Australia. The increased cholinergic activity seen with cholinesterase inhibitors may have vagal effects on heart rate (HR), including bradycardia. The Australian Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee (ADRAC) has received a number of reports of cardiac arrhythmias in association with the cholinesterase inhibitors donepezil (Aricept), rivastigmine (Exelon) and galantamine (Reminyl), which are increasingly used for Alzheimer's disease (see table).

Reference:

Australian Adverse Drug Reactions Bulletin, Vol. 23, No.5, October 2004. Available on the Internet at www.tga.gov.au