UNC Study of Anti-Psychotic Drugs for Alzheimer Patients Expanded

The University of North Carolina's Department of Psychiatry is expanding its large-scale effectiveness trials of anti-psychotic medications for schizophrenia and behavioral problems in Alzheimer's disease to include the recently approved drug, ziprasidone.

The Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) trials are studying which of the new generation of anti-psychotic medications are most suitable for patients with schizophrenia and disruptive behaviors in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Unlike first generation anti-psychotic drugs that act primarily on the brain's dopamine system, the newer drugs also act on the serotonin and nonrepinephrine systems. They also cost 10 times more than older drugs. The CATIE study will help determine if the new drugs are effective and if they are worth the higher cost.

"The major objective of the CATIE trials is to determine the most effective treatments in real-world settings, so it's important that we examine new medications as they become available to patients," said Dr. Jeffrey A. Lieberman, professor of psychiatry, pharmacology and radiology at UNC and CATIE's principal investigator.

Other sources: University of North Carolina School of Medicine