You've probably seen them: social media offers or other video advertising for concoctions that offer relief to those who suffer from cognitive loss, "brain fog," dementia or Alzheimer's Disease.
There are even claims that cognitive loss can be reversed, but most of those offers are bogus, according to a number of experts.
One of them is Dr. Bill Hennessey, who says we need a very realistic approach to these syndromes or diseases: There are no cures, at least not yet, and little effective treatment.
"There is truly no drug to reverse or slow down the effects of Alzheimer's at this time in 2025," he says.
Which makes Alzheimer's different from other diseases like cancer or heart disease, in which the earlier the diagnosis the more likely a satisfactory outcome.
Doctors can choose from an array of ways to help patients with dementia, including dietary adjustments, vitamins, exercise and holistic medicines if accepted, but there is no cure, even though it's one of the more researched diseases.
"So maybe you can diagnose it earlier, but thus far that doesn't mean you can treat it any better, or different," Dr. Hennessey says.
And among the more concerning are products that sound hopeful but are in fact useless or, at best, misleading.
"Some of the stuff out there increases alertness and then the leap of faith is: If you're more alert you can think more clearly."
But are alertness and clarity interchangeable when dealing with cognitive loss?
If holding out false hope is cruel then offering medicines that don't work to victims of disease can be a true cruelty.