What therapies are used to treat Alzheimer's disease?

Answer 1

Music therapy has been shown to be effective in treating the depression, agitation, wandering, feelings of isolation, and memory loss associated with Alzheimer's. Other treatments include nutritional supplements, antidepressants, cholinesterase inhibitors, and NMDA receptor antagonists. Psychosocial interventions are of limited value, but can help incontinence issues, and antipsychotics are sometimes given to help deal with aggression or psychosis that sometimes accompany Alzheimer's. Cognitive retraining can have some value. A feeding tube may be given when the condition progresses to where they cannot properly or safely swallow. There are also workarounds such as labeling objects to remind the patients of their proper use.

There are also experimental therapies on the horizon such as an Alzheimer's vaccine and compounds to help prevent or reduce the amyloid plaques in the brain. They are even experimenting with antivirals since herpes simplex is sometimes found in the amyloid lesions. Methylene blue is also being studied, and in vitro studies suggest that it can help Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease.