Resumo

ALPIZAR-QUESADA, Carlos Luis  e  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.

Alzheimer’s 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.

Palavras-chave : Inhibidores de colinesterasa; enfermedad de Alzheimer; tratamiento; rivastigmina.