as used herein , the term “ dementia ” shall include the deterioration of intellectual and other mental processes , regardless of underlying cause that impairs daily activities and is the result of a deficit in a previously successful performance . suitable examples of dementia include , but are not limited to , dementia as a result of alzheimer &# 39 ; s disease , vascular related dementia , multi - infarct related dementia , dementia as a result of head trauma , dementia as a result of diffuse brain damage , dementia pugilistica , dementia as a result of huntington &# 39 ; s disease , dementia as a result of alcoholism , dementia as a result of diffuse white matter disease , dementia associated with parkinson &# 39 ; s disease , dementia as a result of lewy body disease , dementia as a result of pick &# 39 ; s disease , dementia as a result of multisystem degeneration , dementia as a result of progressive supranuclear palsy , dementia associated with the als - parkinson &# 39 ; s - dementia complex of guam , frontal lobe dementia , and dementia as a result of cortical basal degeneration . as used herein , the term “ memory disorder ” shall include memory loss , mental deterioration , diminished mental capacity and loss of cognition . the term “ therapeutically effective amount ” as used herein , means that amount of active compound or pharmaceutical agent that elicits the biological or medicinal response in a tissue system , animal or human that is being sought by a researcher , veterinarian , medical doctor or other clinician , which includes alleviation of the symptoms of the disease or disorder being treated . more particularly , in the present invention directed to combination therapy comprising administration of galantamine with one or more statins , “ therapeutically effective amount ” shall mean that amount of the combination of agents taken together so that the combined effect elicits the desired biological or medicinal response . for example , the therapeutically effective amount of galantamine and simvastatin would be the amount of galantamine and the amount of the simvastatin that when taken together or sequentially have a combined effect that is therapeutically effective . further , it will be recognized by one skilled in the art that in the case of co - therapy with a therapeutically effective amount , as in the example above , the amount of the galantamine and / or the amount of simvastatin individually may or may not be therapeutically effective . as used herein , the term “ composition ” is intended to encompass a product comprising the specified ingredients in the specified amounts , as well as any product which results , directly or indirectly , from combinations of the specified ingredients in the specified amounts . in accordance with the methods of the present invention , the individual components of the combination can be administered by any suitable means , simultaneously , sequentially , separately or in a single pharmaceutical formulation . where galantamine and the statin ( s ) are administered in separate dosage forms , the number of dosages administered per day for each compound may be the same or different . galantamine and the statin ( s ) may be administered via the same or different routes of administration . examples of suitable methods of administration include , but are not limited to , oral , intravenous ( iv ), intramuscular ( im ), subcutaneous ( sc ), transdermal , and rectal . compounds may also be administered directly to the nervous system including , but not limited to , intracerebral , intraventricular , intracerebroventricular , intrathecal , intracisternal , intraspinal and / or peri - spinal routes of administration by delivery via intracranial or intravertebral needles and / or catheters with or without pump devices . galantamine and the statin ( s ) may be administered according to simultaneous or alternating regimens , at the same or different times during the course of the therapy , concurrently in divided or single forms . the instant invention is therefore to be understood as embacing all such regimens of simultaneous or alternating treatment and the term “ administering ” is to be interpreted accordingly . optimal dosages and dosage regimens to be administered may be readily determined by those skilled in the art , and will vary with the mode of administration , the strength of the preparation and the advancement of the disease condition . in addition , factors associated with the particular patient being treated , including patient &# 39 ; s sex , age , weight , diet , physical activity , time of administration and concomitant diseases , will result in the need to adjust dosages and / or regimens . the objective was to evaluate the effect of statins on cognitive maintenance in patients with alzheimer &# 39 ; s disease during 5 - and 6 - month randomized clinical trials of galantamine . data were combined from 3 double - blind , placebo - controlled clinical trials limited to patients treated with galantamine 24 mg daily or placebo patients were categorized based on galantamine status and any statin use . changes in the alzheimer &# 39 ; s disease assessment scale - cognitive subscale with standard 11 items ( adas - cog / 11 ) using last observation carried forward ( locf ) were assessed comparisons between patient subgroups were made controlling for relevant confounding factors . rates of adverse side effects commonly linked to acetylcholinesterase inhibitors , including nausea , diarrhea , anorexia , and vomiting , as well as any of these gastrointestinal symptoms were calculated , and the relative risk of galantamine with a statin versus galantamine alone was compared . rates of adverse events commonly linked to statins , including back pain , leg cramps , skeletal pain , muscle atrophy , muscle weakness , and myalgia , as well as any of these muscular - skeletal symptoms were calculated , and the relative risk of galantamine with a statin versus a statin alone was compared . rates of adverse events commonly linked to acetylcholinesterase inhibitors or statins , including abdominal pain or headache were calculated , and the relative risks of galantamine with a statin versus galantamine alone , and versus a statin alone , were compared . as a concomitant medication , patterns of stain use were heterogeneous in dose , type and duration . the study was not powered for the examination of statin effects . baseline demographics and patient characteristics of each treatment group are summarized in table 1 . table 2 distribution of statin type in galantamine clinical trial patients treated with statins ( n = 92 ) statin + statin type of gal 24 1 only 2 total p - statin 4 percent ( n ) percent ( n ) percent ( n ) value 3 atorvastatin 2 . 4 % ( 1 ) 18 . 0 % ( 9 ) 10 . 9 % ( 10 ) 0 . 135 fluvastatin 11 . 9 % ( 5 ) 8 . 0 % ( 4 ) 9 . 8 % ( 9 ) lovastatin 21 . 4 % ( 9 ) 24 . 0 % ( 12 ) 22 . 8 % ( 21 ) pravastatin 26 . 2 % ( 11 ) 16 . 0 % ( 19 ) 20 . 7 % ( 19 ) simvastatin 38 . 1 % ( 16 ) 34 . 0 % ( 17 ) 35 . 9 % ( 33 ) 100 % ( 42 ) 100 % ( 50 ) 100 % ( 92 ) 1 patients treated with galantamine 24 mg / d and a statin as a concomitant medication 2 patients treated with placebo and a statin as a concomitant medication 3 p - value based on chi - square 4 in the 10 patients treated with statins who used 2 types , only first statin used was coded . patients were treated with 5 different statins ( simvastatin , pravastatin , lovastatin , fluvastatin , atorvastatin ) with no significant difference in distribution by statin group ( p = 0 . 135 ). simvastatin had the highest frequency of use ( 38 . 1 % in the statin + gal group and 34 % in the statin - only group ). statins that produce the greatest reductions in serum low - density lipoprotein cholesterol ( simvastatin and atorvastatin ) were used by a higher proportion of patients in the statin - only group ( 40 . 5 % in the statin + gal group and 52 % in the statin - only group ). statins that penetrate the central nervous system ( simvastatin and lovastatin ) were used by a similar proportion of patients in both statin groups ( 59 . 5 % in the statin + gal group and 58 % in the statin - only group ). cognitive status improved in the gal - only (− 0 . 88 , se 0 . 25 ) and statin + gal (− 2 . 85 , se 0 . 91 ) groups . cognitive status declined in the placebo - only ( 2 . 24 , se 0 . 24 ) and statin - only ( 1 . 98 , se 0 . 85 ) groups . the effect of gal - only was highly significant ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ), the effect of statins missed significance ( p = 0 . 083 ), and the interaction of statin and galantamine was not significant ( p = 0 . 183 ). the effect of statin + gal appeared to be superior to gal - only ( p = 0 . 037 ) in pairwise comparisons with no adjustment for multiple comparisons . these results were based on anova , controlling for study and ad severity using mmse ; similar results were also found when analyses were limited to observed case data ( table 3 ). galantamine improved cognitive function in alzheimer &# 39 ; s disease patients during 5 - and 6 - month clinical trials , while use of statins did not lead to significant improvement when used alone or in combination with galantamine . however , combined use of statin and galantamine did add to the cognitive benefit experienced with galantamine alone . the results further indicate that high statin doses may not be necessary to obtain positive effects when used in combination with galantamine in older adults . due to small treatment group numbers , adverse event data are inconclusive . the combination of a statin and galantamine may increase the risk of diarrhea , abdominal pain , and muscle or skeletal pain relative to treatment with statin or galantamine alone .
the present invention relates to a method of treating dementia or a memory disorder comprising administration of a therapeutically effective amount of galantamine and a statin . the invention further relates to products containing as first active ingredient galantamine and as second active ingredient a statin , as combined preparations for simultaneous , separate or sequential use in the treatment of patients suffering from alzheimer &# 39 ; s disease or related dementias ; to related pharmaceutical compositions and uses .