Drug to treat agitation
Nuedexta is a combination of the cough suppressant dextromethorphan and quinidine, a heart medication. An American research team from a coalition of universities and organizations tested the drug on 220 Alzheimer’s patients over 10 weeks and found it calmed agitated patients.
The findings of the study were published in this week’s edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study’s conclusion said Nuedexta “demonstrated clinically relevant efficacy for agitation and was generally well tolerated” in the target patient population.
The study results were not all positive, however. While it did not worsen dementia symptoms, such as memory impairment, there were some side effects noted. Nearly 9 percent of those who took it had a fall and about 5 percent developed a urinary tract infection. Still, the results are considered promising.
Alzheimer’s: More study needed
Nuedexta is not strictly speaking a newly developed drug, it has been around and used in the treatment of something called the pseudobulbar affect, a rather rare neurological disorder that causes involuntary bursts of emotion. Sufferers of the illness can suddenly laugh or cry profusely.
People with brain injuries and brain disorders, like Parkinson’s, Lou Gehrig’s disease and Alzheimer’s can be afflicted with the pseudobulbar affect and it has proven useful in their treatment.
Extending it to treat the general Alzheimer’s population appears to be the next usage for Nuedexta but the researchers say more work needs to be done before that happens.
Dr. Anne Corbett, who studies dementia at King’s College London in the U.K. co-wrote an editorial that appeared with the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association Dr. Corbett noted that whether Nuedexta will eventually be used to treat agitation in Alzheimer’s is not yet determined.
“It’s important to remember that these are early results,” she said. “A much larger clinical trial is needed before people can trust in the benefit seen here.”
