OBJECTIVE To review the literature relating to the use of acetyl cholinesterase inhibitors in Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). METHOD MEDLINE (1966--December 2004), PsychINFO (1972--December 2004), EMBASE (1980--December 2004), CINHAL (1982--December 2004), and the Cochrane Collaboration were searched in December 2004. RESULTS Three controlled trials and seven open studies were identifie...

Copper and Zinc have been found to be potent inhibitors of pseudo-cholinesterase of human plasma and true-cholinesterase of erythrocytes and rat brain.

A consensus exists that cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) are efficacious for mild to moderate Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Unfortunately, the number of non-responders is large and the therapeutic effect is usually short-lasting. In experimental animals, ChEIs exert three main actions: inhibit cholinesterase (ChE), increase extracellular levels of brain acetylcholine (ACh), improve cognitive proce...

BACKGROUND Cholinesterase inhibitors are commonly used to treat dementia. These drugs enhance the effects of acetylcholine, and reports suggest they may precipitate bradycardia in some patients. We aimed to examine the association between use of cholinesterase inhibitors and hospitalization for bradycardia. METHODS AND FINDINGS We examined the health care records of more than 1.4 million olde...

CONTEXT Cholinesterase inhibitors are the primary treatment for the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer disease (AD). Cholinergic dysfunction is also associated with neuropsychiatric and functional deficits, but results from randomized controlled trials of cholinesterase inhibitors are conflicting. OBJECTIVE To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify the efficacy of cholinestera...

Alzheimer disease is characterized by a loss of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain and a decrease in acetylcholine levels. Currently, cholinesterase inhibitors, drugs that act by inhibiting the enzyme responsible for the hydrolysis of acetylcholine, are the only therapy for the treatment of Alzheimer disease approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The cholinesterase inhibitors hav...