Dementia medications

[wollstonecraft]

My mother, 83 years old, has dementia. It's fairly mild, but her doctor just put her on a medication called Namenda. She has some memory issues, can no longer write checks, and such, but her big problem is stammering and having trouble retrieving words she's trying to use.

A sister of mine is handling my mother's medical issues. The sister tells me that the doctor told her that the Namenda will not ease the word-retrieving problem she has, it will just stop her memory loss from worsening. Then I did an Internet search on Namenda, and found that one possible side effect is confusion. I'm thinking, what the? This is supposed to be a medication to ease dementia, which involves confusion, and it can cause confusion?

Does anyone have a similar experience with an elderly loved one having the same trouble with word retrieval, and have they found anything that helps? I've tried talking my sister into suggesting to my mother that she try fish oil, but my sister won't do it because she (the sister) tried it and it upset her stomach, but my sister has gastro issues that probably contributed to that.

And I'm of a mind that I never accept the word of just one doctor. I always seek out second and third opinions.

[toxigal]

anything reported from clinical trials has to be included in adverse events, but often in the "blurb" they dont' include frequency. from the prescribing information "confusion" was reported in 0.1-1% of patients and as not different than the frequency reported in placebo treated patients.

i would not recommend any "natural" remedies without first discussing it with the doctor as there is a lot of potential for interactions with this type of drug.

[Colin P. Varga]

My mother also had dementia.

Possibly a anti-anxiety medication might help with word retrieval. However, anti-anxiety drugs have side-effects as well.

Stimulation is usually recommended for dementia, which includes playing games, singing with friends, or just visiting friends who can talk about long term memories. Also, some mild exercise is usually recommended, which could be just taking short walks especially in familiar places.

However, consultation with a doctor is necessary for any new medications or exercise.

[Marty B.]

While confusion and dementia may be synonymous in every day speech, as clinical terms I'd hazard to say that confusion and dementia may be different things, and confusion may be a tolerable side effect compared to full blown dementia. As pointed out though, this is the internet and it's best to ask an actual in the flesh doctor charged with your mother's care giving what a side effect means or may entail.

[ecochuck]

Get your sister to give her some fish that is high in omega-3s like salmon or sardines. Actually even better is get her to give her mother a capsule of blue-green algae (like spirulina) everyday. Fish get all of their omega-3s from eating algae. So the above is a food that is high in omega-3s. It also has low molecular weight proteins that pass through the blood brain barrier.

It is not a plant or animal. Technically it is cyano-bacteria. It existed before them and all plants and animals came from it. It existed on the earth when there was no oxygen in the air and no other life. It then put the oxygen in the air. They are whole food supplements. Do not take tablets since most pass through the stomach and end up in the feces or stool.

These supplements have more more omega-3s than fish, more B-12 than liver, more iron than spinach, more calcium than milk, more beta-caroteen than carrots and more vitamin E than wheat germ. It is called a super-food. The number one supplement in Japan is chlorella. It is green algae. It is also called a superfood. Both help the body to detox itself of heavy metals and radiation.

On this site it says:

Dr. Oz, the renowned professor at Columbia University, and a regular guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show, recommends Spirulina as one of the most important anti-aging nutritional supplements. Spirulina plays an important role in slowing down the aging process through its antioxidant/anti-inflammatory effects. It is also a perfect source of protein and is a completely absorbable wholefood vitamin and mineral supplement. [it is mentioned in his book, YOU: The Owners Manual]

What do the 2 last U.S. Presidents have to do with omega-3. President George Bush took omega-3 supplents for nutrition. Now President Obama has a novelty item sold in his likeness. It is called Chia-Obama. The chia seeds grow for his hair. Chia seeds are the highest plant source of omega-3s and you can eat them. The Aztecs would put them in water for 15 minutes and drink this. See this site for more on nutrition and whole food supplements containing both green and blue-green alagaes.

The USA dropped Fat Man and Little Boy on Japan during World War 2. They killed hundreds of people and caused Japan to surrender (code names for the atom bombs droped). Millions were dying slowly from radiation poisoning. Japan did research and found that spirulina (bg algae) could help the body get rid of the radiation due to the sodium alginate in it. So hundreds of thousands of people died to enable your mother to take this whole food supplement. Of all countries that record births in writing, Japan and the little island next of it, Okinawa are the 2 countries with the longest living people.

[toxigal]

I repeat, please do not use supplements on top of prescribed medications without first discussing it with the physician. There is potential for interactions which can decrease or increase the blood concentrations of the drugs and have potentially serious consequences. also, please remember that there are no regulations with respect to supplements. they may contain a wide variety of substances that are not on the label. do your research and only use supplements that have at least undergone some sort of voluntary QC evaluation.

Also, Dr. Oz has never published a peer reviewed article on anything related to nutrition. He is not a nutritionist by training. He is a cardiovascular surgeon. Not sure why he is put forth as someone we should get all excited about with respect to his opinions on nutritional supplements.

