Services on Demand
Journal
Article
Indicators
- Cited by SciELO
- Access statistics
Related links
- Similars in SciELO
Share
Acta Médica Costarricense
On-line version ISSN 0001-6002Print version ISSN 0001-6012
Abstract
ALPIZAR-QUESADA, Carlos Luis and MORALES-ALPIZAR, Catalina. La enfermedad de Alzheimer y los inhibidores de la colinesterasa. Acta méd. costarric [online]. 2003, vol.45, n.2, pp.50-56. ISSN 0001-6002.
Alzheimers disease has a higher incidence in elderly than in middle-aged persons. As the expectancy of life increases, this disease becomes more frequent. It is characterized by a progressive loss of cognitive and motor abilities. Finding an adequate treatment has become a scientific challenge in recent years, because even though the physiopathology of this disease was described many years ago, no treatment was available for a long time. The studies on colinesterase inhibitors began since the early 90's representing these drugs a first possible cure. In 1993, tacrine, the first colinesterase inhibitor, was approved for use in patients with Alzheimer s disease. Nowadays we have multiple drugs of this type, some with excellent results such as rivastigmine. Even though they are of the same pharmacological class, these drugs are very different in their selectivity, specificity and adverse side effects.
Keywords : Inhibidores de colinesterasa; enfermedad de Alzheimer; tratamiento; rivastigmina.