ACHE and Alzheimer disease: In addition, it has been reported that acetylcholinesterase inhibitors inhibit the progress of brain atrophy in AD, indicating the attenuation of neuronal death in the brain of the patients, although in this study the hippocampal atrophy rate in AD patients treated with donepezil was compared with that of historic controls, and not with patients randomized to placebo in a double-blind clinical trial [21].