Response of Patients With Alzheimer Disease to Rivastigmine Treatment Is Predicted by the Rate of Disease Progression

Abstract

ALZHEIMER disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, affects up to 6% of the US population older than 65 years^1,2 and is heterogeneous in its clinical presentation, including the rate of disease progression. Investigators have described slowly progressive and rapidly progressive forms of the disease,^3-5 suggesting that there might be considerable variation in the disease process or in the patient's vulnerability to the illness.