EEG-cholinergic Index and Clinical Response to Treatment With Cholinesterase Inhibitors

Drug treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors is indicated for treatment of Alzheimer´s disease and in most cases, one of these drugs is prescribed as soon as the diagnosis has been made. Nevertheless, it has been shown in several studies that up to 30% of patients do not benefit from treatment. These drugs can have side effects, most frequently from the gastrointestinal tract with nausea, diarrhea and discomfort in the abdomen as the most frequent signs. It is therefore important to know before the treatment is initiated if the patient will likely benefit from the drug or not. It is not possible today with current knowledge but this project aims to evaluate a specific index, calculated from an EEG registration (the EEG-cholinergic index) for this purpose. A conventional EEG registration is done before treatment and the cholinergic index calculated from the EEG registration is compared to the clinical outcome. The duration of follow up is 6 months with an extension of further 6 months.