My husband takes Namenda and I feel that is slowed his dementia/ Alzheimer’s down. The Dr also had him take another drug along with it.
Good Luck.

Thank you very much, Catherine, for your response & feedback, and so sorry to hear of your husband's most recent decline over the past several months. Needless to say, Alzheimer's is an insidious disease that seemingly charts its own course, and from what I've read since my wife's diagnosis last year, it's difficult to know whether a selected medication, supplement, exercise, etc., reduces the rate of cognitive decline, since it can vary dramatically from one person to the next. In fact, the doctor that recommended Namenda to my wife said essentially the same thing w/r/t the difficulty of specifically measuring one's cognitive degradation with & without any of the above lifestyle and/or supplemental changes.

Unfortunately, we live out in the country here in upstate NY, and it would be unrealistic & time-consuming to drive to the closest HBOT facility for my wife to receive a "dive" session every day. To that end, I've been investigating the option of purchasing a hyperbaric chamber for use here at home as well, and if you don't mind, I have a few questions for you . . .

As you had mentioned above, we're limited here in the US to a lower ATA (specifically, to 1.4 ATA by the FDA). This may not be the most "optimal" pressure, but it may still offer benefits. In fact, there are some recent double-blind studies out of Israel which show that there are rather good benefits from a lower ATA when dealing with AZ, especially those that have been diagnosed early.

And now, (finally) for my question . . .

Since HBOT (or more specifically, mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or mHBOT) is not approved for Alzheimer's here in the US, I'm having a difficult time gaining access to the recommended "dive" session from any medical establishment (due to its "off-label" category by the FDA). I've gleaned as much as I could from the most recent research articles regarding the dosage level from those studies out of Israel, but I'm wondering if you had the same experience w/r/t determining the dive sessions attributes. From what you had mentioned above, it sounds like your husband is in the chamber for about one hour(?). Would you be comfortable with letting me know the ATA pressure and oxygen level that you had/have been using for each dive session?

Once again, thank you very much for your reply, and also much in advance for any additional information that you feel comfortable with sharing on this forum.

Sincerely,

-David

I find this interesting. My husband is about to start HBOT for another issue. I wonder if it will be of any benefit for the dementia. My husband is also on Namenda. He has been on it for a little less than a month. I have noticed a little improvement.

David - you are correct in all your comments except, perhaps, for one: "This may not be the most "optimal" pressure..." According to my research, ATA pressures of 1.4-1.5 have been proven optimal for TBI and other brain issues. We purchased the OxyHealth Vitaris 320 in October of 2018 upon the recommendation of the Amen Clinic (which used the exact model in their Chicago clinic) after DH was diagnosed with a TBI. We, also, hit a brick wall in finding a provider who would let us use theirs for off-label use. Liability is a formidable deterrent. DH gets in for an hour/day in addition to pressure up and down time. The ATA pressure is 1.4. The PSI is 4. The unit's cost was significant but at the time, we thought we were dealing with a TBI and not Alzheimers as AD was not yet diagnosed. We still use it as he doesn't mind getting in it, if it helps delay progression even a little bit it is worth it, it's already paid for, and admittedly, it gives me 1 hour/day to myself! I hope this helps you a little.

My husband was diagnosed with TBI of unknown etiology about 2.5 years ago. We bought a HBOT chamber. Those for home use, albeit lower ATM, are supposedly optimal for brain health. Husband progressed despite almost daily HBOT sessions and finally got dx of Alzheimer’s. We still use the HBOT as well as far infrared sauna, but he has gotten much worse over past 9 months so I cannot say whether it has helped. I will write my whole story sometime in March. Note: it DOES give my an hour to myself! 😊