Čes. slov. farm. 2011, 60(5):219-228

Alzheimer's disease: aspects of contemporary pharmacological treatment

Lucie Drtinová, Miroslav Pohanka^*

Univerzita Obrany v Brně, Fakulta vojenského zdravotnictví Hradec Králové

Neurodegenerative disorders are highly spread all over the world. It is estimated that 23.5 million people worldwide are suffering from neurodegeneration, and Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most frequently occurring one. Owing to the increasing life expectancy, the number of patients is supposed to be increased in the next decades. The disease is atrophic-degenerative disorders affecting the brain. Although the etiology of AD is unknown, several interrelated causes are being considered: the loss of the cholinergic system, an amyloid plaque and an amyloid precursor, tau protein, excitotoxicity and other risk factors. The symptomatic manifestations of AD are the disruption of the cognitive function including aphasia, apraxia and agnosia. Today, several registered drugs for the treatment of AD (donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine and memantine) are in use, but the treatment is not able to resolve or slow down degeneration. In this paper, the authors summarize the available pharmacotherapy and outline an opportunity in the treatment of AD in ongoing clinical studies (etanercept, methylthionium chloride and huperzine). Some nontraditional procedures which are expected to help patients to join common life situation are described at the end of the paper.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; acetylcholinesterase; donepezil; rivastigmine; galantamine; memantine

Received: May 4, 2011; Accepted: June 30, 2011; Published: May 1, 2011  Show citation