Cyclandelate in the treatment of senility: a controlled study.

Elderly patients often manifest a variety of symptoms (e.g., depression, memory loss, irritability, hostility), categorized as "senility" or "senile dementia," which are difficult to treat and represent a major therapeutic challenge to the geriatrician. This investigation was designed to assess, under double-blind conditions, a drug often prescribed for these symptoms--cyclandelate. In a 16-week study, 58 elderly patients were randomly assigned to two groups and received either 1600 mg of cyclandelate daily or identical-appearing placebo capsules. Initially, the every four weeks thereafter, the patients were examined for changes in vital signs and for adverse reactions, also, the Sandoz Clinical Assessment-Geriatric (SCAG) Scale and the Nurses Observation Scale Inpatient Evaluation (NOSIE) were completed. At the final evaluation, a physician's global rating was obtained. Our data suggest that cyclandelate is a safe and moderately effective treatment for certain symptoms of senescence in carefully selected patients.