Patty, Re: Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl

[Guest guest]

Patty,

From what I've read, there isn't much news on the genetics side. I

remember hearing of only one study on one family where the LBD

seemed genetically related.

Age of onset is a bit hard to pin down. Some people have REM Sleep

Behavior Disorder (which is a strong indicator of future LBD) for

years before they progress to any other symptoms. (In my dad's

case, he had it for 20 years or so!) In others, hallucinations are

the first sign and we've seen people who were diagnosed as early as

their 40's and 50's, but the majority are elderly. Certainly we are

seeing awareness and improved diagnostic criteria which may explain

the earlier ages.

>

> ,

> Thank you for the information. Good to hear about the Journal

article and Consitorium. Any news on on the hereditary factor or age

of onset. Are the articles available on line. Again, thank you!

> Patty in Oregon

> Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl

>

>

> In responding to the questions on the cholinesterase inhibitors

> (CHEIs): Aricept (donepezil), Exelon (rivastigmine) and Reminyl

> (galantamine), we can now refer to the new article in the

Journal of

> Neurology that appeared in their e-pub in October, and will

appear in

> print in December.

>

> The Third Report of the Dementia with Lewy Bodies Consortium (an

> international panel of the worlds' leading LBD experts)

indicates that

> the cholinesterase inhibitors (CHEIs) are effective in reducing

the

> hallucinations and other neuropsychiatric symptoms, and that

open

> label studies have " demonstrated the effectiveness of all three

> generally available CHEIs. " (Only one placebo controlled trial

has

> been done to date, and that was for rivastigmine.)

>

> Later in the article, they indicate that CHEIs may help with the

> fluctuating cognitive impairments and the " effect size in

dementia

> with Lewy bodies is reported as being generally larger than seen

with

> the same drugs when used in AD... "

>

>

> To me, that means when considering whether or not to use them,

it

> makes sense to evaluate the potential benefit to both the

cognitive

> impairment and the hallucinations.

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> Welcome to LBDcaregivers.

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