How Alzheimer’s disease is treated and managed

How Alzheimer’s disease is treated and managed

A person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease would experience memory problems, and even face issues with their thinking process and behaviour patterns. This disease does not set in instantly, as its progression is slow; the symptoms start showing gradually over the years. With time, they get worse to the point where they affect the person’s ability to perform day to day tasks.

Let us take a look at how Alzheimer’s disease is treated:

Alzheimer’s is diagnosed with a series of tests. These include a physical check-up and certain medical tests. The medical tests involve neurological evaluation of basic movements like balancing and standing, as well as blood tests, CT scans, and MRI scans. The patient’s mental health is also evaluated. Following diagnosis, the treatment of Alzheimer’s involves the use of certain medicines. The main one used are:

Memantine

Memantine is a medication that works towards slowing down the advancement of Alzheimer’s from a mid-level to a more serious phase. It is typically not given alone, but with other medication as well.

Cholinesterase inhibitors

Cholinesterase inhibitors work by raising cellular communication to improve the balance of certain chemicals in the body. It is due to an imbalance in these chemicals that Alzheimer’s develops. Cholinesterase inhibitors also help to cope with certain symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease such as agitated behaviours. They are also useful for patients who feel low. Donepezil is an example of a Cholinesterase inhibitor.

Antidepressants

Patients who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease are often prescribed antidepressants along with other medications. This is to help cope with behavioural symptoms such as depression. The use of these medications can vary from case to case and patient to patient depending on a range of factors.

Sleeping tablets

This medication is not generally prescribed to patients suffering from Alzheimer’s. This is because these patients are already prone to confusion. But in certain rare cases, doctors do prescribe sleeping tablets for these patients.

Antipsychotic medications

Antipsychotic medications are given to Alzheimer’s patients who have severe symptoms like hallucinations and agitation. Antipsychotics can be very lethal for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. This is why these medications are only prescribed in the rarest of cases.

These are some common medicines that doctors prescribe patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. There are many clinical trials that are underway in the hopes of being able to treat Alzheimer’s disease more efficiently.

There are also some lifestyle and management tips that are used by families of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Even though they do not cure the disease, these tips help in bringing about improvement in the patient’s condition.

  • Store medicines in a safe location
  • Keep valuable items such as money, credit cards, and cell phones in the exact same place so they can be found easily
  • Ensure that the patient has a smartphone with their GPS location enabled in order to track them any time
  • Declutter the house so that they do not stumble upon anything, minimizing the risk of injuring themselves
  • Remove any unnecessary mirrors around the house as the patients may find reflections scary

Related Reading

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Most of the dogs do not have a food fuss and may eat almost anything that you feed them. Dogs are not choosy at all when it comes to food and nutrition. Hence, it is important to make sure that the food that you are purchasing for your dog is healthy. The landscape of dog food has been developing by leaps and bounds in recent times. There is a wide variety of options to choose from in the online and offline market. Given the wide range of options that are available today, buying the best dog food might seem to be a confusing task indeed. All the commercial pet food that is available in the market today is regulated by the FDA. Therefore, most of the products do contain nutritious, healthy, and safe ingredients. But it does help to know certain basic factors you should look for while buying food for your dog. Prioritize on the nutritional guarantee The best dog food, which meets the dog’s needs adequately has a statement written on the label of the product, from the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Buy from some of the best dog food brands, such as Fromm Family Foods, Earthborn Holistic, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and The Honest Kitchen.
Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

The most important aspect when designing your kitchen is deciding on the type of cabinets. In addition to functionality, kitchen cabinets score on aesthetics as well. Once the layout is planned, you can go ahead with choosing the cabinets. If you’re remodeling your home or just the kitchen, what you need to consider are the types of cabinets that furnish your kitchen. Here are a few types of kitchen cabinets that you can choose from. Base cabinets These kitchen cabinets are mounted on the floor and they are placed after checking out the floor plan. A major part of your job in the kitchen is on these base cabinets, which hold and support the countertops. These base cabinets are combined to carve out kitchen islands. A number of base cabinets are fused/set against one another and installed on site. The base cabinets, in addition to supporting the countertops, serve as drawers to hold your cutlery and appliances. Wall cabinets Mounted on the walls, these cabinets can store everything, right from your cookware to cookbooks. In terms of design, they offer utmost flexibility. Wall cabinet kitchen is available in varying heights, multiple widths, and custom depth options. This customization helps you to fit in your stuff of varying shapes and sizes into the wall cabinets.
How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

In today’s world, where you are presented with over a dozen choices for every item you would purchase for your own kitchen, it is not surprising that you have an equal number of options for your dog’s food. However, choosing the perfect brand and formula for your dog out of a range of options in the market is not an easy job. Your pet depends on you and trusts you to make the right choice for them. Therefore, it is imperative that you do your research about the products available in the market, understand what your dog needs, know what might be your pet’s problems, and then make a sound decision. What is a sensitive stomach? Dogs are known to have voracious and large appetites. Keeping that in mind, it is normal to assume that they have strong stomachs. They can eat close to anything be it sweets, bakes, chewy gum, hard leather or even woolen socks for that matter! It always so happens that the strongest of them are prone to allergies and can develop a disorder which is medically translated as a sensitive stomach. This might be due to a sudden change in the food habits or even due an infection picked up from somewhere.
All You Need to Know about Cat Food

All You Need to Know about Cat Food

For cat owners, cat food is a hot topic. You need to think about it in different aspects. The best thing is to know which ingredients are good for cat food and which are harmful. If you are aware of this, you can get an idea about the quality of the cat food just by going through the label. It is always sensible to stick to one brand of cat food. However, you may also want to try and prepare cat food yourself. There are also various options for wet cat food as well. Cat’s love for fish is universal, so you can do without going for expensive cat food. Nevertheless, whether you buy it or prepare cat food at home, you need to ensure that the food contains enough nutrition and calories. You would need to have some idea about the ingredients that must be present in cat food and make a worthy selection for your cat. Basic ingredients present in good cat foods Cats need a variety of nutrients to stay healthy and active; they need various vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and oils. The following is a brief explanation of the basic ingredients that should be present in cat foods.