title: World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of dementias in primary care.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To define a practice guideline for biological treatment of dementias for general practitioners in primary care.
  
  
  METHODS
  This paper is a short and practical summary of the World Federation of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) guidelines for the Biological treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias for treatment in primary care ( Ihl et al. 2011 ). The recommendations were developed by a task force of international experts in the field and are based on randomized controlled studies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Anti-dementia medications neither cure, nor arrest, or alter the course of the disease. The type of dementia, the individual symptom constellation and the tolerability and evidence for efficacy should determine what medications should be used. In treating neuropsychiatric symptoms, psychosocial intervention should be the treatment of first choice. For neuropsychiatric symptoms, medications should only be considered when psychosocial interventions are not adequate and after cautious risk-benefit analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Depending on the diagnostic entity and clinical presentation different anti-dementia drugs can be recommended. These guidelines provide a practical approach for general practitioners managing dementias.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Düsseldorf, Alexian Research Center Krefeld , Germany.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ihl
authors.forename: Robertas
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bunevicius
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frölich
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Winblad
authors.forename: Lon S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dubois
authors.forename: Alistair
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Thibaut
authors.forename: Siegfried
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kasper
authors.forename: Hans-Jürgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Möller
mesh_terms: D003704:Dementia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D012955:Societies, Medical
chemical_list: D018697:Nootropic Agents
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Dementia; Lewy body disease; anti-dementia drugs; guidelines; neuropsychiatric symptoms