Medications

Most drugs used to treat Alzheimer's, and those under investigation, are aimed at slowing progression. There are no cures to date. In addition, the improvements from some of these drugs may be so modest that patients and their families may not notice benefit.

There are currently two drug classes that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer's disease:

• Cholinesterase inhibitors (generally used to treat mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's; donepezil is also approved for treatment of severe dementia )
• N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists (used to treat moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's)

All of the drugs currently approved for treatment of Alzheimer's disease are expensive. While there are generally no serious risks associated with these medications, these drugs can have a number of bothersome side effects, including indigestion, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, muscle cramps, and fatigue.

Patients and caregivers should ask their doctors the following questions about when and if to use these drugs:

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Review Date: 06/22/2010
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)