title: Can antidepressant medication relieve agitation in Alzheimer's disease?
abstract: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are a major concern in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Historically, NPS are difficult to treat effectively due to a high side-effect burden associated with commonly used medications, such as atypical antipsychotics. Non-pharmacological treatment approaches have become the first line option. However, when such treatment fails, pharmacological options are often used. Thus, a push toward finding safer alternative pharmacological treatments has occurred. Antidepressants, particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have shown promise in clinical trials for alleviating the burden of NPS. Lower overall agitation and caregiver stress has been reported to correlate to treatment with the SSRI citalopram. However, certain side effects of citalopram, such as QTc interval prolongation and increased cognitive decline, carry clinical concern and should be weighed when prescribing their use.
authors.affiliation: University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 435 East Henrietta Road, Rochester, NY14620, USA.
authors.forename: Anton P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Porsteinsson
authors.forename: Jessica S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Melanie A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Keltz
authors.forename: Inga M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Antonsdottir
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications*; D000818:Animals; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D011595:Psychomotor Agitation / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents
keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; agitation; antidepressants; citalopram; neuropsychiatric symptoms; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; treatment