What are the most commonly used treatments for Alzheimer disease?
The most common medication prescribed for Alzheimer’s disease is Aricept (donepezil), which is moderately effective in some people who have early or mid-stage AD. Exelon and Reminyl are similar to Aricept and may be prescribed as an alternative. More recently, Namenda (memantine), a drug that has a different mode of action, has been approved for patients with more advanced AD. In addition, there are probably many patients taking Vitamin E or selenium, both of which are antioxidants believed to combat the damaging effects of oxygen radicals, and women taking estrogen, which has been shown to reduce the RISK of getting AD among elderly women. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are also of interest, because they may reduce inflammation in brain tissue, which is theorized to contribute to brain degeneration in AD. Whether antioxidants, estrogen or NSAIDs are helpful to patients who already have developed AD is not yet known, but this question is being addressed now in clinical trials. Th
