Two cases of suicide in patients with a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer disease and who were treated with cholinesterase inhibitor drugs have been reported. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Suicide in two patients with a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer disease.
Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord. 1999 Apr-Jun;13(2):88-90. PMID: 10372951
Silberstein Aging and Dementia Research Center, New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA.
Two patients meeting the criteria for probable Alzheimer disease (AD) who were participating in a phase 3 clinical program with eptastigmine, a cholinesterase inhibitor, committed suicide. The first patient committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The second patient committed suicide by jumping from a 19th story window. These two patients shared several clinical features with those found in the literature: being at the early stages of the disease, having a high level education, with preserved insight, having access to firearms, and being aware of not responding to pharmacological treatment.