THE DRUG APPROACHES AND THE ROLE OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

Abstract

One of the most frequent types of dementia is the Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The fundamental concepts of pharmacotherapy valid for AD are substances that increase the cerebral acetylcholine level, intervening in cholinergic neurotransmission through cholinesterase inhibition and N-methyl D-aspartate receptor antagonists. These drugs have the role of slowing down the further evolution of the disease, providing at the same time a symptomatic improvement. The effectiveness of these drugs is clearly limited, both because of several negative side effects and their inefficiency to cure the disease. The therapeutic management is therefore a major challenge in AD, and the non-adherence to treatment often constitutes a serious barrier to an effective therapy. Doctors and pharmacists play a vital role in the pharmacotherapeutic management of AD, contributing to improved clinical results and quality of life of the patient. The current review analysed the challenges in therapeutic management, especially those related to treatment adherence and pharmacist involvement.

Keywords

• alzheimer’s disease
• pharmacotherapy
• therapeutic management
• treatment adherence