Alzheimer’s disease is a common disease in the elderly. Apart from the disease itself causing a person to lose their cognitive function, especially their memory and communicating, this disease itself robs a person’s life and leads to a person unable to become functional. In other words, a person with Alzheimer’s disease is often described as an old person acting like a child due to the nature of the disease itself causing them to forget what they have learned as adults. There is no cure for the disease but there are treatments available to help improve this condition. One of the drugs used to help improve this condition is Exelon patch.
It is worth noting that Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease and is due to the ageing process itself. The ageing process caused changes in the brain structure and its chemicals. Exelon patch works by restoring the brain chemical known as neurotransmitters which plays a role in many brain functions. Exelon patch contains rivastigmine as its active ingredient. Rivastigmine helps to improve brain cognitive function such as memory, alertness and learning skills which helps to improve their ability to perform basic daily tasks. Rivastigmine has also been proved to improve a person’s ability to walk and stand. This helps to reduce risk of falls in patients with Parkinson disease. Hence, Exelon patch is used to treat dementia that is caused by Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.
Exelon patches can be found in a few variants. This includes 4.6 mg, 9.5 mg and 13.3 mg. The type of patch that will be provided to patients will be according to the patient’s circumstances and based on the doctor’s evaluation. Make sure you are receiving and using the exact patch you have been receiving all this while unless your healthcare provider did make changes to your treatment plan. Healthcare providers may gradually increase the dose of the patch to reach an effective dose. It is important to use an Exelon patch according to the doctor’s instructions.
Exelon patch is recommended to be used once a day. It is important to replace patches with new ones every 24 hours. If a patient forgot to use the patch as directed by the doctor, the patient needs to let the doctor know as the patient might be needing specific instructions before restarting to use the new patch. Patients should never use more than one patch at a time. Try to avoid using the patch on damaged skin such as reddish, irritated or cuts on skin as it could aggravate the skin condition. If a person does experience a bad skin reaction after applying an Exelon patch, they should let the doctor know. This allows doctors to assess and possibly suggest alternatives.
Some might wonder if usage of Exelon patch may affect the child a woman is bearing. Studies in pregnant rats and rabbits with high doses of Exelon failed to show effects on the offspring. However, since there is no controlled data or evidence to show if the Exelon can affect human pregnancy, it is not known if Exelon patch may affect pregnancy. The best step to take is to only give Exelon patches to pregnant women if there is a need and when the benefits outweigh the risk to the baby. Breast-feeding is not recommended when a woman takes Exelon because it is not known if the active ingredients passed into breast milk may affect the baby.
Exelon patch, just as with any other medicine, does have potential side effects. Common ones include nausea, dizziness, loss of appetite and diarrhoea. It is worth noting that doctors will always prescribe medication that brings benefits and have already assessed the risk for the side effects. If a patient experiences a serious side effect such as irregular heartbeat, severe abdominal pain, losing consciousness, vomiting or black stool, patients need to get immediate medical attention as this could be life-threatening if left unattended by a doctor.
In essence, Exelon does improve memory. This is because of the high amount of acetylcholine in the brain leading to the brain to function better. This helps to not only improve memory but also other brain cognitive functions. Unfortunately, Exelon may not cure Alzheimer’s disease itself as there is no known cure available to reverse the ageing process and the damage it has caused. Exelon should be considered as a drug that slows down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease but not stop the nature of the disease from affecting the patient. It is important to talk about early Alzheimer’s disease symptoms with a doctor. Alzheimer’s disease not only affects the patient but also people around them. This is why it is important to fully understand how to treat Alzheimer’s disease so that both patients and their caretaker can have a great life. It is important to talk about early Alzheimer’s disease symptoms with a doctor as the doctor can prescribe medicine that can improve the symptom and slow down the progression of the disease.
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