Alzheimers medications are usually not effective…period. They may be of some minor help, but a better approach might be a more natural approach.

Four Alzheimers medications are currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to treat Alzheimers.

Three Alzheimers medications are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and the other is memantine, an NMDA receptor antagonist.

The Alzheimers medications that are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are donepezil (brand name Aricept), galantamine (Razadyne), and rivastigmine (branded as Exelon and Exelon Patch). There is evidence that these Alzheimers medications are helpful in mild to moderate Alzheimers and some evidence for their use in the advanced stage.

Only donepezil is approved for treatment of advanced Alzheimers. The use of these drugs in mild cognitive impairment has not shown any effect in a delay of the onset of Alzheimers. The most common side effects are nausea and vomiting. These side effects arise in approximately 10–20% of users and are mild to moderate in severity. Less common secondary effects of Alzheimers medications include muscle cramps, decreased heart rate (bradycardia), decreased appetite and weight, and increased gastric acid production.

Glutamate is a useful excitatory neurotransmitter of the nervous system, although excessive amounts in the brain can lead to cell death through a process called excitotoxicity which consists of the over stimulation of glutamate receptors…think MSG, also known as monosodium glutamate used in Chinese food and some spices.

Excitotoxicity occurs not only in Alzheimers, but also in other neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. The Alzheimers medication Memantine (brand names Akatinol, Axura, Ebixa/Abixa, Memox and Namenda) is a noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist first used as an anti-influenza agent. It acts on the glutamatergic system by blocking NMDA receptors and inhibiting their overstimulation by glutamate.

Memantine has been shown to be moderately helpful in the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimers disease. Its effects in the initial stages of Alzheimers disease are unknown. Reported adverse events with the Alzheimers medication memantine are infrequent and mild, including hallucinations, confusion, dizziness, headache and fatigue.

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