Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a frightening and debilitating disease with no known medical cure at this stage, but that doesn't mean there is nothing you can do. There are a whole range of steps you can take right now to give yourself the best chance of all your years being quality years. You will need to put in some effort to get the best results, and while there are no guarantees in this life, many other people have already made major differences, even some like Louis Blank who are now symptom free!



So let's get started. Just make sure that you discuss any Alzheimer's treatment, even natural ones, with your doctor.

Early Diagnosis For a Better Chance

You need an early diagnosis. The earlier Alzheimer's treatment is started the more effective both medical and natural treatments are. No-one wants to be told they have Alzheimer's, but it's far better to know now and fight now than procrastinate and give this terrible disease a chance to beat you.

Medical Treatments For Alzheimer's

There is no medical cure for Alzheimer's but there are drugs approved by the FDA that can slow the rate of cognitive and functional decline.

There are four drugs that work by raising the levels of acetylcholine in the brain. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter, or in other words a chemical that carries messages from one neuron to another in the brain. Alzheimer's sufferers have lower levels of acetylcholine than normal.

The drugs are Cognex (no longer prescribed) Aricept, Exelon, and Reminyl, and they are only effective for sufferers with mild to moderate AD. Side effects include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Memantine is the first of a new class of drugs for Alzheimer's treatment, and it's approved for moderate to severe sufferers. It protects the brains neurons against the toxic effects of high levels of glutamate which is released by cells damaged by Alzheimer's disease.

Supplements

Supplements can help us mentally and physically.

One of the best nutritional supplements for AD is vitamin E, used with vitamin C. Studies have shown that they can slow the progression from moderate to severe Alzheimer's by an average of eight months. It's thought that vitamin E and C work because they are antioxidants and help reduce oxidative stress and injury in the central nervous system.

The B vitamins are important for a healthy brain, and it's thought that folic acid, B12 and riboflavin together are especially beneficial.

Ginkgo Biloba is another supplement that can be used as an Alzheimer's treatment. It's been used for thousands of years in Chinese medicine, and for decades in Europe. It improves memory and improves cognitive function in dementia patients. A review of studies of ginkgo biloba has shown that it gave improvements with attention and short-term memory similar to patients using the drug donepezil (Aricept).

Diet

Diet as an Alzheimer's treatment? It's no secret that diet has a major affect on physical health, so it should be no surprise that it affects mental health as well.

Researchers have found that people with healthy diets are less likely to get dementia. Plenty of fruits, vegetable, grains, and dairy products keeps your brain in top condition, and at the same time it decreases your risk of heart attacks. That's not a bad bonus!

Exercise

Exercise helps with memory and problem solving skills, and it improves mood, which is great because there's a strong correlation between AD and depression. And for prevention, doing resistive and endurance exercise for 30 minutes or more a day at least three times a week can reduce your chances of getting AD by up to 50 percent.

Mental Exercise

Stimulate those neurons! Mental exercise is powerful as a preventative, and powerful as an Alzheimer's treatment. It can actually increase the number of neurons in the brain. And it is never too late to start.

Mental exercise for Alzheimer's can be as simple as reading, learning poetry (some poetry is very good indeed), and playing cards. Even jigsaw puzzles and origami help. You could also do a course in something that interests you, or if you're still working do some professional continuing education.

Other Alzheimer's Treatments.

Here are a few more ideas that have been proven to help.

Get enough sleep, lower your stress levels, socialize, and be more active. Volunteer, or keep working. More active people suffer less from AD.

Just Do It!

You may be thinking, "What if I try and I fail? What if I do my best and still get Alzheimer's?"

I have a different question for you. What if you succeed? What if you keep Alzheimer's at bay for the rest of your life? What a difference that would make to you, your family and your friends.

Don't give up!