EFFICACY OF TABLET HUPERZINE-A ON MEMORY, COGNITION, AND BEHAVIOR IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of tablet huperzine-A (Hup) i n patients with Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: Using multicenter, prosp ective, double-blind, parallel, placebo controlled and randomized meth od, 50 patients were administrated orally 0.2 mg (4 tablets) Hup and 5 3 patients were given po 4 tablets of placebo bid for 8 wk. All patien ts were evaluated with Wechsler memory scale, Hasegawa dementia scale, mini-mental state examination scale, activity of daily living scale, treatment emergency symptom scale, and measured with BP, HR, ECG, EEG, ALT, AKP, BUN, Cr, Hb, WBC, and urine routine. RESULTS: About 58 % (2 9/50) of patients treated with Hup showed improvements in their memory (P<0.01), cognitive (P<0.01); and behavioral (P<0.01 functions. The e fficacy of Hup was better than placebo (36 %, 19/53) (P<0.05). No seve re side effect was found. CONCLUSION: Hup is a promising drug for symp tomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease.