Therapeutic standards in Alzheimer disease.

Donepezil is an effective, well-tolerated, and easily administered symptomatic treatment for mild-to-moderate Alzheimer disease (AD). Data from Phase III clinical trials have demonstrated that donepezil improves cognition, global function, and activities of daily living. In addition, there were no clinically significant treatment-related effects on vital signs or laboratory values in any trial. Adverse events, when present, were generally mild in intensity, transient, and resolved during continued treatment with donepezil. This favorable safety profile, together with its reported clinical benefits established donepezil as one standard of AD therapy. Vitamin E is one of two anti-oxidant therapies that may help to slow the progression of AD over at least a two-year period. One large-scale clinical trial suggests that it has sufficient benefit and safety to join donepezil as a current standard of AD therapy.