Pharma-linked Panel Advises Wider Use of Statins Even as Drugs’ Links to Dementia Re-affirmed
People who take statins are at âsignificantly greaterâ risk of memory impairment than those who donât take the popular cholesterol-lowering drugs, according to research...
Discontinuing Psychotropics Reduces Falls in Elderly
Australian researchers look at the literature on the effect of psychotropics on falls in the elderly; largest effect of any randomized trial was achieved...
AARP Joins Antipsychotic Lawsuit Against CA Nursing Home
The AARP has joined an "unprecedented class-action lawsuit" against a California nursing home accused of using antipsychotics without informed consent from residents or family...
For-Profit Medicine Incentivizes Overmedicating Our Elderly
From NBC: According to human rights investigators, anti-psychotic drugs are often administered to nursing home residents to address behavioral issues. Our nation's lack of funding...
Veterans with both PTSD and Dementia More Likely to be Prescribed Antipsychotics
Researchers found that veterans with both conditions had higher odds of being prescribed second-generation antipsychotics than those presenting with just PTSD.
Some Nursing Homes Trying To Move Beyond Antipsychotics
-Some nursing homes are changing their approaches since the US federal government began more closely regulating the use of antipsychotic medications in elderly patients with dementia.
SSRIs Significantly Increase Falls in Dementia, Even at Low Doses
Researchers in the Netherlands followed 248 nursing home residents with dementia for two years, finding that even 25% of the defined daily dose of...
Psychotropics Accelerate Cognitive and Functional Decline
Researchers at Johns Hopkins, The Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School, Duke and others found in a study of 230 Alzheimer's patients tracked over four...
Antidepressant Use Linked to Higher Dementia Risk
From The Telegraph: A major new study has found a strong association between long-term exposure to antidepressants and risk of dementia.
"Researchers warned there may be...
Risk of Death in the Elderly Trebled With Antipsychotics
In a nine-year study of all 2,224 residents of Leppävirta, Finland who were 65 years old or older, researchers found that the 332 residents...
“Does Air Pollution Cause Dementia?”
-Mother Jones examines the growing body of research implicating air pollution in dementia.
Anticholinergic Medications Linked to Dementia Similar to Early Alzheimerâs
A new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, investigates the effects of anticholinergic medications, such as antidepressants and antipsychotics, on cognition in older adults diagnosed with schizophrenia.
The Never-Ending Misuse of Antipsychotics in Nursing Homes
From Health Affairs: Although the problem of antipsychotic misuse in nursing homes has been raised to policymakers numerous times over the past six decades, the...
$1 Billion J&J Settlement Rejected as Insufficient
Federal prosecutors have rejected as insufficient the $1 billion settlement reached two months ago between Johnson & Johnson and prosecutors in Philadelphia to resolve...
Common Alzheimer’s Drug Linked to Potentially Life-threatening Conditions
A popular Alzheimer's and dementia drug has been linked to two potentially fatal conditions.
Cognitive Enhancement With Yoga
From Psychiatric Times: A recent study suggests that Kundalini yoga may be at least as effective as memory training in improving cognitive resilience in older adults with...
Effort to Curb Antipsychotics for Dementia Announced
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is launching an initiative to curb the use of antipsychotic medications for nursing home residents with dementia....
Benzodiazepine Use of 50% of Elderly Patients is Not Monitored
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) publication Psychiatric News has released an article about the recent British Medical Journal study finding strong links between long-term...
Benzos Raise Dementia Risk 50%
A 15-year prospective study, in the British Medical Journal this week, of 1063 subjects by researchers from the University of Bordeaux and Harvard University...
Music Therapy Interventions Reduce Depression Symptoms in Dementia
Therapists can use music to meet the emotional and social needs of individuals with dementia.
Antidepressant Use Associated with Brain Atrophy and Lesions in Elderly
In a study of 630 elderly Manhattanites without dementia, researchers from the Netherlands found that antidepressant use was associated with significantly more brain atrophy,...
“Coming Out of the Fog”
"For the past eight years, Vicki Dyer has been the program director of the dementia ward at Lakewood, a continuing care centre inâWaterville, Me.,...
Dementia Patients at Risk of Injury or Death Due to Antipsychotics
From The Independent: Thousands of people with Lewy Body Dementia are being prescribed antipsychotic drugs, increasing their risk of death fourfold.
"These medicines, prescribed to around...
Fewer Antipsychotics, More Nurses Will Improve Care and Save Money in Nursing Homes
The Center for Medicare Advocacy advised yesterday that nursing facilities could realize huge savings by eliminating "inappropriate and life-threatening" antipsychotic drugs. The statement added...
People With Dementia Press for More Rights
From STAT: People with dementia are coming together to fight for the right to make their own decisions, to have a voice in public policy, and to...
