The Brown University Geriatric Psychopharmacology Update articles from October 2009

The Brown University Geriatric Psychopharmacology Update archives from October 2009

Long-term donepezil improves cognition in vascular dementia patients.(Dementia)
October 1, 2009... Long-term treatment with donepezil improved cognition in patients with vascular dementia (VaD), according to findings from a 30-week, open-label extension of two 24-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. (1-2) Patients who received...

Citalopram may have role for treating irritability in Alzheimer's patients.(Alzheimer's Disease)
October 1, 2009... A retrospective analysis of data from the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness in Alzheimer's disease (CATIE-AD) found that use of a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (citalopram) was followed by a large decrease in...

Valproic acid and eosinophilic pleural effusion.(Adverse Events)
October 1, 2009... The antiepileptic agent valproic acid is increasingly used for management of different neuropsychiatric disorders, including psychiatric symptoms in patients with mania. The following case described an elderly woman developing pleural effusion...

Anticholinergics and cognitive decline.(What's New in Research)
October 1, 2009... Treatment with anticholinergics in the elderly contributes to increased risk of dementia and cognitive decline, according to a large-scale, population-based study conducted in France. Women using anticholinergics at baseline had greater declines...

Thyroid medications and Alzheimer's dementia.(What's New in Research)(Clinical report)
October 1, 2009... The use of thyroid hormone supplementation may increase the rate of progression to dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT), according to a longitudinal study. However, thyroid disease at baseline was not significantly associated with time to DAT...

Rapamycin slows progression of aging in mice.(News Notes)
October 1, 2009... Rapamycin, a drug for preventing organ rejection in transplant recipients, and an inhibitor of the mTOR [mammalian target of rapamycin] pathway, significantly expanded the lifespan of mice. In a study by Harrison et al., published online in...

Millipore and Proteome to jointly develop AD products.(News Notes)
October 1, 2009... Millipore Corporation and Proteome Sciences Plc have signed an exclusive licensing agreement to jointly develop new products that will help to advance the study of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Millipore will develop immunoassays using its Luminex...

Managing overactive bladder in dementia patients.(News Notes)
October 1, 2009... Donepezil together with propiverine may provide relief to elderly patients with overactive bladder (OAB). In a study carried out in Japan, 26 cognitively impaired elderly patients (mean age 78 years; 19 women) with OAB had been taking donepezil...

Danger of serotonin syndrome with polypharmacy.(Case Report)
October 1, 2009... Patient: Male, 74 years old Medications: Acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), ciprofloxacin (Cipro), citalopram (Celexa), clonazepam (Klonopin), cyproheptadine (Periactin), diazepam (Valium), enalapril (Vasotec), fluoxetine (Prozac), oxybutynin...

New approvals.(From the FDA)
October 1, 2009... * Paliperidone (Invega) was approved on July 31, 2009 as the first and only antipsychotic for the acute treatment of schizoaffective disorder. Invega is marketed in the US by Janssen, Division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc....

Clonazepam (generic): Klonopin (brand).(YOUR MEDICATION INFORMATION)
October 1, 2009... CLASSIFICATION: Benzodiazepine. COMMON USAGE: Clonazepam is indicated as monotherapy or adjunctive therapy in treating Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (petit mal), akinetic, and myoclonic seizures. Clonazepam may also be useful in patients with...