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Update on Cognitive Enhancers Among the Older Adult Population: A Clinical Review

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

The purpose of this review is to identify key classes of medications that are used for the treatment of older adults with neurocognitive disorders.

Recent Findings

Clinical factors play a critical role in the prescribing of these medication classes for the treatment of dementia. The variation in prescribing trends is determined by the presence of medical and psychiatric comorbidities commonly occurring in older adults and is based on the consideration of potential interactions between pharmacotherapies for the comorbidities and for the dementia. Six medication classes currently exist to address the neurocognitive aspect of dementia, with varying pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles. We review these six classes in this report and provide a provision of clinical insights regarding the use of these agents.

Summary

While literature exists on the safety and efficacy of individual medication options for the treatment of dementia in the older adult population, further research is needed to provide clearer guidance regarding the specific use of these agents in clinical practice.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in PubMed at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

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Acknowledgements

The editors would like to thank Dr. Bradley Gaynes for taking the time to review this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System (NF/SG VHS), Gainesville, FL, USA

    Deanna Fernandes, Uma Suryadevara, Dawn Bruijnzeel & Josepha Cheong

  2. College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Deanna Fernandes

  3. Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Uma Suryadevara, Dawn Bruijnzeel & Josepha Cheong

  4. Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Josepha Cheong

Authors
  1. Deanna Fernandes
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  2. Uma Suryadevara
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  3. Dawn Bruijnzeel
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  4. Josepha Cheong
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Contributions

The study authors contributed to all aspects of the article.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deanna Fernandes.

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IRB Exemption Statement

The NF/SG VAMC Institutional Review Board (IRB) as well as the IRB for the University of Florida have stated that this study is exempt due to the lack of a requirement for accessing patient charts or any patient/provider identifiable data for its completion.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Fernandes, D., Suryadevara, U., Bruijnzeel, D. et al. Update on Cognitive Enhancers Among the Older Adult Population: A Clinical Review. Curr Psychiatry Rep 26, 73–77 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-024-01484-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-024-01484-6

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