Side effects seen in participants taking both memantine and donepezil included episodes of confusion and headache. In memantine recipients, confusion most commonly occurred an average of 32 days after beginning memantine and improved within two weeks. Headaches usually lasted one day.
Alzheimer disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive decline, impaired performance of activities of daily living, and behavioral and psychiatric signs and symptoms. Decline can occur rapidly or over a number of years but always leads to death of the affected patient. Alzheimer's disease affects approximately 4.5 million people in the United States. Seniors are more likely to get Alzheimer's than are younger people although it has been diagnosed in patients in their 40's. People with a family history of Alzheimer's appear to have a greater risk of developing it as do patients who have Down's syndrome - a form of mental retardation caused by a chromosome abnormality.
The exact cause of Alzheimer's Disease has not been determined but the leading experts feel that a number of factors may be involved. Two genes have been linked to the development of in younger patients and another gene is suspect for those who are diagnosed with this disorder after the age of 65. High cholesterol and high blood pressure are also suspect as causative factors.
There is no cure for Alzheimer's Disease. With life expectancy increasing Alzheimer's Disease is anticipated to be the great health crisis of the baby boom generation. Ten percent of the population over the age of 85 are expected to develop Alzheimer's Disease.
This new weapon in the fight against this brain wasting disease is certainly welcome news to the family caregivers who shoulder the burden of seeing a loved one slip away from them. The best news will be that day when a cure is announced.
SOURCES: NYU Medical CenterJanuary, 2006
