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The article presents a study that calculated the specific attributable risk of key adverse events associated with risperidone in people with Alzheimer's disease. The study reveals the lack of evidence of the benefit of antipsychotics to treat agitation and aggression in people with dementia, the potential harms of antipsychotic use including increased cerebrovascular events, and the alternative treatments offered including analgesia and non-drug based approaches. INSET: Non-drug treatments for use as first line approaches....

The article states that a small proportion of people with dementia and neuropsychiatry symptoms experience clinically significant worsening when antidepressants are discontinued. It discusses 25-week double-blind placebo-controlled withdrawal trial in 128 people with AD, vascular dementia or mixed AD/vascular dementia. It was concluded that it is safe to discontinue long-term antidepressants in people having dementia, although clinicians should monitor for worsening depressive symptoms.

The article reflects on a research related to use of dextromethorphan and quinidine for treatment of agitation in people with Alzheimer's disease. Topics discussed include high risks of distress, caregiver burden, mortality and institutionalisation, improvement in agitation by using use of dextromethorphan and quinidine, and efforts to reduce placebo response in trials of neuropsychiatric symptoms.

The article presents a study which investigates the benefits of vitamin E used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in relation with its lack of established effect on cognition or other outcomes from randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Topics discussed include acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AchEI), vitamin E for severe AD and in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and outcomes in the treatment trials in AD.