Drug	Pharmacologic actions	Dosage	Target dosage*	Minimum therapeutic dosage†	Cost‡
Donepezil (Aricept)5	Acetylcholinesterase inhibitor	Start at 5 mg once daily, taken at bedtime; after 6 weeks, increase to 10 mg once daily.	10 mg once daily	5 mg daily	$142
Rivastigmine (Exelon)6	Acetylcholinesterase inhibitor Butyrylcholinesterase inhibitor	Start at 1.5 mg twice daily, taken with food; at 2-week intervals, increase each dose by 1.5 mg, up to a dosage of 6 mg twice daily.	6 mg twice daily	3 mg twice daily	$134
Galantamine (Reminyl)7	Acetylcholinesterase inhibitor Nicotinic receptor actions	Start at 4 mg twice daily with food; at 4-week intervals, increase each dose by 4 mg, up to a dosage of 12 mg twice daily.	12 mg twice daily	8 mg twice daily§	$130