Acute effects of oral pyridostigmine on memory and cognitive function in SDAT

This study reports the effects of the anticholinesterase pyridostigmine on cognitive function in 15 elderly patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT). Each patient was given placebo and pyridostigime 60 mg orally four times over 26 hours, with a seven day washout between, using a randomized double-blind cross-over design. There was no significant improvement in cognitive function following placebo or pyridostigmine. We did not perform any preliminary dose-finding trials to find the optimum dose of pyridostigmine, but gave the drug in a predetermined fixed dosage to each patient. We conclude that with this dosage, pyridostigmine did not significantly improve cognitive function more than placebo in this group of elderly patients.