An Alternative Treatment Strategy With Calcium Channel Blockers in Tourette's Disorder
1Gülhane Military Medical Academy Haydarpaşa Training Hospital Psychiatry Clinic
2Bakırköy Mental and Neurological Diseases Hospital 4. Psychiatry Unit
2Bakırköy Mental and Neurological Diseases Hospital 4. Psychiatry Unit
Dusunen Adam Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences 1993; 6(3): 15-19
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate on alternative treatment strategy with calcium channel blockers in Tourette's disorder (TD). In an open-trial of 15 male inpatients diagnosed as TD according to DSM-III-R critaria patients were divided into two groups randomly (verapamil) (n=8) and nifedipine (n=7). Verapamil 120 mg per day and nifedipine 30 mg per day were giyen over a period of 14 weeks. After 14 weeks clinically obvious improvement had occured in all subjects, furthermore both drugs caused tolerable sideeffects in the patients.
Keywords: Tourette's, disorder, cakium channel blocker, nifedipine, verapamil
