Method for the treatment of schizophrenia

Abstract

The present invention relates to the use of cholinesterase inhibitors, such as galanthamine, for the preparation of a pharmaceutical composition for counteracting the sedative or hypnotic or respiratory depressive effects of benzodiazepines, substantially without interfering with the anxiolytic, antipsychotic, anticonvulsant, and muscle relaxant activity of benzodiazepines. Expressed in another manner, the invention relates to a method for counteracting the sedative, hypnotic or respiratory depressive effects of benzodiazepines, substantially without interfering with the above-mentioned anxiolytic and other desired properties of benzodiazepines, comprising administering, to a patient in subjected to benzodiazepine therapy, that is, a patient who receives benzodiazepine, an effective amount of a pharmaceutically acceptable cholinesterase inhibitor. An aspect of the invention relates to the treatment of schizophrenia, in particular affective or schizoaffective type of schizophrenia, by administering, to a patient suffering from such a condition, an effective amount of a cholinesterase inhibitor, such as galanthamine.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.