* Most dementia patients given anti-psychotics needlessly
* Report could inform clinical practice around the world
* Global dementia cases seen doubling to 66 mln by 2030
More than 140,000 dementia patients in Britain are given anti-psychotic drugs needlessly and overprescribing of the medicines is linked to an extra 1,800 deaths in elderly people each year, a report said on Thursday.
The government-backed review showed that only around 36,000 of around 180,000 dementia patients prescribed anti-psychotics got any benefit from them -- findings it said could affect clinical practice in dementia across the world.
"Anti-psychotics are used too often in dementia," Sube Banerjee, the report's author and a professor of mental health and ageing at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, said in a statement.
He said use of anti-psychotics drugs for dementia should be cut to a third of current levels in Britain and said his study would "provide international leadership in this complex clinical area."
Alzheimer's Disease International predicted in September that more than 35 million people around the world will suffer from dementia in 2010. That number is expected to almost double every 20 years, to 66 million in 2030 and more than 115 million in 2050. [ID:nN20262573]
READ MORE @ REUTERS
Showing posts with label Alzheimer's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alzheimer's. Show all posts
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Breakthrough in Alzheimer's research
A combination of proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid can reliably identify which patients with early symptoms of dementia will subsequently develop full-blown Alzheimer's disease, a research team at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, has found in a major international study. The results were published in this week's edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Alzheimer's is one of the most common dementia disorders. Around 160,000 people in Sweden currently suffer from dementia, and an estimated 60 per cent of them have Alzheimer's.
"There is currently no medication that can alter the course of the disease, but the medicines currently under development will probably have the greatest effect if they are used from an early stage, so methods are needed for early diagnosis of the disease," says Dr Niklas Mattsson, a member of Kaj Blennow's group at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the University of Gothenburg's Sahlgrenska Academy.
READ MORE @ EUREKALERT
Alzheimer's is one of the most common dementia disorders. Around 160,000 people in Sweden currently suffer from dementia, and an estimated 60 per cent of them have Alzheimer's.
"There is currently no medication that can alter the course of the disease, but the medicines currently under development will probably have the greatest effect if they are used from an early stage, so methods are needed for early diagnosis of the disease," says Dr Niklas Mattsson, a member of Kaj Blennow's group at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the University of Gothenburg's Sahlgrenska Academy.
READ MORE @ EUREKALERT
Friday, July 10, 2009
Elderly patients boost sales of dangerous antipsychotics
Bill Wiggins believes a powerful antipsychotic medication helped save his wife, Kathye.
Helen Shields believes one of these drugs helped kill her mother, Helen Marciniszyn.
Two families, two drugs, two stories that capture the extremes of a debate about using these medicines to treat the diseases of aging when there are no other effective alternatives.
Kathye Wiggins took Johnson & Johnson's Risperdal. Marciniszyn took AstraZeneca's Seroquel. Both drugs are atypical antipsychotics, a category of psychotropic drugs that also includes Zyprexa from Eli Lilly & Co., Abilify by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., and Pfizer Inc.'s Geodon.
The federal government approved atypicals in the 1990s to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Since then, they have become popular for treating disorders including autism and Alzheimer's, despite mixed evidence that they help and ample evidence that they hurt.
Doctors prescribe atypicals for these illnesses because they may calm people and help them sleep. Also, patients with Alzheimer's and dementia can lose touch with reality, as schizophrenics do, so, in theory, atypicals could help.
Sales of atypicals rose to $14.36 billion in 2008 from $8.4 billion in 2003, according to data provider IMS Health.
Elderly patients have been a major source of that growth. Studies suggest that 20 percent to 30 percent of nursing-home residents take an atypical, despite not having a psychosis diagnosis.
READ MORE @ PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Helen Shields believes one of these drugs helped kill her mother, Helen Marciniszyn.
Two families, two drugs, two stories that capture the extremes of a debate about using these medicines to treat the diseases of aging when there are no other effective alternatives.
