can be a difficult task and may become overwhelming at times. Each day brings new challenges as the caregiver copes with changing levels of ability and new patterns of behavior. As the disease gets worse, people living with Alzheimers disease often need more intensive care.

You can find more information about caring for yourself and access a helpful care planning form.

Don’t Miss: What Are The 7 Stages Of Dementia

Can I Reduce My Risk Of Developing Alzheimers Disease

While there are some risk factors for Alzheimers you cant change, like age and genetics, you may be able to manage other factors to help reduce your risk.

Risk factors for Alzheimers disease include:

Research shows that having a healthy lifestyle helps protect your brain from cognitive decline. The following strategies may help decrease your risk of developing Alzheimers disease:

• Stay mentally active: Play board games, read, do crossword puzzles, play a musical instrument or do other hobbies that require brain power.
• Get physically active: Exercise increases blood flow and oxygen to your brain, which may affect brain cell health. Wear protective headgear if youre participating in activities that increase your risk of a head injury.
• Stay socially active: Regularly talk with friends and family and join in on group activities, such as religious services, exercise classes, book clubs or community volunteer work.
• Eat healthily: Follow the Mediterranean or DASH diet or another healthy diet that includes antioxidants. Consume alcoholic beverages in moderation.

Talk to your healthcare provider if youre concerned about your risk of developing Alzheimers disease.