ReviewDrugs & aging2007
Is long-term treatment of Alzheimer's disease with cholinesterase inhibitor therapy justified?
Review in Drugs & aging, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Withdrawal or continuation of cholinesterase inhibitors or memantine or both, in people with dementia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Comparative safety of cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine for dementia: a protocol for a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Systematic reviews · 2025Article
- Advancements in Stem Cell Research for Effective Therapies Against Alzheimer's Disease: Current Investigation and Future Insight.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- Protective effects of polydatin amphiphilic chitosan nanocarriers against an aluminum chloride-induced model of Alzheimer's disease in rats: relevance to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- Recent Advances in Drug Development for Alzheimer's Disease: A Comprehensive Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- The Function and Expression of ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters Proteins in the Alzheimer's Disease.Global medical genetics · 2021Review
- Persistence and adherence to rivastigmine in patients with dementia: Results from a noninterventional, retrospective study using the National Health Insurance research database of Taiwan.Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.) · 2019Article
- Withdrawal of Antidementia Drugs in Older People: Who, When and How?Drugs & aging · 2016Review
- Long-term efficacy and toxicity of cholinesterase inhibitors in the treatment of Alzheimer disease.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2014Review
- A population-based study of dosing and persistence with anti-dementia medications.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2013Article
- Drug therapy optimization at the end of life.Drugs & aging · 2012Review
- ABC Transporters and the Alzheimer's Disease Enigma.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2012Article
- Yokukansan inhibits neuronal death during ER stress by regulating the unfolded protein response.PloS one · 2010Article
- Withholding, discontinuing and withdrawing medications in dementia patients at the end of life: a neglected problem in the disadvantaged dying?Drugs & aging · 2010Review
- Galantamine-ER for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.Clinical interventions in aging · 2010Review
- Persistence with cholinesterase inhibitor therapy for dementia: an observational administrative health database study.Drugs & aging · 2009Article
- Diagnosis and treatment of dementia: 5. Nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic therapy for mild to moderate dementia.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2008Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine are the current mainstays in the drug treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). There is convincing evidence that these agents provide at least modest cognitive, behavioural and functional benefit for 6-12 months at all stages of the disease. Longer term benefits cannot be directly examined by placebo-controlled trials. Nevertheless, the results of virtually all open-label extensions of the pivotal trials, studies of patients with AD at different levels of severity and clinical trials using other designs favour treatment over no treatment for periods of up to 5 years. There are plausible biological reasons why ChEIs might be expected to work over a prolonged period of time although, to date, studies using various markers to chart the effects of medication on long-term disease progression have yielded mixed results. The most contentious issue regarding long-term treatment is economic, but the majority of available economic analyses suggest net savings over the long term if patients with AD receive persistent treatment with ChEIs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.