Innovations: geriatric psychiatry: diagnosis and treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease.

Full Abstract

The authors review research on the treatment of behavioral disturbances and psychiatric symptoms of patients with dementia, including pharmacological treatment with antipsychotics, antidepressants, cholinesterase inhibitors, and other psychotropic drugs. They conclude that although these medications have some beneficial effects, no intervention is currently able to eradicate behavioral disturbances and psychiatric symptoms of demented patients. Research suggests that multiple interventions for an individual patient are likely to replace the use of a single treatment. Such interventions include caregiver training and support, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and cholinesterase inhibitors, along with other drugs developed for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Lavretsky, Helen (H); Nguyen, Lang Hai (LH);

Affiliation: University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. hlavrets(-atsign-)ucla.edu

Grants: K23-MH01948 (Agency:NIMH NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Journal: Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) (Psychiatr Serv), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-May; vol 57 (issue 5) : pp 617-9

Dates: Created 2006/05/05; Completed 2007/08/09; Revised 2007/12/03;

PMID: 16675752, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Alzheimer Disease - psychology; therapy
Antidepressive Agents - therapeutic use
Antipsychotic Agents - therapeutic use
Behavioral Symptoms - diagnosis; drug therapy; psychology
Cholinesterase Inhibitors - therapeutic use
Forecasting

Forecasting
Humans
Mental Disorders - diagnosis; drug therapy; psychology
Psychotherapy - trends
Psychotropic Drugs - therapeutic use
Treatment Outcome

Associated Chemicals: Antidepressive Agents (0) ; Antipsychotic Agents (0) ; Cholinesterase Inhibitors (0) ; Psychotropic Drugs (0)

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

See 100+ related articles.