Study summary · research use only
The Efficacy and Safety of Alzheimer's Disease Therapies: An Updated Umbrella Review
Plain-language summary
Paraphrased from the published abstract below — not a verdict on whether anything works.
This umbrella review examined treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD), drawing on meta-analyses and systematic reviews from Embase, PubMed, The Cochrane Library, and Web of Science; species/population not explicitly stated. Sixteen eligible papers, comprising 149 studies, were included, evaluating cognitive function, behavioral symptoms, global clinical assessment, and Activities of Daily Living as endpoints, alongside adverse events. The review reports that AChE inhibitors (donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine, Huperzine A), Ginkgo biloba, and cerebrolysin were associated with benefits in cognitive and daily-living measures in AD patients, while anti-Aβ agents were not found to have an important effect on slowing cognitive or functional decline in mild to moderate AD.
Abstract
Evidence summaries for efficacy and safety of frequently employed treatments of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are sparse. We aimed to perform an updated umbrella review to identify an efficacious and safe treatment for AD patients. We conducted a search for meta-analyses and systematic reviews on the Embase, PubMed, The Cochrane Library, and Web of Science to address this knowledge gap. We examined the cognitive functions, behavioral symptoms, global clinical assessment, and Activities of Daily Living as efficacy endpoints, and the incidence of adverse events as safety profiles. Sixteen eligible papers including 149 studies were included in the umbrella review. The results showed that AChE inhibitors (donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine, Huperzine A), Ginkgo biloba, and cerebrolysin appear to be beneficial for cognitive, global performances, and activities of daily living in patients with AD. Furthermore, anti-Aβ agents are unlikely to have an important effect on slowing cognitive or functional impairment in mild to moderate AD. Our study demonstrated that AChE inhibitors, Ginkgo biloba, and cerebrolysin are the optimum cognitive and activities of daily living medication for patients with AD.
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