Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders · 2008 · 59 citations · 37 references
MedicinePharmacotherapyPsychiatryDementiaGeriatric PsychiatryPsychopharmacologyAlzheimer DiseaseAntidepressant PharmacotherapyAntidepressant TherapyCognitive ImpairmentDementia TreatmentGeriatric PsychopharmacologyAlzheimer Disease DementiaAntidepressant EfficacyAntidepressant Use In DementiaCognitive Decline PreventionCognitive Status AssessmentDepression In DementiaGeriatric Antidepressant TherapyGeriatric Antidepressant Use
BACKGROUND: Although antidepressant drugs (ATD) are frequently prescribed to patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), their effect on cognitive status has been only rarely assessed. METHODS: The impact of depressive symptoms and ATD on cognitive status was retrospectively assessed in 72 older AD outpatients with mild-to-moderate cognitive impairment, treated with cholinesterase inhibitors, over a 9-month follow-up. RESULTS: Compared to subjects without baseline depressive symptoms, those with symptoms who were continuously treated with ATD had less cognitive decline; those never treated, or not continuously treated despite baseline symptoms, had an intermediate trend. Such a protective action of ATD was, at least in part, independent of their action on depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: These observations suggest that ATD may reduce cognitive decline in depressed older AD patients.
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Marshal F. Folstein, Susan E. Folstein, Paul R. McHugh · Journal of Psychiatric Research · 1975 · 86.9K citations
Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease
Guy M. McKhann, David A. Drachman, Marshall Folstein et al. · Neurology · 1984 · 28K citations · Full text