Dementia Drug Shown Effective as Adjunctive Treatment in Schizophrenia
Memantine, a drug used to treat dementia, may help improve negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia when used as an adjunctive treatment, a new double-blind clinical trial suggests.
The findings have been published online in Psychiatry Research.
Researchers in Iran conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled trial on 46 men with schizophrenia. The patients in the intervention group had a mean age of 44.8, and a mean time of 23.5 years since diagnosis. The control group’s mean age was 45.3 and the patients’ mean time since diagnosis was 25.7 years.
The intervention group was given 20 mg/day of memantine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-receptor antagonist. The participants were also taking risperidone.
Positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms and general psychopathology of the participants were evaluated at weeks 0, 6 and 12, using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Mini-Mental State examination.
Researchers found significant improvements in negative symptoms at week 12, and cognitive function at weeks 6 and 12, among the intervention group. There were no significant differences between the groups in positive and general psychopathologic symptoms before or after treatment.
“Memantine is supported as an effective adjunct treatment to improve negative and cognitive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia,” researchers concluded. “Adjunct treatment with NMDA receptor antagonists can be considered as a useful addition to standard care in the future.”
– Terri Airov
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