Successful treatment of sexual disinhibition in dementia with carbamazepine -- a case report.

Sexual disinhibition is a disturbing behavioral symptom in dementia. At present, there are no treatment guidelines available. Here we present the successful use of carbamazepine in a 78-year old AD patient with hypersexual behavior. The efficacy of carbamazepine in this case is in parallels to its effects on aggression and agitation in dementia and supports the important role of anticonvulsants in the management of behavioral disturbances in demented patients.

Intravenous immunoglobulins containing antibodies against beta-amyloid for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE: Active or passive immunisation can mitigate plaque pathology in murine models of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently, it has been shown that antibodies against beta-amyloid (Abeta) are present in human immunoglobulin preparations (IVIgG), which specifically recognise and inhibit the neurotoxic effects of Abeta. This study reports the results from a pilot study using IVIgG in patients with AD. METHODS: Five patients with AD were enrolled and received monthly IVIgG over a 6 month period. Efficacy assessment included total Abeta/Abeta(1-42) measured in the CSF/serum as well as effects on cognition (ADAS-cog; CERAD) at baseline and at 6 months following IVIgG. RESULTS: Following IVIgG, total Abeta levels in the CSF decreased by 30.1% (17.3-43.5%) compared to baseline (p<0.05). Total Abeta increased in the serum by 233% (p<0.05). No significant change was found in Abeta(1-42) levels in the CSF/serum. Using ADAS-cog, an improvement of 3.7+/-2.9 points was detected. Scores in the MMSE were essentially unchanged (improved in four patients, stable in one patient) following IVIgG compared to baseline. CONCLUSION: Although the sample size of this pilot study is too small to draw a clear conclusion, the results of this pilot study provide evidence for a more detailed investigation of IVIgG for the treatment of AD.