In aging societies, the morbidity and mortality of dementia is increasing at a significant rate, thereby imposing burden on healthcare, economy and the society as well. Patients’ and caregivers’ quality of life and life expectancy are greatly determined by the early diagnosis and the initiation of available symptomatic treatments. Cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine have been the cornerstones of Alzheimer’s therapy for approximately two decades and over the years, more and more experience has been gained on their use in non-Alzheimer’s dementias too. The aim of our work was to provide a comprehensive summary about the use of cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and non-Alzheimers’s dementias.

[Background – Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive, progressive neuromuscular disorder resulting in a loss of lower motoneurons. Recently, new disease-modifying treatments (two drugs for splicing modification of SMN2 and one for SMN1 gene replacement) have become available. Purpose – The new drugs change the progression of SMA with neonatal and childhood onset. Increasing amount of data are available about the effects of these drugs in adult patients with SMA. In this article, we summarize the available data of new SMA therapies in adult patients. Methods – Members of the Executive Committee of the Hungarian Clinical Neurogenetic Society surveyed the literature for palliative treatments, randomized controlled trials, and retrospective and prospective studies using disease modifying therapies in adult patients with SMA. Patients – We evaluated the outcomes of studies focused on treatments of adult patients mainly with SMA II and III. In this paper, we present our consensus statement in nine points covering palliative care, technical, medical and safety considerations, patient selection, and long-term monitoring of adult patients with SMA. This consensus statement aims to support the most efficient management of adult patients with SMA, and provides information about treatment efficacy and safety to be considered during personalized therapy. It also highlights open questions needed to be answered in future. Using this recommendation in clinical practice can result in optimization of therapy.]

[Stroke is one of the most frequent causes of death and the most important cause of permanent disability worldwide and also in Hungary. The Hungarian medical literature has mentioned this disease and has been giving recommendations for its treatment since 1690. Initially folk medicines, herbal preparations and phlebotomy were used as standard therapy. Later, cooling the head joined these methods. Pharmacy preparations emerged at the middle of the 19th century. From the middle of the 20th century, products of the pharmaceutical industry like blood flow enhancers and neuroprotective drugs were in the frontline of the acute care. Anti­hy­per­ten­sive, antithrombotic and lipid-lowering medications became part of stro­ke prevention. Imaging techniques – mainly computer tomography of the brain and ultrasound examination of the cervical large arteries – have radically changed the diagnostics of cerebrovascular diseases from the middle of the 1980s. Since the 1990s, diagnostic and therapeutic decisions are based on reliable evidence from good quality clinical trials. Since the beginning of the 21st century, reperfusion treatments (intravenous thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy) re­present the most effective emergency care. The current direction is the extension of the therapeutic time-window of reperfusion treatments based on sophisticated neruoimaging. This review provides a brief summary of the development of stroke care in the last three and a half centuries as reflected in the Hungarian medical literature. ]

[Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a very common comorbidity of hypertension and it is often unrecognised by physicians. The factors involved in the pathomechanism of both diseases should be realised when choosing treatment. Among factors, hypoxia, increased tone of sympathetic nervous system and activation of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system should primarily be considered. Vascular wall damage and endothelial dysfunction has an important role in both conditions. The goals of treatment are elimination of risk factors, optimizing the blood pressure, the consequential prevention of cardio-cerebrovascular, renal and pulmonary damage; finally prolonging the patients’ life and improving their quality of life as well. Both hypertension and COPD significantly worsen the condition of COVID-19 patients since they increase the severity of the disease and the rate of in-patients’ and their mortality. In the treatment of hypertension among COPD and COVID-19 patients there must be emphasized the medication inhibiting of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, such as angiotensin-converting en­zyme inhibitors or angiotensin-II AT1 re­cep­tor antagonists. Special attention concerned the beneficial effect of mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist spironolactone. Other antihypertensive drugs (calcium channel blockers, thiazide-like diu­retics, high selectivity β1 receptor antagonists) may supplement the treatment if necessary. Long-acting β2 receptor agonists, muscarinic receptor antagonists and inhalation corticosteroids may be administered in double or triple combination also in hypertension and COPD as well. It is important to note, that statin therapy and also vitamin D3 improve the condition of COVID-19 patients.]

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant disease due to the uncontrolled differentiation, proliferation, and migration of cells in several organs. Clinical expression is highly variable, from mild skin findings and asymptomatic brain lesions to seizures, mental retardation, autism, and potentially fatal kidney, cardiac, or pulmonary disease. Aim of this paper is to summarize the diagnostic criteria, surveillance and therapeutic issues of this multisystemic disorder emphasizing the most important neurological consequences. Presenting the state-of-the-art management recommendations and comparing them with the local protocols, we hope that our review might help in the proper assessment of one of the most important single gene disorder.