Zyprexa News
Zyprexa For Alzheimer’s Not Worth Risks
- November 2, 2006
A recent study rejects the use of Zyprexa for treating Alzheimer’s patients with delusions and aggression, saying that the benefits do not outweigh the risks – which include sudden death and other harmful health effects.
“These medications are not the answer,” said Dr. Thomas Insel of the National Institute of Mental Health.
Zyprexa and Alzheimer’s
Zyprexa is a widely prescribed anti-psychotic drug approved for use in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Doctors, however, are free to prescribe the drug for other conditions, including Alzheimer’s, as they see fit.
Approximately 75 percent of the 4.5 million Americans with Alzheimer’s suffer from episodes of aggression and dementia. Zyprexa and other drugs in the same class are often prescribed to Alzheimer’s patients to help alleviate these symptoms, in part because there are few other alternatives.
The Research
In the first major study on Alzheimer’s patients outside of nursing facilities, researchers examined the effects of Zyprexa and similar antipsychotic medications. More than 400 patients participated in the study, with each receiving either one of the drugs or a placebo.
The patients were followed for nine months. However, nearly four out of five patients stopped taking their medication prematurely – either because of ineffectiveness or adverse side effects, including worsening confusion and Parkinson’s-like symptoms.
Five patients taking one of the anti-psychotic drugs died during the study compared with two patients who were taking a placebo. Improved symptoms were reported in 30 percent of the patients taking the medications and 21 percent of those taking a placebo.
Researchers suggested that the disparity in these may simply reflect the natural wax and wane of the disease.
Conclusions
Lead researcher Dr. Lon Schneider said that doctors should not prescribe Zyprexa unless absolutely necessary. He added that doctors who do prescribe Zyprexa and similar drugs to Alzheimer’s patients should closely monitor their use.
“Patients are put on these kinds of medications and not particularly monitored and treated fro indefinite periods of time. That just maximizes risk,” said Dr. Schneider.
The study was published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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