Rodriguez_2012_Rev.Esp.Geriatr.Gerontol_47_228

Dementia in general and Alzheimer's disease AD in particular are bound to loom large among the most acute healthcare social and public health problems of the 21st century AD shows a degenerative progression that can be slowed down yet not halted by today's most widely accepted specific treatments those based on cholinesterase inhibitors as well as those using memantine There is enough evidence to consider these treatments advisable for the mild moderate and severe phases of the illness However in the final stage of the disease a decision has to be made on whether to withdraw such treatment or not In this paper the Working Group on Dementia for the Catalan Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology reviews the use of these specific pharmacological treatments for AD and drawing on the scientific evidence thus gathered makes a series of recommendations on when how and for how long the currently existing specific pharmacological treatments should be used.