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First and only skin patch for mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease is approved in the U.S.
For the first time, people suffering from mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease have a transdermal patch treatment option.
The once-daily Exelon®Patch (rivastigmine transdermal system), approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), offers a new approach to the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, providing smooth and continuous delivery over 24 hours. Exelon Patch has also been approved for the treatment of mild to moderate Parkinson's disease dementia in the U.S.
That's good news for Edna Cates, who was diagnosed three years ago with mild Alzheimer's disease when she started having memory problems and difficulty functioning in her life.
"My wife and I have been married 61 years, we are very close, and when she began to have trouble recalling words and names and trouble recalling the tasks that she needed to do, I knew something was wrong. So we went and got medical help to find out what the problem was," says Smokey Cates, Edna's husband.
When Edna's husband Smokey and his daughter, Ann, brought Edna to her doctor, they learned that Alzheimer's disease treatments were limited to oral medications. But now, the FDA has approved the Exelon Patch, the first and only once-daily transdermal patch for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.
"Patches have been useful for different disease states within the medical community for some time. They allow for a smooth way to introduce medication into the body and also allow for effective and optimal dosing to be used in patients," says Dr. Gus Alva, Edna's physician and director of the ATP Group. "Particularly in Alzheimer's disease, we now have a way to provide a visual reminder for the caregiver that the patient has received that day's medication, while making the medication easier to administer than the capsule form of the medication."