Dementia Medication Overview

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• Dementia Medication Overview
• Medical Treatment
• Treatment for Dementia
• N-methyl-D-aspartate Blockers
• Investigational Drugs
• Treatment for Coexisting Behavioral Changes
• Other Therapeutic Interventions
• For More Information
• Web Links
• Synonyms and Keywords
• Authors and Editors

Most diseases that cause dementia are progressive, which means that persons with the disease get worse over time. Unfortunately, no curative treatment for dementia is currently available. Some medications, however, can temporarily improve symptoms and functioning and may slow the progression of the basic disease process.

Efforts to find effective drug therapy for dementia have frustrated scientists. Many drugs used for dementia are limited by side effects, short duration of action, and the need for frequent monitoring of blood levels or other laboratory values to prevent toxicity. Many assessment tools have been used to measure the effectiveness of dementia drugs, but effectiveness remains difficult to evaluate. Additionally, an enormous amount of dementia-related treatment information from a wide variety of sources is directed to consumers, including information on medications, herbal products, diet, exercise, and nutrition. The vast amount of material and its sometimes-questionable reliability make it difficult to distinguish fact from rumor. Despite these difficulties, researchers continue to search for drugs with improved effectiveness and better tolerability.

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