Treatment of Cognitive Impairment and Dementia

Abstract This chapter explores the treatment of cognitive impairment and dementia. Different classes of therapies and medications are prescribed to control specific symptoms of dementia. Treatments for early-stage dementia and mild cognitive impairment can be divided into symptom-based therapies and newly available disease-modifying therapies. Aducanumab (Aduhelm) is the first disease-modifying therapy available for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in the United States and represents a fundamental change in how Alzheimer’s is treated. Instead of just treating symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, it is designed to impact the underlying microscopic or biological changes seen in Alzheimer’s disease and, in turn, hopefully slow cognitive decline. The chapter then looks at symptom-based treatment for cognitive changes in mild dementia and middle- to late-stage dementia. It also considers the use of stem cells and gene therapy to treat forms of dementia.