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New Treatment for Patients with Alzheimer's Disease - Brief Article

American Family Physician, Sept 15, 2000 by Vinod Kumar

(13th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry) Results of three prospective studies demonstrated significant benefits from treatment with rivastigmine tartrate, a cholinesterase inhibitor, in patients with Alzheimer's disease who were also at high risk for developing vascular dementia (VaD).

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Improvement was noted in activities of daily living, behavior, cognition, memory, self-care and overall disease severity. In addition, treatment with rivastigmine had a greater effect on patients with vascular risk factors. A total of 2,126 patients were enrolled in three, 26-week prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. The results of these studies were pooled for analysis and evaluated according to presence or absence of vascular risk factors. The Modified Hachinski Ischemic Score was used to evaluate patients for vascular risk factors, with a score of zero representing "pure Alzheimer's disease" and scores greater than zero representing increasing vascular risks. Patients with and without vascular risk factors receiving rivastigmine (6 to 12 mg per day) demonstrated statistically significant improvement in global changes in cognitive abilities, behavior and functioning as well as significant clinically meaningful improvement (10 percent) in ability to perform activities of daily living (i.e., eating, dressing, bathing), compared with patients receiving placebo. Among patients receiving rivastigmine, those with vascular risk factors demonstrated less overall decline than patients without vascular risks. Adverse events were mild to moderate and were primarily gastrointestinal. Rivastigmine has recently been labeled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. VaD is considered the second most common form of dementia in the United States after Alzheimer's disease. Patients with Alzheimer's disease who possess vascular risk factors are at an increased risk for further deterioration associated with VaD.

Health Care Industry

New Treatment for Patients with Alzheimer's Disease - Brief Article

American Family Physician, Sept 15, 2000 by Vinod Kumar

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