My mother has vascular dementia, and cannot take the drug that that was prescribed for makes her sick to her stomach, so she can't use it. I think that the drug was prescribed was Aricept, but I'm not sure.
I just read some information in the mind, mood, and memory newsletter that modafinil has been used to improve cognitive performance. In a study involving 39 chess players, researchers in Germany and Sweden measured the effects of taking modafinil on performance. While taking modafinil, the performance of the chess players improved by 5%. That's not a lot, but it is a statistically significant result, and this is the first research to show cognitive improvement from a brain enhancing drug in people who were already performing at a high level. Unfortunately , the article also said that modafinil has many side effects including headache, nausea, insomnia, loss of appetite, hypertension, and heart palpitations. In the past, my mother has had atrial fibrillation, so I guess trying modafinil would not be a good idea, but has anyone ever used modafinil to treat someone with Alzheimer's, or vascular dementia?
