BP drug prazosin effective for treating PTSD-related nightmares

Researchers at the US Mayo Clinic will this week announce the use of the blood pressure drug prazosin, a compound already marketed under brand names such as Minipress, Vasoflex, Pressin and Hypovase, as an effective treatment to curb post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-related nightmares.

In a presentation during the 20th European Congress of Psychiatry in Prague, Mayo Clinic psychiatrists will present a systematic literature review of prazosin in the treatment of nightmares. Researchers investigated 12 prazosin studies, four of which were randomized controlled trials.

"The studies showed the drug was well-tolerated and can take effect rapidly, within days to weeks, and some patients reported a return of nightmares when the course of prazosin was stopped," says Simon Kung, a Mayo Clinic psychiatrist and principal investigator of the study, adding: "There's not much available for treating nightmares in terms of medications, so prazosin is a promising option."