Cognitive enhancers for dementia: Do they work?
Three cholinesterase inhibitors—donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine—are commonly used to treat Alzheimer’s disease. How effective are they in improving or maintaining a patient’s cognition, functioning, or behavior? What is their impact on costs and caregiver burden? Read on for answers.
Caregiving burden
Fillit et al addressed caregiver well-being in a self-administered, nationwide survey of AD caregivers. Caregivers of patients treated with donepezil (n = 274) were compared with caregivers of patients not treated with donepezil (n = 274).31 The Caregiver Burden Scale measured time demands and distress linked to commonly performed caregiving tasks. Donepezil caregivers reported significantly lower scores on difficulty of caregiving. Similar findings have been observed with galantamine.32
Related resources
- Bullock R. New drugs for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Br J Psychiatry. 2002;180(2):135-139.
- Brodaty H, Ames D, et al. Pharmacological treatment of cognitive deficits in Alzheimer’s disease. Med J Aust. 2001;175(6):324-329.
- Ahmed MB. Alzheimer’s disease: recent advances in etiology, diagnosis, and management. Tex Med. 2001;97(12):50-58.
- Frisoni GB. Treatment of Alzheimer’s disease with acetyl-cholinesterase inhibitors: bridging the gap between evidence and practice. J Neurol. 2001;248(7):551-7.
Drug brand names
- Tacrine • Cognex
- Donepezil • Aricept
- Rivastigmine • Exelon
- Galantamine • Reminyl
Disclosure
The author reports that he receives grant/research support from, serves as a consultant to, and is on the speaker’s bureau of Janssen Pharmaceutica and Pfizer Inc., and serves as consultant to and is on the speaker’s bureau of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.
