Antipsychotic drug has few side effects in Alzheimer'...( COLUMBUS Ohio A drug used to help con...),Health

What sets this drug called quetiapine apart from its contemporary counterparts is its apparent lack of serious side effects, such as confusion, muscle stiffness and imbalance in the joints, said Douglas Scharre, a study co-author and an associate professor of clinical neurology at Ohio State University.

None of the 10 subjects in the study reported any of these symptoms during a 12-week trial.

"Quetiapine should be considered the first line of treatment for psychosis in Alzheimer's patients because of its lack of serious side effects," Scharre said, adding that while no antipsychotic medication is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat Alzheimer's-related psychosis, physicians can prescribe it as an "off-label" use. An estimated 4 million people in the United States have the disease.

The research appears in a recent issue of the journal Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders.

Scharre and co-author Shu-Ing Chang, a clinical instructor of neurology at Ohio State, prescribed quetiapine (brand name Seroquel) to patients with mild to moderate forms of
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Contact: Douglas Scharre
Scharre.1@osu.edu
614-293-8531
Ohio State University
18-Sep-2002