A new study confirms that donepezil (Aracept) is beneficial in treating cognitive, functional and behavioral symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

Canadian researchers conducted a 24-week study to look at the effectiveness and safety of donepezil in a group of 207 patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease. The average age of the patients was 73.

Patients were given either 5 mg per day of donepezil for the first 28 days and 10 mg per day thereafter or a placebo.

Patients taking donepezil showed improvement at all follow-up visits and scored significantly better than patients taking a placebo on various impairment assessments. Scores on a dementia assessment scale remained at or above the levels seen at the start of the study for patients taking donepezil, while the group taking a placebo showed a steady decline.

"The significant treatment responses observed with donepezil in these patients reinforce the findings from earlier studies that show donepezil to have important benefits, compared with placebo, across functional, cognitive and behavioral symptoms, with good tolerability, in patients with Alzheimer's disease of moderate severity," concluded the researchers.

Other sources: Current Medical Research and Opinion