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Current Treatment Options in Neurology
Published in: Current Treatment Options in Neurology 2/2012

01-04-2012 | Cognitive Disorders (M Geschwind, Section Editor)

Treatment of Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease

Authors: Anne Corbett, PhD, Jessica Smith, MSc, Byron Creese, BSc, Clive Ballard, MB, ChB, MRCPsych, MD

Published in: Current Treatment Options in Neurology | Issue 2/2012

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Opinion statement

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are frequent amongst people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementias, commonly confer risk to that person and others, and present a significant management challenge for clinicians. There is increasing evidence to support the value of simple psychological interventions and the treatment of pain as a first-line management strategy prior to pharmacotherapy. The most widely prescribed pharmacological treatments—atypical antipsychotics—have a modest but significant beneficial effect in the short-term treatment of aggression (over 6–12 weeks) but limited benefits in longer-term therapy. In addition, there have been increasing concerns regarding the potential for serious adverse outcomes, including stroke and death. The potential pharmacologic alternatives to atypical antipsychotics with the most encouraging preliminary evidence include memantine, carbamazepine, citalopram, and prazosin. Large, prospective, randomized placebo-controlled trials are needed to establish the role of these agents as clinical therapies for the treatment of BPSD.
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Metadata
Title
Treatment of Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors
Anne Corbett, PhD
Jessica Smith, MSc
Byron Creese, BSc
Clive Ballard, MB, ChB, MRCPsych, MD
Publication date
01-04-2012
Publisher
Current Science Inc.
Published in
Current Treatment Options in Neurology / Issue 2/2012
Print ISSN: 1092-8480
Electronic ISSN: 1534-3138
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11940-012-0166-9

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