Effects of Yokukansan on behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in regular treatment for Alzheimer's disease

Yokukansan (YKS) is used frequently against behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) together with donepezil in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we investigated the efficacy and safety of YKS in patients with AD in a non-blinded, randomized, parallel-group compariso...

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Published in:	Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry Vol. 34; no. 3; pp. 532 - 536
Main Authors:	Okahara, Kazunori, Ishida, Yasushi, Hayashi, Yoshihito, Inoue, Teruhiko, Tsuruta, Kazuhito, Takeuchi, Kouzou, Yoshimuta, Hirofumi, Kiue, Kouichirou, Ninomiya, Yoshimasa, Kawano, Jiro, Yoshida, Kensei, Noda, Shouji, Tomita, Seiichiro, Fujimoto, Masumi, Hosomi, Jun, Mitsuyama, Yoshio
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 16-04-2010 Elsevier
Subjects:	Adult and adolescent clinical studies Aged Aged, 80 and over Alzheimer's disease Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) Behavioral Symptoms - drug therapy Behavioral Symptoms - etiology Biological and medical sciences Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases Dementia - complications Dementia - drug therapy Drugs, Chinese Herbal - therapeutic use Female Humans Male Medical sciences Neurology Neuropharmacology Neuropsychological Tests NPI Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology Pharmacology. Drug treatments Psychiatric Status Rating Scales Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry Psychopathology. Psychiatry Traditional Japanese medicine (kampo medicine) Treatment Outcome Yokukansan Asia Japan BPSD YKS AD SDS Yokukansan DAD NPI ADL Traditional Japanese medicine (kampo medicine) Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) MMSE VaD DLB FAST Alzheimer's disease Nervous system diseases Alzheimer disease Japanese Cerebral disorder Behavioral disorder Treatment Folk medicine Central nervous system disease Mental disorder Degenerative disease Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia
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Summary:	Yokukansan (YKS) is used frequently against behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) together with donepezil in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we investigated the efficacy and safety of YKS in patients with AD in a non-blinded, randomized, parallel-group comparison study. Patients who had at least one symptom score of four or more on the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) subscales were enrolled in the study. The subjects were randomly assigned to the YKS-treated group (YKS/donepezil combination therapy group) and the non-YKS-treated group (donepezil monotherapy group). TSUMURA Yokukansan (TJ-54, 7.5 g, t.i.d.) was administered in a four-week study treatment period. The subjects were evaluated twice at the start (Week 0) and completion (Week 4) of the study treatment in terms of NPI, Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD), Zarit Burden Interview, and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). The efficacy analysis was performed in 29 patients (YKS-treated group) and 32 patients (non-YKS-treated group). The NPI total score improved significantly more in the YKS-treated group than in the non-YKS-treated group. In the NPI subscales of agitation/aggression and irritability/lability, the YKS-treated group showed significantly greater improvement than the non-YKS-treated group, but no statistically significant improvement was seen with YKS in the other subscales. There were no significant differences between the YKS-treated group and the non-YKS-treated group in MMSE, DAD, Zarit Burden Interview and SDS. No adverse reactions were noted in either group. The results of this study showed that YKS is safe and effective in the treatment of BPSD in AD patients.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 ObjectType-News-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2
ISSN:	0278-5846 1878-4216
DOI:	10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.02.013