what type of drugs cause dementia or alzheimers?

Question

Are there other types of dementias besides alzheimer's disease?

Answer 1

Pseudo dementia : Drugs do not cause alzheimer's, but numerous medicines can make it far worse due to anti-cholinergic side effects, and many elderly pts can seem to be demented due to drug effects, which reverse when med is modified.

Answer 2

Alcohol: We have no evidence alzheimer's is caused by a drug. However chronic excessive alcohol use is associated with dementia. There are negative cognitive effects of many other drugs including marijuana and opiates but few dementia syndromes described. To cause dementia there would need to be brain damage.

Answer 3

There are many: Agents that can contribute to cognitive decline although none are known to specificallly cause alzheimer's disease. In general it is best to avoid what are known as anti-cholinergic agents in the elderly since these can cause side effects including cognitive worsening.

Answer 4

Dementia: Too wide to describe here, but u can google the word & get full description of causes of cognitive deficits. Summary is that there are either genetic such as fragile x syndrome, fixed such as brain injury, slowly progressive such as infection, a feature of other conditions such as parkinson's disease, or rapidly progressive dementias such as organ failure.

Answer 5

Many causes: Dementia can be caused by a host of environmental and genetic causes - many of them quite rare. Generally speaking, you can potentially reduce your risk of dementia by eating balanced diet, staying a healthy weight, managing your chronic diseases adequately (e.g. Diabetes, high blood pressure, depression), and keeping your mind sharp by maintaining a good social network and new learning.

Answer 6

Characteristic: The repetition or "perseveration" is associated with many dementias, especially alzheimer's, and can be treated with several medications, so consider donepezil, galantamine, (galantamine hydrobromide) rivastigmine, and even a medical food such as axona or cerefolin-nac. Most neurologists should be familiar with all of these.

Answer 7

Forgetting answers: Forgetting that you already asked a question and got an answer repeatedly is a sign of short-term memory loss seen in dementia. There are medications that claim to slow down memory loss, but benefits unclear. No cure, but use your mind to stay sharp and exercise and eat balanced diet for overall health.

Answer 8

Common: Repetitive questions are common in several types of dementia. Remember that the person asking the question has no memory of previous questions or answers so try to patiently answer as if it is the first time you heard the question. Joining a support group can be very helpful.

Answer 9

Depends on type: Dementia is an umbrella term for anything that causes disability related to cognition. There are many causes of dementia, including neurodegenerative diseases, strokes, and even infections. Neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., alzheimer's) usually start in adulthood. Strokes that cause dementia ("e.g., vascular dementia") also occur in adulthood. Infections can occur at any point.

Answer 10

Neurologist: They can do testing and recommend action / medication plan to help slow any ongoing losses.

Answer 11

Start with primary: Your primary care provider is a good place to start as common problems can be spotted here. Specifically neurologists, geriatric psychiatrists and geriatricians are specialists in this area.

Answer 12

May be variable: The variant associated with motor neuron disease, or a parkinsonian process, has a 3-10 yr survival after diagnosis. The behavioural variant may progress very slowly, and may go on for years.

what type of drugs cause dementia or alzheimers?

Ask U.S. doctors your own question and get educational, text answers — it's anonymous and free!

90,000 U.S. doctors in 147 specialties are here to answer your questions or offer you advice, prescriptions, and more. Get help now:

Similar questions

Why do people get dementia?

Question or query repeatition very often in short time - what kind of dementia and remedy if any for.

What is the youngest age a person can suffer from dementia?

What kind of di i need tosee if i. Have. Demintia?

How long does someone live with frontal temporal dementia?

Related questions

90,000 U.S. doctors in 147 specialties are here to answer your questions or offer you advice, prescriptions, and more. Get help now:

People also asked

Disclaimer:

Get the free app for Members

Get the free app for Doctors