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  • Title: One-year treatment of Alzheimer's disease with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors: improvement on ADAS-cog and TMT A, no change or worsening on other tests.
    Author: Borkowska A, Ziolkowska-Kochan M, Rybakowski JK.
    Journal: Hum Psychopharmacol; 2005 Aug; 20(6):409-14. PubMed ID: 15991260.
    Abstract:
    The aim of this study was to assess cognitive functioning measured by selected psychometric and neuropsychological tools in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) after 1-year treatment with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. Seventy-six patients (22 male and 54 female) with a mild to moderate stage of AD, aged 56-86 (mean 68) years, were treated. Forty-seven received donepezil (mean dose 9.3 mg/d) and 29 rivastigmine (mean dose 8.5 mg/d). Cognitive measurements included: the mini mental state examination (MMSE), the Alzheimer disease assessment scale-cognitive (ADAS- cog), the trail making test (TMT) and the Stroop color word interference test. The assessments were made before and after 3, 6 and 12 months of treatment. A significant improvement in ADAS-cog (p < 0.001, 83% of patients improved) and a worsening in MMSE (84% of patients worsened, p < 0.01 after 6 and 12 months) was noted after the 1 year treatment. A majority of patients (57%) improved in the TMT-A (p < 0.001), measuring psychomotor speed and worsened in the TMT-B (p < 0.01, after 12 months), and Stroop B test (p < 0.001), measuring working memory and executive functions, 53% and 61%, respectively. Most patients (83%) did not change their performance in the Stroop A (improvement after 3 months, p < 0.001, worsening after 6 and 12 months p < 0.01) test measuring verbal abilities, after 1 year treatment. The results obtained suggest that the treatment with cholinergic drugs may improve global cognitive functioning (ADAS-cog) and psychomotor speed (TMT A), however, such treatment is unable to prevent the deterioration of working memory and executive functions.
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