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Education Key For Alzheimer’s Treatments
A major obstacle in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease specifically, but also likely in many other diseases and disorders, is patient’s discontinuing prescribed medication. As Daniel Keller, of Medscape, reports, the key to individuals adhering to their prescriptions may be a better effort to educate about them.
The findings of a recent study were that about one-third of Alzheimer’s patients located in a rural area, where numerous trips to see physicians was unlikely, would stop their treatments within six months. Side effects or inefficacy or a combination of both were to blame.
Experts speculate, however, that had those patients been able to continually consult with their physician, or had their doctor taken more time to educate them about how they could potentially react to the treatment, more of those patients would have stayed on their medications.
There’s also the job of simply managing expectations. Patients need to understand that these aren’t miracle drugs being prescribed to them. They won’t see a vast improvement overnight or even over the span of a few months. But patients who understand what the end goal is and know the expected timetable for returns have a much more realistic and optimistic outlook.
