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The US Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Aricept (donezepil
hydrochloride) in 2006 for the treatment of severe dementia in
Alzheimer’s patients. Aricept had the previous approval to treat
mild and moderate dementia. The approval of these pills by FDA in
2006 made it as the only effective drug used in the treatment of
severe dementia. The FDA approval of these pills was based on the
clinical trials conducted on 500 patients of severe dementia in
Japan and Sweden.
The effectiveness of the treatment was determined by evaluating the
patient’s cognitive functions like memory, language, orientation and
attention as well as overall functioning. The results revealed that
the patients performed better with Aricept pills rather than in
placebo.
Aricept ® discovered and developed by Eisai is the only effective
drug in the treatment of mild, moderate and severe stages of
Alzheimer disease. The manufacturer is Eisai Inc and the sale is
made under the brand name of Aricept. FDA’s approval has made
Aricept the only drug approved to treat all stages of Alzheimer
disease.
FDA has also approved five other drugs in treatment of Alzheimer’s
symptoms. Besides Aricept the other three drugs are Exelon, Razadyne
and Cognex and they fall under the classification of cholinesterase
inhibitors. The other drug is Nameda and it is an antagonist and it
was approved for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer
symptoms. In spite of the several side effects it has been stated
that Aricept pills could be well tolerated and this indicates that
in future the treatment with Aricept could be the best for
Alzheimer’s disease.
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