Drye, Lea T., Scherer, Roberta W., Lanctôt, Krista L., Rosenberg, Paul B., Herrmann, Nathan, Bachman, David, Mintzer, Jacobo E.

Background: Research on efficacious treatments for apathy in Alzheimer disease has been hindered by a lack of consensus diagnosis, difficulties in measurement, and studies with small sample sizes.; Methods: In designing the Apathy in Dementia Methylphenidate Trial (ADMET), a trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of methylphenidate for the treatment of apathy in Alzheimer […]

Richard, E., Ligthart, S. A., Moll van Charante, E. P., van Gool, W. A.

Objectives: Description of methodological issues in a trial designed to evaluate if a multi-component intervention aimed at vascular risk factors can prevent dementia.; Design, Setting and Participants: Multi-center, open, cluster-randomized controlled clinical trial (preDIVA) including 3535 non-demented subjects aged 70-78, executed in primary practice and coordinated from one academic hospital. General practices are randomized to […]

van der Ploeg, Eva S, O'Connor, Daniel W.

Background: The agitated behaviours that accompany dementia (e.g. pacing, aggression, calling out) are stressful to both nursing home residents and their carers and are difficult to treat. Behaviours stemming from pain, major depression or psychosis benefit from treatment with analgesics, antidepressants or antipsychotics. In other cases, psychotropic medications have limited efficacy but are used very […]

Yang, Shanli, Ye, Haicheng, Huang, Jia, Tao, Jing, Jiang, Cai, Lin, Zhicheng, Zheng, Guohua, Chen, Lidian

Background: Stroke is one of the most common causes of cognitive impairment. Up to 75% of stroke survivors may be considered to have cognitive impairment, which severely limit individual autonomy for successful reintegration into family, work and social life. The clinical efficacy of acupuncture with Baihui (DU20) and Shenting (DU24) in stroke and post-stroke cognitive […]

Cummings, Jeffrey L., Ferris, Steven H., Farlow, Martin R., Olin, Jason T., Meng, Xiangyi

Background: The Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study-Clinical Global Impression of Change (ADCS-CGIC) scale is widely used in Alzheimer trials. It assesses cognition, activities of daily living (ADLs), behavior and global functioning. To advance the understanding of relationships between the ADCS-CGIC and scores from other commonly used tools, this analysis investigated the ability of each domain to […]

Hoffmann, Kristine, Frederiksen, Kristian S., Sobol, Nanna Aue, Beyer, Nina, Vogel, Asmus, Simonsen, Anja Hviid, Johannsen, Peter, Lolk, Annette, Terkelsen, Ole, Cotman, Carl W., Hasselbalch, Steen G., Waldemar, Gunhild

Background: Exercise is hypothesized to improve cognition, physical performance, functional ability and quality of life, but evidence is scarce. Previous studies were of short duration, often underpowered and involving home-based light exercise programs in patients with undefined dementia. The aim of the ADEX (‘Preserving Cognition, Quality of Life, Physical Health and Functional Ability in Alzheimer’s […]

Sadowsky, C. H., Farlow, M. R., Meng, X., Olin, J. T.

Objectives: To compare the safety and tolerability of switching patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease from donepezil to either rivastigmine capsule or transdermal patch.; Methods: Three studies investigated the switch from donepezil to rivastigmine; study US13 was a 26-week, single-arm, immediate-switch study; US18 was a 26-week, sequential cohort study (both studies evaluated rivastigmine capsules 3-12 mg/day); […]

Banerjee, Sube, Hellier, Jennifer, Dewey, Michael, Romeo, Renee, Ballard, Clive, Baldwin, Robert, Bentham, Peter, Fox, Chris, Holmes, Clive, Katona, Cornelius, Knapp, Martin, Lawton, Claire, Lindesay, James, Livingston, Gill, McCrae, Niall, Moniz-Cook, Esme, Murray, Joanna, Nurock, Shirley, Orrell, Martin, O'Brien, John, Poppe, Michaela, Thomas, Alan, Walwyn, Rebecca, Wilson, Kenneth, Burns, Alistair

Background: Depression is common in dementia but the evidence base for appropriate drug treatment is sparse and equivocal. We aimed to assess efficacy and safety of two of the most commonly prescribed drugs, sertraline and mirtazapine, compared with placebo.; Methods: We undertook the parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Health Technology Assessment Study of the Use of Antidepressants […]

Aronson, Stephen, Baelen, Bart Van, Kavanagh, Shane, Schwalen, Susanne

Background: Galantamine (hydrobromide), a reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitor and allosteric nicotinic receptor modulator, slows cognitive and functional decline in mild to moderate dementia of the Alzheimer’s type. Although several drugs are indicated for mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD), no published study has separately analysed mild and moderate AD subgroups to assess the effect of dosage.; […]