Kathye Wiggins took Johnson & Johnson's Risperdal. Marciniszyn took AstraZeneca's Seroquel. Both drugs are atypical antipsychotics, a category of psychotropic drugs that also includes Zyprexa from Eli Lilly & Co., Abilify by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., and Pfizer Inc.'s Geodon.
The federal government approved atypicals in the 1990s to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Since then, they have become popular for treating disorders including autism and Alzheimer's, despite mixed evidence that they help and ample evidence that they hurt.
Doctors prescribe atypicals for these illnesses because they may calm people and help them sleep. Also, patients with Alzheimer's and dementia can lose touch with reality, as schizophrenics do, so, in theory, atypicals could help.
Sales of atypicals rose to $14.36 billion in 2008 from $8.4 billion in 2003, according to data provider IMS Health.
Elderly patients have been a major source of that growth. Studies suggest that 20 percent to 30 percent of nursing-home residents take an atypical, despite not having a psychosis diagnosis.
READ MORE @ PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Psychological Toll of Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease
Lisa Carbo knew something was wrong. The former registered nurse from Metairie, La., began experiencing difficulty in remembering how to perform various functions at her job. Multitasking became harder. Eventually she was written up for poor performance, prompting her to seek medical help.
Carbo was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease in November 2007, at the age of 53.
Before her Alzheimer's diagnosis, Carbo had plans for her golden years. "I hoped to semi-retire, spend the rest of [my] life with someone, continue to be productive, travel," she said. "I love animals, I had planned to do a lot more volunteering with animal shelters."
Her diagnosis changed everything: She lost her job and her boyfriend left her. "All those hopes and dreams are smashed. They're all gone. It's like everything that you planned on for your life is gone."
Fortunately for Carbo, she was able to find help to deal with the depression brought about by her diagnosis. She began taking antidepressants and started seeing a therapist.
READ MORE @ ABC NEWS
Carbo was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease in November 2007, at the age of 53.
Before her Alzheimer's diagnosis, Carbo had plans for her golden years. "I hoped to semi-retire, spend the rest of [my] life with someone, continue to be productive, travel," she said. "I love animals, I had planned to do a lot more volunteering with animal shelters."
Her diagnosis changed everything: She lost her job and her boyfriend left her. "All those hopes and dreams are smashed. They're all gone. It's like everything that you planned on for your life is gone."
Fortunately for Carbo, she was able to find help to deal with the depression brought about by her diagnosis. She began taking antidepressants and started seeing a therapist.
READ MORE @ ABC NEWS
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Dementia strategy criticised by Alzheimer's trust
The first-ever national dementia strategy, intended to transform the care of the rising number of sufferers and their families, was launched by the government yesterday with funding of £150m and the promise of a string of memory clinics and advisors across the country.
But while the much-delayed strategy was welcomed by many in the field, it was criticised for failing to deliver on two crucial issues – research into the causes and potential treatments of dementia and the drugging of elderly people in care homes. A review of antipsychotic drugs – the so-called "chemical cosh" used in care homes to sedate people whose dementia makes them angry or distressed – has been postponed until the spring.
"This strategy is only the first step to tackling our dementia crisis, and it is a huge let-down that so much has been left out," said Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust.
"It is astonishing that dementia research is not a fundamental component of this strategy, and disappointing that the review of antipsychotic drugs has been delayed yet again," she added.
READ MORE @ GUARDIAN
But while the much-delayed strategy was welcomed by many in the field, it was criticised for failing to deliver on two crucial issues – research into the causes and potential treatments of dementia and the drugging of elderly people in care homes. A review of antipsychotic drugs – the so-called "chemical cosh" used in care homes to sedate people whose dementia makes them angry or distressed – has been postponed until the spring.
"This strategy is only the first step to tackling our dementia crisis, and it is a huge let-down that so much has been left out," said Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust.
"It is astonishing that dementia research is not a fundamental component of this strategy, and disappointing that the review of antipsychotic drugs has been delayed yet again," she added.
