Trazodone For Alzheimer's Disease

    Trazodone was originally developed in Italy to treat depression. However, the drug has been found useful to manage agitation in demented patients. One 10-week study gave 13 alzheimer patients 25 milligrams of trazodone,three times daily. Patients were less irritable and anxious [208]. Another study compared trazodone,50 to 250 milligrams daily with haloperidol, 1 to 5 milligrams daily. Trazodone and haloperidol both work equally at controlling agitation; however, trazodone seems to work best on repetitive or verbal aggressive behavior, whereas haloperidol seems to work best on excess motor activity [209].
    Trazodone is not free of side effects. Trazodone may occassionally cause ventricular arrhythmia in patients with preexisting cardiac problems. Trazodone's most frequent side effects are drowsiness, headache, gastrointestinal upset, and postural hypotension . A rare but serious side effect is priapism in males, which may need urologic intervention.

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