MADRID – Oxcarbazepine appears to significantly decrease hypersexual behavior in patients with Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Joshua Shua-Haim reported in a poster presented at the 10th International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders.
All 11 men in the small pilot study showed improvement in the behavior after 2 weeks of treatment, noted Dr. Shua-Haim, who is with the Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, N.J.
All of the patients lived in a special care unit in an assisted living facility.
Treatment began with 150 mg oxcarbazepine daily. The dose was titrated by 150 mg/day, given in two divided doses, until the behavior ceased or a maximum of 900 mg/day was reached, Dr. Shua-Haim wrote.
Hypersexual behavior resolved in all 11 patients after they received an average dose of 600–750 mg/day, given in two doses. No adverse events were reported, and there were no changes in blood chemistry.