RISPERIDONE IN THE TREATMENT OF AGITATED AND AGGRESSIVE PATIENTS WITHDEMENTIA

Patients with dementia often present with challenging behavioural diso rders, Paranoid delusions, hallucinations and agitated and aggressive behaviour are common and difficult to treat, The currently available d rugs to treat such disorders, especially neuroleptic agents, result in a high frequency of complications including extrapyramidal syndromes, Risperidone, a new neuroleptic, is now available for the treatment of schizophrenia in younger patients. This study describes a series of e leven elderly patients with dementia who were successfully treated wit h risperidone for the control of agitated and aggressive behaviour, Co ntrolled trials over a longer period need to be conducted.