title: Drug therapies for tardive dyskinesia: part 2.
abstract: Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a serious complication associated with the long-term use of dopamine receptor-blocking drugs. No drugs are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating TD. A number of drugs appear to have some benefit for its treatment, including branched-chain amino acids, piracetam (Nootropil(®), Nootrop(®), Nootropyl(®)), clonazepam (Klonopin(®)), levetiracetam (Keppra(®)), propranolol (Inderal(®)), and clonidine (Catapres(®)), and they would be clinically reasonable to try. Gabapentin (Neurontin(®) and others) has a good safety profile and would be appropriate to consider, although no controlled trials confirm its efficacy. The efficacy of ginkgo biloba should be balanced against its safety concerns. Essential fatty acids have not been shown to be effective. Antioxidant therapies, including vitamin E, melatonin, and vitamin B₆, could conceivably be used together with other drug therapies for the treatment of TD.
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA. HowlandRH@upmc.edu
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Howland
mesh_terms: D000597:Amino Acids, Branched-Chain / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005228:Fatty Acids, Essential / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018757:GABA Modulators / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000597:Amino Acids, Branched-Chain; D000975:Antioxidants; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents; D005228:Fatty Acids, Essential; D018757:GABA Modulators