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Drug Calms Dementia of Alzheimer's Disease |
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THURSDAY, July 22 (HealthDayNews) -- People driven to agitation by dementia appear to be calmed by a drug commonly used to treat schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, according to researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
The drug, quetiapine, helped calm people who were driven by Alzheimer's disease and other dementias to scream at or slap caregivers, the researchers reported at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders in Philadelphia, which concluded July 22.
"This behavior can be terrifying to the family and is one of the major reasons many families end up placing their loved ones in nursing homes," study author Dr. Pierre Tariot said in a statement.
In a 10-week study of 333 people in nursing homes, the drug reduced such behavior about 20 percent more often than a placebo did. Doctors and nurses who did not know which patients were on the medicine were more likely to give "improved" or "very much improved" ratings to people who had taken quetiapine.
Further, the drug has shown no evidence of causing serious side effects such as strokes, although it does cause sleepiness in some people.
More information
The Alzheimer's Disease Education & Referral Center has more about dementia.
(SOURCES: University of Rochester Medical Center, news release, July 22, 2004)
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