Cholinesterase Inhibitors

Medical Uses

Acetylcholine is the chemical messenger at many points in the nervous system, notably the junctions between:

• nerve cells and skeletal muscle
• nerve cells and heart muscle
• nerve cells and glands
• nerve cells and other nerve cells, including in the periphery, the spinal cord, and the brain

Some conditions that are known to benefit from enhancing acetylcholine action with cholinesterase inhibitor drugs are:

• working memory
• Alzheimer's disease
• reversing carbon monoxide coma
• glaucoma

A common prescription drug used for these purposes is physostigmine.

Knowing what you now know about how cholinesterase inhibitors work, you no doubt realize that overdose can be dangerous. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

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