Are these statements TRUE or FALSE?
Though the links to the relevant articles are provided, you DON’T have to re-read that article. Correct answers are given in just few sentences.
1. Patients with Alzheimer’s disease are at risk of wandering away and getting lost. Given the potential for harm due to wandering away, antipsychotic treatment should be considered.
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Answer: False
Explanation: Some behavioral symptoms in persons with dementia are unlikely to improve with antipsychotic treatment. These include:
Unfriendliness
Poor self-care
Not paying attention or caring about what is going on
Repetitive verbalizations or questioning
Rejection or refusal of care
Shadowing
Wandering
An antipsychotic should usually not be prescribed for these symptoms. Educating the patient’s family members and clinical staff that these symptoms do not respond to antipsychotic medications can be helpful.
Review: Behavioral symptoms in dementia that are unlikely to improve with an antipsychotic
2. In changing from sertraline to tranylcypromine, it is important to wait for two weeks after the sertraline is stopped before starting the tranylcypromine.
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Answer: False
Explanation: There is a difference in the number of days that a medication has to be avoided BEFORE versus AFTER being on the MAO inhibitor.
After the use of an irreversible MAOI, it takes about two weeks to generate new MAO enzyme in the liver. That’s why we repeatedly read that patients have to be off the MAO inhibitor for “two weeks” before starting the medication that may interact with the MAO inhibitor.
But, BEFORE the person is on an MAO inhibitor, we just have to make sure that the drug that should not be combined with an MAOI has left the body, which occurs in about five half-lives of that particular drug. The half-life of sertraline is about 24 hours, so being off the sertraline for about 5 to 7 days before starting tranylcypromine is sufficient.
Review: MAO inhibitors (MAOIs) and contraindicated medications: How long do we have to wait?
3. Fluvoxamine is somewhat more effective than other SSRIs, so a person with OCD should not be considered an SSRI non-responder until s/he has received an 8 week trial of fluvoxamine.
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Answer: False
Explanation: There is no difference in the efficacy of the various SSRIs, including fluvoxamine, for the treatment of OCD. So, it is a psychopharmyth that fluvoxamine is more efficacious for OCD than other SSRIs. Of course, individual patients may respond better to one SSRI or another, or respond to another SSRI after not responding to the first one.
Review: Is fluvoxamine (Luvox®) more effective for OCD than other SSRIs?
Related Pages
365 Advanced Topics in Psychopharmacology: Quiz 26
365 Advanced Topics in Psychopharmacology: Quiz 25
365 Advanced Topics in Psychopharmacology: Quiz 24
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