There is a note in the Journal of the American Medical Association for May 10 concerning a multicentre study involving 353 patients suffering from mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease who were treated with galantamine, an alkaloid with cholinesterase-inhibiting activity derived from the Caucasian snowdrop Galanthus woronowi and related species.
Patients who received 24mg daily of galantamine over a period of one year either maintained or improved their score on the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale, which measures memory, language, orientation and other aspects of cognition. Daily physical functioning was also maintained during the trial.
Galantamine preserves brain stores of acetylcholine by blocking the action of cholinesterase normally responsible for degrading it, and also appears to act on nicotine receptors in the brain. The drug has recently been approved for use in Sweden, and is under consideration in other European countries and in the United States.