identify the two types of anti dementia drug and describe how both these types of drug work and their possible side effect.
Research has shown that the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease show a loss of nerve cells that use a chemical called acetylcholine as a chemical messenger. [ The loss of these nerve cells is related to the severity of symptoms that people experience.
Donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine prevent an enzyme known as acetylcholinesterase from breaking down acetylcholine in the brain. Increased concentrations of acetylcholine lead to increased communication between the nerve cells that use acetylcholine as a chemical messenger, which may in turn temporarily improve or stabilise the
symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
All three cholinesterase inhibitors work in a similar way, but one might suit an individual better than another, particularly in terms of side-effects experienced. (Current guidance for NHS treatment is that the cheapest of these drugs is generally tried first, see 'NICE guidance' below.) ]
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