Premium
Anticoagulant Therapy for Senile Dementia *
Author(s) -
RATNER JACK,
ROSENBERG GILBERT,
KRAL VOJTECH A.,
ENGELSMANN FRANK
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1972.tb00758.x
Subject(s) - medicine , anticoagulant therapy , placebo , prothrombin time , warfarin , anticoagulant , senile dementia , dementia , oral anticoagulant , surgery , atrial fibrillation , alternative medicine , disease , pathology
A double‐blind, one‐year study was made of the effectiveness of anticoagulant therapy in senile and/or arteriosclerotic dementia. Seven such hospital patients (average age, 83.4 years) were treated with warfarin (sample oral dosage, 2.5 mg daily, monitored according to the prothrombin time). Seven other such patients (average age, 86.4 years) served as controls, and were given placebo tablets. All 14 subjects were assessed with respect to 25 variables reflecting cognitive functions and mental changes, before treatment, and at six and twelve months after starting treatment. The results were evaluated statistically. In the anticoagulant group the t‐tests showed no significant differences for the means in 24 of 25 variables during the one‐year treatment period. The control patients showed no significant changes in the psychological variables after six months; however, after one year, they showed significant deterioration in 4 variables and a trend toward deterioration in most of the others. Thus the anticoagulant group appeared to deteriorate less than the control group. Only further studies will elucidate the possible influence of undertaking therapy in patients who already may have been too deteriorated to benefit from it significantly.