Galantamine (Reminyl) improves cognition and global function significantly more than placebo in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, research undertaken in Europe and Canada has shown.
Dr Gordon Wilcock (department of the elderly, Frenchay hospital, Bristol) and colleagues report that they divided 653 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease into three groups, who were given placebo, galantamine 24mg or galantamine 32mg daily.
They found that, after six months, the patients who had taken galantamine scored significantly better on scales used to assess cognitive function, while those taking the higher dose also had significantly improved disability assessment scores.
The most common adverse effect of galantamine was nausea, which was experienced by 37 and 40 per cent of patients taking the lower and higher galantamine dose, respectively, compared with 12 per cent of patients taking placebo. However, the authors say: "For most patients in our study, nausea was mild to moderate and lasted a median of five to six days." The authors conclude that the drug is effective and well tolerated in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (British Medical Journal
2000;321:1445).