title: Piracetam in chronic brain failure.
abstract: A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was carried out on 109 aged patients with minimal or with moderate chronic brain failure to assess the effectiveness of piracetam (2.4 g per day) in preventing the progression of dementia. Patients received piracetam or placebo each for 6 weeks, the order of treatment being at random. The results of 19 psychological tests, repeated at 6-weekly intervals, showed that piracetam produced statistically significant improvement in only one of them and then only during the first 6 weeks of treatment. These findings, therefore, do not support the usefulness of piracetam in the treatment of such patients.
mesh_terms: D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000150:complications; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003704:Dementia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010889:Piracetam / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011760:Pyrrolidinones / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D011760:Pyrrolidinones; D010889:Piracetam