[Treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease].

The overall goal of all therapeutic interventions in Alzheimer s disease (AD) is the optimisation of the adaptive functions and quality of life of these patients. The general strategy for the use of pharmacological interventions in the treatment of neuropsychiatric manifestations of AD includes the following: 1) An exhaustive evaluation of the psychiatric symptomatology; 2) Establish a hierachy of the simptoms to treat based on their severity of symptoms and on their impact on the caregiver; 3) The identification of an adequate agent based on the type of symptoms and subject s characteristics; 4) The initial use of low doses with gradual titration, and 5) Changing one drug at a time. Regarding psychotic symptons, the introduction of new agents (e.g., risperidone) has replaced the use of traditional treatments (e.g., thioridazine) in patients with AD. The presence of psychomotor agitation and aggression can be treated with great variety of drugs, such as antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, and sedatives. Selective serotonine re uptake inhibitors are the treatment of choice for depressive symptomatology. The cholinesterase inhibitors have shown to be useful in the treatment of hallucinations, anxiety and apathy.