Cure For Alzheimer's Disease

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This paper is going to be about Alzheimer’s disease, the stages of the disease, the medications that are prescribed to help with cognitive impairment from the disease, as well as what researchers have found as a possible cure for Alzheimer 's. Alzheimer’s disease is classified in the DSM-V as a neurocognitive disorder. Neurocognitive disorders (NCD) are “those in which impaired cognition has not been present at birth or very early life, and thus represents a decline from a previously attained level of functioning” (American Psychiatric Association). Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive degenerative disorder, characterized by memory loss, confusion, and a variety of cognitive disabilities (Khachaturian, 1097). One in every nine Americans will …show more content…
There are two main types of medication that can be prescribed to treat the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Each medication type has different characteristics, but they all have the same common goal of reducing the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The medications that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Alzheimer patients are cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine. Cholinesterase inhibitors prevent the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is the neurotransmitter associated with memory and thinking, and delay the worsening of symptoms for 6 to 12 months. This type of medication is usually prescribed to patient’s in the early to moderate stages of the disease. The most common medications prescribed are Aricept, Exelon, and Razadyne. Although Exelon and Razadyne are both approved to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer’s, Aricept is approved to treat all stages of Alzheimer’s. (Alzheimer’s Association, 2016). Memantine is the other type of prescribed medication that is used to help with Alzheimer’s disease. Although cholinesterase inhibitors prevent the breaking down of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, memantine is prescribed to help improve memory, attention, language, and the ability to perform simple tasks. Memantine , also known as Namenda, …show more content…
Although, there are a few obstacles that are standing in the researcher’s way of finding the cure for this disease. The two main obstacles are the lack of volunteers for clinical trials, and the lack of federal research funding (Bill Thies, Ph.D., Alzheimer’s Association). Over the years, researchers have found an understanding of how a healthy brain functions, and what goes wrong within the brain regarding the presence of the Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers have found that beta-amyloid is the “chief component of plaques” regarding the disease (Alzheimer’s Association, 2016). After identifying this amino acid as being a key component to Alzheimer’s disease, researchers were also able to identify what kind of future drug could help with cognitive impairment. The drug that is undergoing further research as a cure for Alzheimer’s disease is solanezumab. Solanezumab is a “monoclonal antibody designed to lower the level of beta-amyloid in the brain” (Alzheimer’s Association, 2016). If research goes well regarding this drug it could lead to a possible cure for the Alzheimer’s

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