To review available options for alleviating or attenuating behavioral symptoms in demented elderly patients.
Uncontrolled behavior is the principal reason for early institutionalization of dementia patients.
Interventions that can control dementia-related behavior problems and allow patients to remain in the community can be cost effective as well as improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Various drugs, including antihistamines, benzodiazepines, beta-adrenergic blocking agents, serotonergic agents, anticonvulsants, and antipsychotics, have been used to treat dementia patients with behavior disturbances. The efficacy of each of these drug classes varies, and the side-effect profile of many of them limits their use in older patients. The new antipsychotic agents, such as the serotonin-dopamine antagonist risperidone, represent a significant addition to this armamentarium. At present, some four to five million persons in the United States suffer from Alzheimer's disease or similar neurodegenerative dementing illnesses.