The Brown University Geriatric Psychopharmacology Update articles from January 2004

The Brown University Geriatric Psychopharmacology Update archives from January 2004

What are the risks when elderly patients combine herbal and prescription medications?(Alternative Medicine)
January 1, 2004... Since Congress passed The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), which designated vitamins, minerals, herbs/botanicals, amino acids and any combination of these ingredients as dietary supplements, the use of such...

Experts gather to debate drug interventions for behavioral symptoms of dementia.(Canadian Dementia Colloquium)
January 1, 2004... Although recent guidelines developed by geriatric specialists suggest that pharmacological interventions be used only in cases of severe agitation, medications are frequently used in long term care facilities to treat behavioral and psychiatric...

Safety of galantamine/risperidone therapy in AD patients.(Drug-Drug Interactions)
January 1, 2004... Galantamine (Reminyl), an inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, is indicated for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The inhibition leads to increased availability of acetylcholine, resulting in improvement, maintenance and/or delay in...

Pharmacogenetics and antidepressants.(Clinical Notes)
January 1, 2004... Clinicians may soon be able to tailor medications to an individual's patient's response using pharmacogenetic profiling. A recent study of elderly, depressed patients demonstrated that a genetic marker is associated with adverse effects from...

Antioxidant levels in patients with MCI.(Clinical Notes)
January 1, 2004... Similar to patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have depleted levels of antioxidants such as Vitamin C and Vitamin A. These results are part of an effort to identify early stages of dementia in...

Lower, delayed response to fluvoxamine in elderly.(Clinical Notes)
January 1, 2004... Researchers comparing the pattern of antidepressant medication response in different age groups found that with fluvoxamine treatment, response rates for younger patients were higher compared to older patients. Previous studies comparing...

Mirtazapine (generic) ~ Remeron, Remeron SolTab (brand).(Your Medication Information)
January 1, 2004... Classification: Antidepressant. Common Usage: Mirtazapine is indicated for the treatment of major depression. Important Side Effects: Dry mouth, drowsiness, fatigue, constipation, increased appetite/ weight gain (approx. 7% of body...

Serum markers reflect AD pathology.(News Updates)
January 1, 2004... A group of researchers from The Netherlands reported that analysis of a combination of serum components is better at identifying Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients than analysis using single markers. Their results showed that a combination of...

Effects of withdrawing donepezil.(News Updates)
January 1, 2004... Sudden withdrawal of donepezil (Aricept) from patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD) resulted in acute cognitive and behavioral decline. In an open-label study, eight patients with DLB and 11...

Donepezil for hallucinations with dementia: 6 case reports.(Case Report)
January 1, 2004... Patients: 4 females, 2 males (73-82 y/o) Medication: Donepezil (Aricept) Comment: Elderly patients with dementia often experience visual hallucinations, yet use of both typical and atypical antipsychotics is often associated with...