I think you are off base and wish you would site the studies you refer to. Many of us have benefitted from Aricept and Ariecpt/Namenda combinations for much longer than studies indicate. Sometimes it's a small improvement in only one area that might not be meaningful in a study, but is significant to the individual. I can grocery shop again with Aricept. I had no faith in the drug and didn't even want to try it, but was encouraged by friends who had good response. Within 2 weeks I had improved. While I happen to think that people with advanced age, compounding health problems and poor compliance may, indeed, be poor candidates for medication for dementia, I also believe people deserve to try medications to improve their lives. So far there is no test that can say who will do well on them and no one but the patient can weight the side effects against the benefits.
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I think you are off base and wish you would site the studies you refer to. Many of us have benefitted from Aricept and Ariecpt/Namenda combinations for much longer than studies indicate. Sometimes it's a small improvement in only one area that might not be meaningful in a study, but is significant to the individual. I can grocery shop again with Aricept. I had no faith in the drug and didn't even want to try it, but was encouraged by friends who had good response. Within 2 weeks I had improved. While I happen to think that people with advanced age, compounding health problems and poor compliance may, indeed, be poor candidates for medication for dementia, I also believe people deserve to try medications to improve their lives. So far there is no test that can say who will do well on them and no one but the patient can weight the side effects against the benefits.
Diane Thornton
April 28, 2009 - 11:05amhttp://www.everydayhealth.com/blog/dealing-with-dementia-at-an-early-age/
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