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18 February 2005
Alzheimer's Drug May Hinder, Rather Than Help 
The drug quetiapine, commonly used to treat agitation and related symptoms in people with Alzheimers' disease, actually worsens the illness by speeding up their rate of decline significantly, says research published in the British Medical Journal. Antipsychotic drugs are used in around 45 percent of nursing homes to treat agitation, a common and distressing symptom of dementia. The researchers found that, when given a placebo as treatment for these symptoms, patients showed little change, but those patients given the commonly used antipsychotic drug quetiapine showed a marked worsening of their condition with deterioration of memory and cognitive decline. The researchers say that this is particularly significant as quetiapine had been regarded as one of the safer of the antipsychotic drugs available. Those in the study taking quetiapine experienced a doubling in cognitive decline compared with the control group who had been given the placebo. Those taking another antipsychotic in the trial, rivatigmine, showed little or no worsening of their illness - but no improvement in symptoms above the placebo group. The study has important implications for the treatment of patients with dementia, say the authors, and that these findings highlight concerns over long term use of antipsychotics.
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