Alzheimer's Disease: What It Is, Current Treatments, and Current Research

Ohio Center for Hope patient and caregiver handout | Updated June 2026

Key takeaways

• Alzheimer's is a brain disease and the most common cause of dementia in older adults.

• There is no cure yet, but some medicines can help symptoms, and newer anti-amyloid medicines can slow decline for selected people in the early stages.

• Diagnosis and treatment decisions now often involve memory testing, brain imaging or lab biomarkers, and discussion of benefits, risks, monitoring, cost, and goals of care.

• Research is moving quickly, especially in earlier diagnosis, prevention, blood tests, anti-amyloid and anti-tau drugs, inflammation, metabolism, vascular health, sleep, and caregiver support.

1. What is Alzheimer's disease?

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disorder. It slowly damages nerve cells and the connections between them, leading to problems with memory, thinking, language, judgment, behavior, and daily activities. It is not a normal part of aging, although age is the strongest known risk factor.

What happens in the brain: Researchers link Alzheimer's to abnormal buildup of beta-amyloid plaques and tau tangles, along with inflammation, loss of synapses, blood-vessel changes, and shrinking of brain tissue. The exact cause is usually a mix of age-related, genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.

Early signs	Middle-stage changes	Later-stage needs
Forgetting recent conversations or events; repeating questions; trouble finding words; getting lost; difficulty managing bills, medicines, or appointments.	Increasing confusion; problems recognizing family or friends; poor judgment; hallucinations or delusions in some people; wandering risk; more help needed with dressing, bathing, and meals.	Severe communication problems; need for full-time care; difficulty swallowing or walking; higher risk of infections, falls, and complications.

2. How Alzheimer's is diagnosed

• Medical history and a medication review, including sleep, mood, alcohol/substance use, hearing/vision, and other conditions that can affect thinking.

• Cognitive testing to measure memory, language, attention, problem solving, and daily functioning.

• Blood tests or imaging to look for other causes of symptoms.

• For people considering anti-amyloid treatment, clinicians usually confirm Alzheimer's biology with amyloid PET imaging or cerebrospinal fluid testing; blood-based biomarker tests are also an active and rapidly advancing area of research.

When to seek medical advice promptly

• A sudden change in thinking, alertness, speech, strength, balance, or behavior can be delirium, stroke, infection, medication side effect, or another urgent problem.

• Do not assume all new confusion is Alzheimer's. Sudden or rapidly worsening symptoms should be evaluated quickly.

3. Current treatments

Treatment goals: maintain independence and safety, treat symptoms, slow decline, when possible, support caregivers, and plan ahead. Treatment is individualized by stage, other health conditions, medications, and personal goals.

Treatment type	Examples	Who may benefit	Important notes
Symptom medicines	Cholinesterase inhibitors: donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine/benzgalantamine; NMDA antagonist: memantine; combination memantine-donepezil.	May help memory, thinking, or daily function for some people; usually used by stage and tolerance.	They do not cure Alzheimer's or stop the disease. Benefits may be modest and side effects can include nausea, diarrhea, appetite loss, dizziness, vivid dreams, slow heart rate, or confusion.
Behavioral and sleep symptoms	Non-drug strategies first; selected medicines when symptoms are severe or dangerous. Brexpiprazole is FDA-approved for agitation associated with Alzheimer's.	People with agitation, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, hallucinations, or aggression.	Look for triggers: pain, infection, constipation, hunger, overstimulation, medication effects, and sleep disruption. Antipsychotics and sedatives need careful risk-benefit discussion.
Disease-modifying anti-amyloid antibodies	Lecanemab (Leqembi) and donanemab (Kisunla).	Selected people with early Alzheimer's disease: mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer's, with amyloid confirmed.	These drugs can slow clinical decline but are not cures and are not for everyone. They require IV treatment or maintenance protocols, repeated MRIs, and monitoring for amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA), including brain swelling or bleeding.
Lifestyle and supportive care	Exercise as able, heart-healthy diet pattern, sleep care, hearing/vision support, social engagement, cognitive stimulation, fall prevention, home safety, advance care planning.	Everyone affected by Alzheimer's, including caregivers.	These steps support quality of life and may reduce complications. They should complement, not replace, medical care.
Questions to ask before anti-amyloid treatment Is the diagnosis early-stage Alzheimer's, and has amyloid been confirmed? What benefits were seen in trials, and what would count as a meaningful benefit for this person? What is the risk of ARIA, especially with APOE e4 status, prior brain bleeding, blood thinners, or stroke risk? What MRI schedule, infusion/maintenance schedule, costs, travel, and caregiver support are required? What symptoms should trigger urgent evaluation during treatment?

