Ahsan Numan, Muhammad Nasrullah.
Efficacy and Safety of Rivastigmine - an Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor for the treatment of patients with Alzheimer's Disease.
Pak J Neurol Jan ;6(1-2):3-7.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Rivastigmine (Exelon) in patients with mild to moderately severe probable Alzheimer's disease (AD). Rivastigmine is a centrally acting acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. METHODS: The study was an open label, dose titration, 26 - week duration conducted on 13 patients. The dose of rivastigmine was stepwise escalated from 1.5mg b.i.d to 6.0 mg b.i.d. The effects of drug on cognition and global functions were evaluated with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). RESULTS: At the end of scheduled titration, all patients reached the target dost, but only 10/13 patients maintained the level. There were no side effects / adverse events observed till the dose reached at 6 mg b.i.d (12 mg/d). A higher incidence of gastrointestinal adverse effects, which were self limited and of mild to severe intensity, were noted. Only 2/13 patients discontinued due to serious adverse events and 11 patients completed the whole study. The MMSE score improved in 8/11 patients. CONCLUSION: Rivastigmine produces significant cognitive and functional benefits in patients with probable AD. The cholinergic tolerability was found to be favorable and adverse events were seen only at higher doses i.e., 6 mg b.i.d (12 mg/day).

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com