Antipsychotics Aren't the Answer for Alzheimer's

Ivanhoe Newswire
Thursday, October 12, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Doctors who prescribe antipsychotic medications to help treat the delusions, aggression, and agitation common in Alzheimer's disease may not be doing their patients much good.

A large study conducted over five years at 42 sites reveals these drugs are really no better than a placebo pill in treating the problems, in part because they cause so many unwanted side effects that people stop taking them.

"Antipsychotic medications have been used extensively for Alzheimer's patients without enough solid evidence of whether they are effective," reports Thomas R. Insel, M.D., director of the National Institute of Mental Health, which funded the research. "The study has vital public health implications because it provides physicians and patients with information to more accurately weigh the medications' benefits against their drawbacks, with the needs and unique reactions of their individual patients."

Overall, between 77 percent and 85 percent of the patients taking the three antipsychotic drugs tested in the study -- olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel), and risperidone (Risperdal) -- discontinued their use, either due to side effects like sleepiness, confusion, and weight gain, or because their conditions didn't improve. While people who stayed on the medications did appear to benefit from them, so few remained on the drugs that the authors concluded they were of little use.

The researchers hope this study will help scientists move on to discover medications that are effective in treating the disease. Writes study author Pierre Tariot, M.D., of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute in Phoenix, "By identifying the limitations of existing treatment options, this study is an important step toward finding a treatment that can delay full-time nursing home confinements, and reduce the suffering of patients and their families."

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SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2006;355:1525-1538