Last week I blogged about a study that showed how some dementia drugs may help reduce the progression of the disease and delay admission to care homes for people with the condition. This new systematic review carried out by a research team from Harvard Medical School investigates the potential side effects of two dementia drugs: [read the full story…]
Prescribing anti-dementia drugs to patients could help delay their admission to care homes, according to a new study published in the October issue of The Psychiatrist. Psychiatrists Dr Emad Salib and Dr Jessica Thompson studied a total of 339 people with dementia, who were referred to psychiatric services in Peasley Cross Hospital in St Helens [read the full story…]
This week’s British Medical Journal features a review of depression in later life. The authors bring together recent systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and randomised controlled trials to summarise best current knowledge about the diagnosis and management of patients who develop depression in later life. The review addresses the following questions: What is late life depression and [read the full story…]
Whilst there is no evidence that dementia affects people with learning disabilities in ways that are different to those without learning disability, there is a risk that the early stages of the disease may be missed or misinterpreted. People with Down syndrome may present with clinical symptoms in their late 40s or early 50s. Estimates [read the full story…]
For many of us, music therapy represents a safe, cheap and enjoyable treatment option for older people living in care. A ‘no brainer’ for those responsible for the daily activities provided to keep care home residents active in body and mind. This small randomised controlled trial conducted by researchers from Taipei Medical University in Taiwan [read the full story…]
The Mental Health Foundation are marking the first National Dementia Awareness day by relaunching three of their patient information booklets that have recently been updated with the latest legislation and contacts. The booklets are all available as free PDF downloads from the Mental Health Foundation website and paper copies are available for a small fee. The [read the full story…]
This new 70-page report from Alzheimer’s Disease International warns that in countries such as England, 50-80% of dementia cases are not being recognised in primary care. It highlights the fallacy that as people get older they naturally have problems with their memory, and goes on to recommend that primary care staff who see people with [read the full story…]
It has been widely reported that antipsychotics have been frequently used to treat the behavioural and psychological symptoms that affect people with dementia and that this course of action has resulted in an estimated 1,800 excess strokes and 1,600 excess deaths in the UK alone. This double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled randomised trial looks at one of the [read the full story…]
Depression is common in patients with dementia and antidepressants are widely prescribed for this population although the evidence remains limited. This randomised controlled trial conducted by researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry in London and published in the Lancet, explored the safety and efficacy of two widely-used drugs (sertraline and mirtazapine) in patients with dementia and [read the full story…]
Many people with dementia experience pain, but often find it difficult to communicate this to their carers and the pain is therefore manifested as agitation instead. A randomised controlled trial published in the British Medical Journal looks at a systematic approach to the treatment of pain, to see if it can reduce agitation in people with [read the full story…]
