Alzheimer’s disease is progressive and has no cure. However, if you start treatment early, it’s possible to slow the progression of the disease. Doing this can improve your quality of life and increase how many lucid years you have after a diagnosis.
Treatment Options For Early Alzheimer’s
The treatment regimen for the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease usually includes a combination of medications and behavioral therapies. These are aimed at slowing the progression of the disease as much as possible while helping you manage the symptoms. Three of the drugs you may be prescribed are cholinesterase inhibitors, glutamate regulators, and immunotherapy medications.
Cholinesterase inhibitors work by preventing the breakdown of acetylcholine, a brain chemical that’s been shown to be important for memory and thinking.
Immunotherapy medications are designed to reduce the build-up of amyloid plaques that develop on the brain as Alzheimer’s disease progresses.
Glutamate regulators manage the level of glutamate in the body and have been known to improve memory, attention, reason, language, and the ability to perform simple tasks.
In addition to medication, you may be assigned a therapist to help with coping strategies for your condition. These can include identifying triggers for episodes, memory exercises, and managing your mood changes.
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Early Signs Of The Disease
One of the issues with the early signs of Alzheimer’s disease is that many people dismiss them as a natural part of aging. However, this is not the case. While some memory loss can occur in older adults, it shouldn’t be enough to disrupt your daily life.
Some early signs of the condition include having trouble completing familiar tasks, being unable to follow familiar instructions, forgetting to take care of regular tasks such as paying a monthly bill, losing track of the time of day or year, forgetting a regular planned activity like a monthly family visit, and having trouble with understanding something you’re reading.
Alzheimer’s can also affect your spatial reasoning so you may suddenly have trouble judging the distance between