Cholinergic treatment of Alzheimer's disease and its influence on health and the quality of life of carers

The efficacy and safety of four-month courses of rivastigmine and changes in measures of carer burden were studied in a non-randomized group of 25 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). All patients received p.o. rivastigmine and 22 patients received antipsychotic therapy along with rivastigmine on admission. Treatment was continued for 16 weeks (12 weeks in hospital and four weeks in out-patient conditions). These studies showed that the use of rivastigmine in AD patients with behavioral and psychotic disorders at the stage of moderately severe dementia not only improved the patients' cognitive functions, but also had positive effects in terms of decreasing psychotic and behavioral disorders. Inclusion of rivastigmine in the complex treatment of AD patients led to significant decreases in the need for psychotherapeutic agents, and in some patients to complete withdrawal of all antipsychotics. It is extremely important to emphasize that the use of rivastigmine in patients with moderately severe AD and behavioral disorders led to significant (up to 30%) decreases in the time spent on the care and supervision of the patients, along with decreases in the level of stress and improvements in the health of carers, indicating increases in the quality of life of both patients and their families. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.