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Alzheimer's disease: Recent treatment strategies
Vaz M, Silvestre S.. European journal of pharmacology, 2020-09-15
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Alzheimer Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by two neuropathological hallmarks: extracellular deposition of amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles. Current treatment for AD (donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine and memantine) is only symptomatic and has modest benefits. Thus, the development of drugs with the potential to change the progression of the disease has been a priority.
Key findings
- Current treatment for AD (donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine and memantine) is only symptomatic and has modest benefits.
- Thus, the development of drugs with the potential to change the progression of the disease has been a priority.
- Therapies targeting amyloid β have been the focus for almost 30 years.
- However, highly promising drugs recently failed to show clinical benefits in phase III trials.
Why it matters
This review states that current Alzheimer drugs (donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine and memantine) are only symptomatic with modest benefits, and that therapies targeting amyloid β have been the focus for almost 30 years. It also notes that highly promising drugs recently failed to show clinical benefits in phase III trials.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 50/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (European journal of pharmacology) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | European Journal of Pharmacology: journal h-index 276 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 543 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 5 / 5 | 67.9 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 39.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 4 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 4 / 4 | Cited 231 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Samuel Silvestre: h-index 29 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | University of Coimbra: institution h-index 515 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 32941929) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 50 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Vaz, M., & Silvestre, S. (2020). Alzheimer's disease: Recent treatment strategies. European journal of pharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejphar.2020.173554
Vancouver
Vaz M, Silvestre S. Alzheimer's disease: Recent treatment strategies. European journal of pharmacology. 2020. doi:10.1016/j.ejphar.2020.173554. PMID: 32941929.
BibTeX
@article{vaz2020-32941929,
author = {Vaz, M. and Silvestre, S.},
title = {{Alzheimer's disease: Recent treatment strategies}},
journal = {European journal of pharmacology},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1016/j.ejphar.2020.173554},
pmid = {32941929},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejphar.2020.173554}
}
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