The cholinesterase inhibitors like Aricept (i.e., donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine) have been available for treatment of dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease since the mid 1990s. These medications slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (in those who tolerate them) and discontinuing them after extended use may induce a rapid decline even in those so impaired that they are in skilled nursing facilities. Despite these facts, the cholinesterase inhibitors are often maligned, not used, or discontinued too soon because they do not produce dramatic effects and do not arrest or reverse decline. Although Alzheimer’s and similar dementias are classified as memory disorders, they actually have an impact on many brains skills or domains. In addition to memory, Alzheimer’s disease may produce impairments in attention, language such as word finding, visuospatial skills like drawing/handiwork, personality, mood, and/or executive functions. All of these skills […]
Archive for December, 2014
Alzheimer’s disease and other progressive dementias are not the only cause of cognitive impairment. It is commonly known that as the heart goes, so goes the brain. An estimated 5 million Americans suffer from heart failure and this number is expected to double over the next 40 years (“Heart failure and cognitive dysfunction,” International Journal of Cardiology, 2014, 178, 12-23, PMID 25464210). Cognitive impairment is common in those with heart failure with a prevalence ranging from 25% to 75% with greater degree of heart failure associated with higher levels of cognitive impairment. Those in heart failure with a left ventricular ejection fraction of less than 45% are especially prone to cognitive impairment that is at least mild. Cognitive impairment may involve any one or all of several brain functions. These include attention, memory, executive function, language, speed of thinking, and/or […]
Alzheimer’s disease does not develop suddenly. It emerges over the course of decades. There is a history of short-term memory loss that often dates back a decade before more obvious symptoms arise. Onset is subtle. How many of us have had senior moments? How do we know if they are benign or the hallmark of progressive cognitive decline? Changes are complex and differ across individuals depending on the region of the brain that is affected. One way to make sense of these complicated pathways is to have a category that reflects significant changes in memory that fall short of a dementia. The solution has been to create a category – diagnosis if you like – for individuals who have memory changes but are not demented. This is Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) (“Mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia: a clinical perspective,” […]
Treatment of Alzheimer’s disease begins with early detection of memory loss, well before any serious symptoms are present and there is an impact on independence. In other words, we need to have a reliable, valid way to detect minor changes in memory that exceed the inefficiencies of aging. At the present time we rely on medical screening with a test that is very insensitive to mild decline in memory – the Mini-Mental State Exam. The major problem with this approach is that it misses all but the most obvious changes in memory. Alternatively, we can seek neuropsychological evaluation to thoroughly measure and describe cognitive skills. This approach is much more sensitive but involves greater time and expense. More simply we can ask the simple question, “How’s your memory?” After all, most medical and psychological evaluation begins with self-report and a […]
