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| |  AAN: Galantamine Shows Lasting Benefits in Alzheimer’s Disease Patients By Jill Stein Special to DG News DENVER, CO -- April 18, 2002 -- Galantamine has sustained beneficial effects in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with cerebrovascular disease and in those with probable vascular dementia, investigators announced at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN). Dr. Timo Erkinjuntti, with the Helsinki University Central Hospital, and co-workers examined the clinical effects of galantamine in 537 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with cerebrovascular disease or probable vascular dementia according to NINDS-AIREN criteria (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/Association Internationale pour la Recherche et l’Enseignement en Neurosciences). In the multicenter trial’s double-blind phase, 359 patients received galantamine 24 mg/day and 178 received placebo for six months. All patients who completed the double-blind phase were eligible to enter a six-month open-label phase in which they received galantamine 24 mg/day. Patients who were treated with galantamine in the two phases maintained or improved their status when compared to baseline (mean change 0.9±0.45 in the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale - cognitive subscale score). Patients treated for 12 months also achieved greater improvements in Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD) scores compared to patients treated with galantamine only in the second six-month phase (NPI scores, 0.1 vs. 0.2; DAD scores, -0.39 vs. -0.78). Among patients who entered the open-label phase, 73.2 percent of the placebo/galantamine group and 86.1 percent of the galantamine/galantamine group completed the study. The most common adverse events were gastrointestinal events that were usually mild to moderately severe and were mainly confined to the dose-escalation period. Gastrointestinal adverse events were short-lived and less frequent in the galantamine/galantamine group, suggesting better tolerability with longer duration of treatment. Dr. Erkinjuntti said new treatments which have broad, clinically relevant effects -- such as galantamine -- may have important clinical and economic benefits, potentially reducing caregiver burden and delaying institutionalization. Galantamine, a novel therapy with a dual mode of action, inhibits acetylcholinesterase and modulates nicotinic receptors, thus amplifying the acetylcholine response.
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