Table 2. Pharmacological comparison between the most cited medications in the literature*.

Drug	Pharmacological class	Starting dose and maximum dose	Route of administration	Efficiency
Donepezil	Acetylcholinesterase (iAChE) inhibitors	Starting dose:5 mg once a day (at night, before bed).Maximum dose:10 mg once a day (for mild to moderate Alzheimer’s).23 mg once daily (for moderate to severe Alzheimer’s, in patients who have tolerated 10 mg for at least 3 months).	Oral	Donepezil has demonstrated modest improvements in cognition in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Its effect is symptomatic, that is, it temporarily improves cognitive functions, but does not stop the progression of the disease.
Rivastigmine	Acetylcholinesterase (iAChE) inhibitors and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibitors	Oral route (capsules or oral solution)Starting dose: 1.5 mg twice a dayMaximum dose: 6 mg twice a day (12 mg/day) Transdermal route (skin patch)Initial dose: 4.6 mg/24h (1 patch per day)Maximum dose: 13.3 mg/24h (for patients who tolerate 9.5 mg/24h for at least 4 weeks).	Oral or transdermal	Rivastigmine has proven efficacy in the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease and dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease. Its effect is symptomatic, that is, it temporarily improves cognition and functionality, but does not stop the progression of the disease.
Galantamine	Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and nicotinic allosteric modulators	Oral route (capsules or oral solution)Starting dose: 4 mg twice a dayMaximum dose: 12 mg twice a day (24 mg/day) Transdermal route (skin patch)Initial dose: 5 mg/24h (1 patch per day)Maximum dose: 10 mg/24h	Oral or transdermal	Galantamine is effective in treating mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease, improving cognition, functionality and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Its dual mechanism (acetylcholinesterase inhibition + nicotinic modulation) provides additional benefits over other acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.

Note: *This table addresses a comparison of cognitive effectiveness in Alzheimer’s disease between medications commonly indicated for the disease.