Efficacy and safety of galantamine (reminyl) for dementia in patients with Parkinson's disease (an open controlled trial)

An open controlled trial of the use of galantamine at a maximum dose of 16 mg/day included 41 patients with Parkinson's disease with dementia randomized to a galantamine treatment group (21 patients) and a control group (20 patients). Cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and motor symptoms were assesse...

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Published in:Neuroscience and behavioral physiology 2008-11, Vol.38 (9), p.937-945
Main Authors: Litvinenko, I. V., Odinak, M. M., Mogil’naya, V. I., Emelin, A. Yu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities of Daily Living
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Caregivers - psychology
Cholinesterase Inhibitors - adverse effects
Cholinesterase Inhibitors - therapeutic use
Cognition - drug effects
Dementia
Dementia - complications
Dementia - drug therapy
Family
Galantamine - adverse effects
Galantamine - therapeutic use
Humans
Mental Status Schedule
Middle Aged
Motor Activity - drug effects
Neurobiology
Neurosciences
Parkinson Disease - complications
Parkinson Disease - drug therapy
Severity of Illness Index
Time Factors
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Summary:An open controlled trial of the use of galantamine at a maximum dose of 16 mg/day included 41 patients with Parkinson's disease with dementia randomized to a galantamine treatment group (21 patients) and a control group (20 patients). Cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and motor symptoms were assessed clinically before the trial and at 4, 12, and 24 weeks, using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the cognitive Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-cog), the clock drawing test, the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) with assessment of distress in relatives. Patients treated with galantamine had better scores on the MMSE ( p < 0.05),ADAS-cog ( p < 0.05), the clock drawing test ( p < 0.05), and the FAB ( p < 0.01) at the end of the study period as compared with the control group. Changes in total point scores on the NPI-12 at the ends of weeks 12 and 24, as compared with the beginning of the trial, were in favor of the group treated with galantamine, with significant changes in the hallucinations ( p = 0.0002), anxiety ( p = 0.04), sleep disturbance ( p = 0.04), and apathy ( p = 0.006) sections. Galantamine treatment was accompanied by decreases in the level of distress in patients' relatives ( p = 0.007) and improvements in daily activity ( p = 0.003). Improvements in gait and decreases in freezing and falls were seen in the galantamine treatment group. However, two patients of this group showed minor increases in tremor. Side effects (drooling, postural hypotension, nausea, dysuria) occurred in seven patients (30%).
ISSN:0097-0549
1573-899X
DOI:10.1007/s11055-008-9077-3