Expert: Mary Gordon - 3/10/2006

Question
My mom is in early stage AD - about stage 4.  She has been prescribed Namenda despite not being moderate stage yet.  Her side effects are confusion and dizziness.  You can tell by looking at her that she has taken her dose for the day.  Her neurologist has put her on it with the rationalization that it couldn't hurt and may help in the long run.  I question this as the side effects seem to make her more "spacey".  What advice do you have?  Is there any research about Namenda for early stage?  

Answer
Hi Patty, below my signature I've pasted the stages of Alzheimer's just for your reference. If the doctor is using Dr. Reisberg's scale and your mom is in Stage 4, she isn't in what most people would call early stage AD.

From my perspective, having been through this with a loved one, now is the best you've got. Its all downhill from here - so now is the time to slow down the disease. She still has a lot to lose - and the longer you can keep her functional, the better her quality of life, and the easier time you'll have as a caregiver. I know it sounds horrible, but there really will come a time where you may not want to slow it down - my mother in law, for example, lingered for two years in the final stage, unable to walk, talk, or do anything for herself. At that point, slowing it down seemed cruel. It just breaks your heart - you wonder how much worse it can get - and then you find out.

If it were my loved one, I'd throw every drug available at it right now, while she is still mostly herself. There have been some very encouraging results in terms of slowing down the progress with namenda in combination with Aricept (donepezil). You may want to ask the doctor about trying that idea.

Have you tried giving her the medication at night or in the evening?  That might reduce the spaciness and dizziness you are seeing. I'd talk to the doctor about the side effects and see if there is anything he'd suggest short of taking her off it - not everyone can tolerate every drug, but this one is one that seems to offer your best hope at keeping her who she is a bit longer.  .

Thinking of you. She's lucky to have you looking out for her with such love.

Mary G.
Toronto

Stages of Alzheimers

In 1982 Dr. Barry Reisberg published what was to become the best and most widely accepted description of the stages of Alzheimer's disease. Even today, years later, when experts referto a person being in stage 5 or stage 6, they are referring to Dr. Reisberg's scale of seven stages.

Adapted from Reisberg, B., Ferris, S.H., Leon, J.J. & Crook, T. The global deterioration scale for the assessment of primary degenerative dementia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 1982

Level 1

No cognitive decline - (or Normal Adult). No subjective complaints of memory deficit. No memory deficit evident on clinical interviews.

Level 2
Very mild cognitive decline (forgetfulness or normal older adult). Subjective complaints of memory deficit, most frequently in the following area:
(a) forgetting where one has placed familiar objects;
(b) forgetting names on formerly knew well.
No objective evidence of memory deficit on clinical interview. No objective deficits in employment or social situations. Appropriate concern regarding symptoms.

Level 3
Mild cognitive decline (early confusional or Early AD). Earliest clear-cut deficits. Manifestations in more than one of the following areas:
(a) patient may have gotten lost when traveling to an unfamiliar location;
(b) co-workers become aware of patient's relatively low performance;
(c) word and name finding deficit becomes evident to intimates;
(d) patient may read a passage of a book and retain relatively little material;
(e) patient may demonstrate decreased facility in remembering names upon introduction to new people;
(f) patient may have lost or misplaced an object of value;
(g) concentration deficit may be evident on clinical testing.
Objective evidence of memory deficit obtained only with an intensive interview. Denial begins to become manifest in patient. Mild to moderate anxiety accompanies symptoms.Deficits noticed in demanding employment situations.

Level 4
Moderate cognitive decline (Late Confusional or Mild AD). Clear-cut deficit on careful clinical interview. Deficit manifest in following areas:
(a) decreased knowledge of current and recent events;
(b) may exhibit some deficit in memory of one's personal history;
(c) concentration deficit elicited on serial subtractions;
(d) decreased ability to travel, handle finances, etc.

Frequently no deficit in the following areas:
(a) orientation to time and person;
(b) recognition of familiar persons and faces;
(c) ability to travel to familiar locations.
Inability to perform complex tasks. Denial is dominant defense mechanism. Flattening of affect and withdrawl from challenging situations occur.

Level 5
Moderately severe cognitive decline (Early Dementia or moderate AD). Patient can no longer survive without some assistance. Patient is unable during interview to recall a major relevant aspect of their current lives, e.g., an address or telephone number of many years, the names of close family members (such as grandchildren), the name of the high school or college from which they graduated. Frequently some disorientation to time (date, day of week, season, etc.) or to place. An educated person may have difficulty counting back from 40 by 4s or from 20 by 2s. Persons at this stage retain knowledge of many major facts regarding themselves and others. They invariably know their own names and generally know their spouse's and children's names. They require no assistance with toileting and eating, but may have some difficulty choosing the proper clothing to wear.

Level 6
Severe cognitive decline (Middle Dementia or Moderately Severe AD). May occasionally forget the name of the spouse upon whom they are entirely dependent for survival. Will be largely unaware of all recent events and experiences in their lives. Retain some knowledge of their past lives but this is very sketchy. Generally unaware of their surroundings, the year, the season, etc. May have difficulty counting from 10, both backward and sometimes forward. Will require some assistance with activities of daily living, e.g., may become incontinent, will require travel assistance but occasionally will display ability to orient in familiar locations. Diurnal rhythm frequently disturbed. Almost always recall their own name. Frequently continue to be able to distinguish familiar from unfamiliar persons in their environment. Personality and emotional changes occur. These are quite variable and include
(a) delusional behavior, e.g., patients may accuse their spouse of being an impostor, may talk to imaginary figures in the environment, or to their own reflection in the mirror;
(b) obsessive symptoms, e.g., person may continually repeat simple cleaning activities;
(c) anxiety symptoms, agitation, and even previously nonexistent violent behavior may occur;
(d) cognitive abulla, i.e., loss of willpower because an individual cannot carry a thought long enough to determine a purposeful course of action.

6a - Requires Assistance dressing
6b - Requires Assistance bathing properly
6c - Requires Assistance with mechanics of toileting
6d - Urinary incontinence
6e - Fecal incontinence

Level 7
Very severe cognitive decline (Late Dementia or Severe AD). All verbal abilities are lost. Frequently there is no speech at all - only grunting. Incontinent of urine, requires assistance toileting and feeding. Lose basic psychomotor skills, e.g., ability to walk, sitting and head control.
The brain appears to no longer be able to tell the body what to do. Generalized and cortical neurologic signs and symptoms are frequently
present.

7a - Speech ability limited to about a half-dozen intelligible words
7b - Intelligible vocabulary limited to a single word
7c - Ambulatory ability lost
7d - Ability to sit up lost
7e - Ability to smile lost
7f - Ability to hold up head lost