Impaired executive function is common and often permanent following stroke. However, new study findings suggest that treatment with antidepressants may help patients recover their cognitive and psychosocial capacities.
Based on previous observations that antidepressants improve stroke outcomes, Dr. Sergio Paradiso and associates at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine in Iowa City conducted a trial to see if antidepressant treatment improves executive dysfunction.
The participants were 47 stroke patients being admitted to a rehabilitation center. They were randomly assigned to treatment for 12 weeks with nortriptyline, titrated up to a maximum of 100 mg/day; fluoxetine, maximum dose 40 mg/day; or placebo. The patients were evaluated after the 12 weeks of treatment and again 21 months later.
The authors report the study results in the March issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/553716?sssdmh=dm1.256030&src=nldne
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