It is a public health problem of the first magnitude. Treatment consists of general supportive measures and behavioral and drug treatment aimed at lessening and containing some of the behavioral aberrations which may occur. Confusion and disorientation may be lessened by simply providing a predictable environment.
Adequate supervision can control accidents.
Antipsychotic and antidepressant drug treatment can be helpful. More could be done to help patients and their caregivers if existing knowledge and methods of intervention were more extensively used. In recent years, for the first time, some modest advance has been made in addressing not the cause of Alzheimer's or the structural degenerative process, but an aspect of disturbed physiology. In an Aricept study, patients on the drug were still better than non-treated patients after two years. Cognex has significant problems which limit its usefulness.