[Anticholinesterase agents in Alzheimer's disease]

During the last years, treatment of Alzheimer's disease has improved following a better detection of this disease and, more importantly, following a better knowledge of its physiopathogeny. After years of aspecific symptomatic treatments, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors have been recently released and can be considered as a specific symptomatic treatment. In this pharmacologic class, more practical and less toxic drugs are nowadays available. Treatments of behavioral disturbances have also been recently improved. Nowadays we have to find treatments able to modify the clinical evolution and eventually prognosis of this disease, and even to prevent it for the patients at risk. Nevertheless a simplification of the prescriptions is justified, to the detriment of drugs without any proven activity.