Evaluation of the effect of donepezil on cerebral blood flow velocity in Alzheimer's disease

To evaluate the effect of Donepezil on cerebral blood flow velocity using non-invasive transcranial Doppler [TCD] sonography. This clinical trial was carried out in the Department of Neurology, Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran from March 2008 to July 2009, on Alzheimer's disease [AD] patients in 2 groups of case and control, each consisting of 11 patients. The case group who received Donepezil medication was examined by TCD before [baseline], after 4 weeks of oral treatment with 5mg per day Donepezil, and a further 4 weeks of 10mg per day Donepezil, orally. The control group comprised AD patients who did not receive any medications, and were examined by TCD only once. Peak systolic [PSV], end-diastolic [EDV], and mean flow [MFV] velocities of the posterior cerebral artery [PCA] and the middle cerebral artery [MCA] was assessed by TCD. Also, mini-mental state examination [MMSE] was carried out. There were no significant differences between the case and control groups, in terms of age and gender. In the case group, the mean MMSE score reached 20.2 +/- 2.8 from a baseline value of 15.8 +/- 3.3 after 4 weeks of oral treatment with 5mg/d Donepezil, and reached 20.6 +/- 3.9 after 4 more weeks at 10mg/d Donepezil. In the MCA, the difference in PSV and MFV values after 4 weeks of treatment with 10mg/d Donepezil was statistically significant compared with the baseline values. In PCA, the values of MFV and EDV after 4 weeks of treatment with 10mg/d Donepezil were statistically significant in comparison with the baseline value. Donepezil [10mg/d] increased cerebral blood flow velocity and MMSE score in our AD patients, but more extensive trials are recommended

Headache in multiple sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis [MS] is a common neurological disease in young adults with variable clinical symptoms and signs. Many of MS patients experience headache. This study was done to evaluate the prevalence of headache in MS patients. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in MS clinics affiliated to Isfahan university of Medical Sciences in the first six months of 1380. For each patient a questionnaire was filled according to history and examination, and the data was analyzed by SPSS program. From 100 patients, 67% had headache and 86.6% of them were women.Tension headache in 47.7% and migraine headache in 34.3% was reported of 100 patients, 23 of them had migraine headache, 36 patients had history of headache before the onset of MS, whom in 52.8% severity of headache was increased. of patients 10.4% had headache at the onset of MS and in 6.8% headache was the first symptom of MS. The neurological signs and symptoms were presented after headache. According to this study different types of headaches are common in MS and the migraine type is more common than in general population