E-DRUG: Therapeutics Letter #56: Drugs for Alzheimer's Disease
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I would like to bring to your attention the August 2005 issue (#56) of the
Therapeutics Letter: "Drugs for Alzheimer's Disease" that has just been
published on the Therapeutics Initiative web site at
http://www.ti.ubc.ca/pages/letter56.htm
In this Therapeutics Letter we summarize the currently available evidence on
the three acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChE-I) licensed for Alzheimer's
Disease (AD) in Canada: donepezil (Aricept), rivastigmine (Exelon), and
galantamine (Reminyl), as well as the neuro-receptor antagonist memantine
(Ebixa).
We conclude that:
* Donepezil has not been demonstrated to improve outcomes of importance to
patients and caregivers (e.g. institutionalization or disability).
Rivastigmine and galantamine have not been studied for these outcomes.
* AChE-I cause gastrointestinal, muscular, and other adverse effects and
likely increase serious adverse events.
* There is no evidence that stopping AChE-I treatment is harmful.
* In advanced AD, memantine has not been demonstrated to improve outcomes of
importance to patients and caregivers.
I invite you to drop by and have a look at this Letter. Please feel free to
forward this message to any of your friends or colleagues that might be
interested in this topic.
We would appreciate receiving your comments on this Therapeutics Letter and
its possible implications in clinical practice.
Best regards,
Ciprian Jauca
Manager
Therapeutics Initiative
University of British Columbia
Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics
2176 Health Sciences Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3
Canada
Email: jauca@ti.ubc.ca
Tel: +1 (604) 822-0700
Fax: +1 (604) 822-0701
Web: www.ti.ubc.ca