There is a substantial burden of psychotropics in elderly people with Alzheimer’s disease

The University of Eastern Finland reports that greater than 50 percent of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease who are aged 90 years or more use psychotropic drugs. It is rather common to see psychotropic drug use in persons aged 90 years of more who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in comparison with those who were diagnosed when they were younger. In this study people 90 years or older used antipsychotics 5 times and antidepressants 2.5 times more often than those people who did not have the disease in the same age group. Psychotropic drugs have been found to be associated with a significant risk of adverse effects in older people and therefore the frequent use of these drugs among the oldest persons is of great concern. This study has been published in the journal Age and Ageing. The researchers have concluded the vulnerable oldest persons suffering from Alzheimer’s disease have a substantial burden of psychotropics. It is not unusual to see such careless and destructive use of psychiatric drugs by the psychiatrists and other doctors who prescribe these highly toxic agents.