The mechanisms of neurodegenerative processes and current pharmacotherapy of Alzheimer's disease.

An increasing number of studies suggest that current pharmacotherapy used in Alzheimer's disease (AD), in addition to having a symptomatic effect, also may interact with the ongoing neuropathological processes in the brain. The oldest hypothesis explain the cause of the AD is the "cholinergic hypothesis", which states, that AD begins as a deficiency in the production of acetylcholine (ACh). Interactions between the cholinergic and serotoninergic systems are believed to play a role in the mechanism underlying AD.