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CHAPTER 23

Your Future Memory Program

THE LONG-STANDING DEFEATISM about preventing and treating memory loss has now given way to a
feeling of growing excitement that we will soon have the keys to the memory kingdom. But we have
just scratched the surface, and new knowledge will eventually render obsolete our current repertoire
of preventive and treatment strategies, including some of the components in the Memory Program.

Several potential therapies for age-related memory loss are still in the development stage. These
include a new crop of cholinesterase inhibitors, treatment with combinations of cognitive enhancers,
stimulation of neuronal growth, blocking the formation of toxic compounds in the brain, and genetic
strategies. Most of these attempts are likely to fail, but the few gems that emerge will revolutionize
the field of memory loss research and potentially could completely reverse the memory loss that
occurs during the aging process.

Cholinesterase Inhibitors

Cholinesterase inhibitors represent the only class of medications that are FDA-approved to treat
dementia, specifically Alzheimer's disease. After tacrine came donepezil (Aricept), rivastigmine
(Exelon), and galantamine (Reminyl). Although these medications were developed to treat patients
with Alzheimer's disease, the pharmaceutical industry has become aware that the market for mild
memory loss is much larger.