MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Anton P. Porsteinsson M.D. William B. and Sheila Konar Professor of Psychiatry Director, Alzheimer's Disease Care, Research and Education Program (AD-CARE) University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Rochester, N.Y. 14620 MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Porsteinsson: Identifying drugs outside the antipsychotic class with targeted anti-agitation effects that provide greater benefit or lower risk among patients with Alzheimer’s disease is a research priority.  Citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), is frequently used in older individualsand has been suggested as an alternative to antipsychotic drugs for agitation and aggression in dementia.  Among 186 patients with probable Alzheimer’s disease and agitation receiving psychosocial intervention, the addition of citalopram compared with placebo robustly and significantly reduced agitation and caregiver distress, but modest cognitive and cardiac adverse effects of citalopram may limit its practical application at the 30 mg/d dose studied in this trial. There are insufficient data on efficacy for agitation at lower doses of citalopram. (more…)