A long-term study with co-dergocrine mesylate (Hydergine) in healthy pensioners. Results after 3 years

Started in 1976, a long-term study in healthy pensioners is now in progress in Basel, Switzerland, to investigate medical, psychological, and electrophysiological aspects of the normal aging process and to establish whether these can be influenced by drug treatment. The subjects are receiving co-dergocrine mesylate (Hydergine) 1.5 three times daily or placebo orally under double-blind conditions. At 1-year intervals each subject's case history is reviewed, a clinical examination and laboratory tests are carried out, an ECG and an EEG are recorded, and a shortened form of the Hamburg-Wechsler Intelligence Test for Adults (German version of the WAIS, i.e., the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale), the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices Test, and the Maudsley Personality Inventory are administered. Treatment compliance is being monitored by pill counting and determination of drug plasma levels. The results after 3 years of the study are presented. The subjects included in this evaluation are those who have undergone all examinations under double-blind conditions (n = 99). During the 3-year period, 27 of the 148 subjects (64 women and 84 men, mean age 63 years) initially recruited for the study have withdrawn, mainly because serious illness has supervened. Three subjects in the placebo group and 1 in the co-dergocrine mesylate group have died. The double-blind code has been broken for medical reasons in 18 cases; these subjects have continued to participate under open conditions. During this 3-year period, the following changes have been observed: A slight but statistically significant rise in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the sample as a whole (mean increase 12 mm Hg). A decrease in systolic blood pressure in subjects with high initial values (mean decrease 6 mm Hg in the placebo group, and 18 mm Hg in the co-dergocrine mesylate group). An increase in systolic blood pressure in subjects with low initial values (mean increase 17 mm Hg in the placebo group and 16 mm Hg in the co-dergocrine mesylate group). A significant decrease in pulse rate in all subjects (mean decrease 7 beats/min). An increase in the number of subjects with pathological ECGs. A significant decrease in mean serum creatinine and lipid levels (all subjects) and a decrease of about 70% in the number of subjects with pathologically raised values. A decrease in the number of subjects from both groups with pathological signs in the EEG.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)