4. Current research directions

Earlier and more accurate diagnosis: Blood-based biomarkers, amyloid and tau PET, cerebrospinal fluid tests, digital cognitive tools, and AI-supported imaging are being studied to detect disease earlier and match people to treatments.

New disease targets: Research is testing anti-tau therapies, anti-inflammatory approaches, synapse protection, metabolic and mitochondrial pathways, vascular health, insulin signaling, and combinations of therapies.

Prevention and risk reduction: Studies examine exercise, sleep, blood pressure and diabetes control, hearing loss treatment, diet patterns, social engagement, and multi-domain lifestyle programs.

Better treatment delivery and safety: Researchers are studying maintenance dosing, subcutaneous options, safer patient selection, ARIA risk prediction, and real-world outcomes for anti-amyloid therapies.

Caregiver and quality-of-life research: Trials also focus on caregiver training, home safety, technology support, behavior management, care coordination, and reducing caregiver stress.

Clinical trials: The National Institute on Aging reports hundreds of active Alzheimer's and related dementia trials, and Alzheimers.gov offers a clinical trials finder where people can search by diagnosis, location, and study type. Trial participation is voluntary and should be discussed with a clinician and family/care partners.

5. Practical steps for families and care partners

• Build a care team: primary care clinician, neurologist or memory clinic, pharmacist, social worker/case manager, and caregiver supports.

• Create routines: calendars, pill organizers, labels, simplified choices, and a calm environment.

• Plan for safety: driving assessment, fall prevention, stove/firearm/medication safety, wandering plan, and emergency contacts.

• Address legal and financial planning early: advance directives, power of attorney, wills, benefits, and long-term care planning.

• Take care of the caregiver: respite, support groups, counseling, sleep, exercise, and asking for help are part of treatment.

Bottom line

• Alzheimer's care is changing. Symptom medicines, supportive care, and caregiver planning remain essential.

• New anti-amyloid medicines offer the possibility of slowing decline for some people early in the disease, but they require careful selection, monitoring, and shared decision-making.

• Research is broadening beyond amyloid to earlier detection, tau, inflammation, vascular and metabolic health, prevention, and better support for daily life.

Selected sources and date notes

1. National Institute on Aging. Alzheimer's Disease Fact Sheet. Accessed June 2026.

2. National Institute on Aging. How Is Alzheimer's Disease Treated? Accessed June 2026.

3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration prescribing information: Leqembi (lecanemab), 2025 label; Kisunla (donanemab), 2024 label. Accessed June 2026.

4. Alzheimer's Association. Treatments for Alzheimer's & Dementia; Amyloid-Targeting Treatments; Donanemab treatment information. Accessed June 2026.

5. National Institute on Aging. NIA-Funded Active Alzheimer's and Related Dementias Clinical Trials and Studies; 2025 NIH Dementia Research Progress Report. Accessed June 2026.

6. Alzheimers.gov Clinical Trials Finder. Accessed June 2026.

Medical note: This handout is for education and is not a diagnosis or treatment plan. Medication decisions should be made with a licensed clinician who knows the person's medical history.

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