[Winston]

Wait, so you're saying I shouldn't take the advice of someone who thinks lemonade cures cancer?

To the OP: From what little I know on the topic, the doctor's description sounds accurate. None of the dementia drugs restore cognitive function that has been lost; they merely delay the progression/worsening of symptoms — and only for about 12-18 months at that. Medications for Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are at a very primitive stage in their development (compared to, say, antibiotics) so it's best for patients and caregivers to keep their expectations low, sad to say.

[BeckyJ]

Wait, so you're saying I shouldn't take the advice of someone who thinks lemonade cures cancer?

To the OP: From what little I know on the topic, the doctor's description sounds accurate. None of the dementia drugs restore cognitive function that has been lost; they merely delay the progression/worsening of symptoms — and only for about 12-18 months at that. Medications for Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia are at a very primitive stage in their development (compared to, say, antibiotics) so it's best for patients and caregivers to keep their expectations low, sad to say.

This. OP, I'm in your shoes; my mother is 75, she's on Razadyne. You can stall but not stop dementia/Alzheimer's.

[wollstonecraft]

Thanks for all your suggestions. My mother's doctor has her on Namenda, which she started about two months ago. We're noticing some dizziness sometimes in my mother when she walks, which was why the doctor said he didn't want to put her on anti-depressants, which have that side effect. My mother is in an assisted-living facility. We're also noticing spells of anxiety since she started the medication. When I spoke to her on the phone yesterday, she sounded a little disoriented. The dizziness is a big worry to us because if she falls and breaks a hip, it's all over. She has no quality of life left.

The puzzling thing to us is that, to our knowledge, there hasn't been dementia in her family. But she has had high blood pressure and high cholesterol, she hasn't watched her weight very well, and she has Type II diabetes, and I've read that these conditions can really increase the risk of dementia. This is why I'm a fanatic about diet, exercise, lifestyle, and keeping my brain challenged.

[BeckyJ]

Thanks for all your suggestions. My mother's doctor has her on Namenda, which she started about two months ago. We're noticing some dizziness sometimes in my mother when she walks, which was why the doctor said he didn't want to put her on anti-depressants, which have that side effect. My mother is in an assisted-living facility. We're also noticing spells of anxiety since she started the medication. When I spoke to her on the phone yesterday, she sounded a little disoriented. The dizziness is a big worry to us because if she falls and breaks a hip, it's all over. She has no quality of life left.

The puzzling thing to us is that, to our knowledge, there hasn't been dementia in her family. But she has had high blood pressure and high cholesterol, she hasn't watched her weight very well, and she has Type II diabetes, and I've read that these conditions can really increase the risk of dementia. This is why I'm a fanatic about diet, exercise, lifestyle, and keeping my brain challenged.

No history of Alzheimer's in my mother's family either. But, not a lot of mental challenges after she retired, not a lot of close friends (no real social circle), not a great diet (not bad, but not great). Her mother lived to be 95 with no mental deterioration, her older sister has no problems either. One statistic I saw was that 50% of people in their 80s have some form of Alzheimer's (dementia, senility, whatever you want to call it).

I actually think my mother is very brave. She keeps going out, travels with my dad (to California, Oregon, Ireland), goes to events (ballet, baseball games, etc.) that others arrange without any complaint. She enjoyed the Nutcracker last Christmas....didn't remember it 20 minutes after it was over, but enjoyed it during the performance. It takes guts to keep going when everything must seem so confusing and yes, does cause anxiety. However, I wouldn't say she has no quality of life.

[wollstonecraft]

I read a really interesting article about dementia and Alzheimer's recently, suggesting that people can do things to prevent its debilitating effects.

The author is a neurologist. He wrote about having a woman bring her husband to him for evaluation. Her husband was 80 years old. He'd been a lifelong mathematician, and she was concerned because recently he'd had trouble with some calculations, and he'd become cranky.

The neurologist evaluated him. He found the man to have an IQ of 140. He gave him a memory test of 30 tasks, and the man got all 30 correct. Then the neurologist did a brain scan, and found the man to have full-blown Alzheimer's. Judging from the condition of the man's brain, he shouldn't even have been able to hold a conversation, yet he was high functioning. The neurologist attributes his being able to function to performing tasks that challenge his brain. I've also read that one way of preventing the effects of dementia is to take on tasks that you're lousy at, or that are unfamiliar. And I have a friend who does research into it. She says that looking at brain scans, they can usually make a close guess of the person's age, and that older people who meditate regularly have "younger looking" brains.

This neurologist also said that of the elderly people who die and are autopsied, 20 percent had brains with Alzheimer's, but they'd had no symptoms while they were alive. He said that the aging brain has more plasticity than has been assumed previously, and that people can do things that will overcome the aging of the brain. But I think genetics might be a factor, too, and if a person has rapidly advancing or severe enough Alzheimer's, not much will help.

My mother doesn't have Alzheimer's, she has vascular dementia, though seeing what's happening to her, it seems a pretty fine distinction to me.