READ MORE @ GUARDIAN
Friday, June 6, 2008
Antipsychotics May Improve Psychiatric Symptoms In Alzheimer's Disease
Psychiatric and behavioral symptoms associated with Alzheimer's disease-such as anger, agitation, aggression, and paranoid thoughts and ideas-may improve with the use of second-generation antipsychotic medications, a new federally funded study has found. Improvements were seen both in global measures and in measures of specific symptoms. In addition, the analysis indicates that particular symptoms may respond better to different second-generation antipsychotic medications.
The new analysis of data from the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness-Alzheimer's Disease (CATIE-AD), funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, will be published online ahead of print by The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP), the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association. The report will appear online1 under AJP in Advance on June 2, and will appear in print in the July issue of AJP.
READ MORE @ MEDICAL NEWS TODAY
The new analysis of data from the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness-Alzheimer's Disease (CATIE-AD), funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, will be published online ahead of print by The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP), the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association. The report will appear online1 under AJP in Advance on June 2, and will appear in print in the July issue of AJP.
READ MORE @ MEDICAL NEWS TODAY
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Medication 'worsens Alzheimer's
Anti-psychotic drugs commonly given to Alzheimer's patients often make their condition worse, a UK study suggests.
Neuroleptics provided no benefit for patients with mild behavioural problems, but were associated with a marked deterioration in verbal skills.
The research focused on 165 people with advanced Alzheimer's who were living in nursing homes in four British cities.
Up to 60% of Alzheimer's patients in nursing homes are given the drugs to control behaviour such as aggression.
The study appears in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine.
The researchers, from Kings College London and the Universities of Oxford and Newcastle, found the drugs offered no long-term benefit for most patients with mild symptoms of disturbed behaviour.
But just six months of treatment was enough for patients to show a marked deterioration in their verbal fluency.
READ MORE @ BBC
Neuroleptics provided no benefit for patients with mild behavioural problems, but were associated with a marked deterioration in verbal skills.
The research focused on 165 people with advanced Alzheimer's who were living in nursing homes in four British cities.
Up to 60% of Alzheimer's patients in nursing homes are given the drugs to control behaviour such as aggression.
The study appears in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine.
The researchers, from Kings College London and the Universities of Oxford and Newcastle, found the drugs offered no long-term benefit for most patients with mild symptoms of disturbed behaviour.
But just six months of treatment was enough for patients to show a marked deterioration in their verbal fluency.
READ MORE @ BBC
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Patch could up Alzheimer's medication compliance
The European Commission has on today approved the use of a transdermal patch to deliver medicine to patients with mild-to-moderately severe Alzheimer's disease.
The patch is the first type of transdermal treatment for Alzheimer's disease and is applied once a day to the back, chest or upper arm of patients.
Experts say the patch improves compliance for Alzheimer's patients and also reduces side-effects.
READ MORE @ NURSING IN PRACTICE
The patch is the first type of transdermal treatment for Alzheimer's disease and is applied once a day to the back, chest or upper arm of patients.
Experts say the patch improves compliance for Alzheimer's patients and also reduces side-effects.
READ MORE @ NURSING IN PRACTICE
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Antidepressant as Good as Antipsychotics for Dementia
The antidepressant citalopram (Celexa) may be as effective as often-prescribed antipsychotic drugs to control the agitation and psychotic symptoms associated with dementia, a new study suggests.
Agitation and psychotic symptoms are often more disturbing than the memory loss associated with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia and are also the most difficult challenge for family members caring for an elderly person. Currently, antipsychotic drugs such as risperidone (Risperdal) are used to control these symptoms. But often the side effects, including sedation, tension and apathy, can be debilitating, the study authors said.
READ MORE @ WASHINGTON POST
Agitation and psychotic symptoms are often more disturbing than the memory loss associated with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia and are also the most difficult challenge for family members caring for an elderly person. Currently, antipsychotic drugs such as risperidone (Risperdal) are used to control these symptoms. But often the side effects, including sedation, tension and apathy, can be debilitating, the study authors said.
READ MORE @ WASHINGTON POST
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