Summary
A comparison was made of serum prolactin levels in 54 healthy subjects and in 31 elderly nursing home patients who had dementia of mild to moderate severity. Both men and women showed a decline in serum prolactin levels with age. In the demented patients, prolactin levels were significantly higher than in age-matched controls. When dihydroergo¬toxine mesylate (Hydergine) or placebo was given to nursing home patients, significantly lower prolactin levels were found in Hydergine-treated patients compared to the control patients. A significant correlation was found between prolactin changes at 12 weeks and several categories of behavior measured by the Sandoz Clinical Assessment Geriatric Scale (SCAG). These results indicate that measures of circulating prolactin and possibly other hormones may prove useful in studies of neurotransmitter abnormalities in age-associated dementia and the response of elderly patients to various drug treatment strategies.
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Samorajski, T. (1985). Prolactin Studies in Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type. In: Gaitz, C.M., Samorajski, T. (eds) Aging 2000: Our Health Care Destiny. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5058-6_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5058-6_13
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