Long term treatment of tardive dyskinesia
Jus, A.; Jus, K.; Fontaine, P.
Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 40(2): 72-77
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0160-6689 PMID: 33156 Document Number: 142483
A 4 year trial to treat tardive dyskinesia by a very slow progressive stepwise diminution of the neuroleptic dose and of antiparkinsonian agents as well as by administration of small, slowly increasing and then decreasing doses of reserpine or haloperidol was conducted on 62 chronic schizophrenic patients. This treatment program caused disappearance of tardive dyskinesia in 23, improvement in 26 patients and had no effect in 13 patients. The group of patients with disappearance of tardive dyskinesia had a mean age significantly lower than other groups. The rationale of this treatment was based on the concept of "desensitization" by a slow, progressive unblocking of dopaminergic receptor sites. Another tardive neuroleptic side effect, the "rabbit syndrome" was successfully treated in 7 other patients by antiparkinsonian drugs.