[neverdem]

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.

[gov_bean_ counter]

Giving people with dementia "dummy pills". Placebo is a much kinder work under these circumstances.

[Red Badger]

Now we know why they are so POPULAR......

[tertiary01]

Of all of these, in my experience Clozaril is the most dangerous and individuals on it need to be monitored continuously as there is potential for fatal blood abnormalities, blood pressure problems, heart muscle problems and bowel obstructions.

[mlc9852]

Seems a lot of prescription drugs on the market can cause more harm than good. If at all possible, I try not to take any prescriptions. And I've lost all faith in the FDA.

[JusPasenThru]

The Food and Drug Administration said that it had analyzed the results of 17 placebo-controlled trials involving the drugs, which are known as atypical antipsychotics. The agency found that elderly patients with dementia who were given the pills were 1.6 to 1.7 times as likely to die as those given placebos.

Lst time I checked, the mortality rate for all of us is 100%.

[IamConservative]

Somewhat related through symptoms. Anyone had experience with Apomorphine in Parkinson's patients?

[phugg]

My dad passed away this past Friday. He suffered from dymentia for a few years. I recognize some of the drugs listed in the article as those that he took. For such a complex problem as mental illness, who knows whether some of the drugs do harm or good. Fifty years ago, what options did people have. You just play with the cards your dealt.

P.S. MSgt. Hugg will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in May.

[Graybeard58]

I saw my elderly aunt before she took the anti psychotic medicine and she would have been down right dangerous if she had weighed more than 90 pounds.

She would have as soon slapped the $hit out of you as look at you.

[El Gato]

The agency found that elderly patients with dementia who were given the pills were 1.6 to 1.7 times as likely to die as those given placebos.

If the drugs have the desired affect, that of reversing or arresting dementia, then I'd think most folks would gladly accept the increased risk. Most dementia sufferers know what is happening to them, at least in the early stages. It's pretty darn miserable.

OTOH, they only work for some people, and even then sometimes only for a relatively short period.

My Dad had dementia, and died of pneumonia. The drugs they gave him helped at first. I don't know if any of the one's mentioned were what he was taking. I don't live nearby and my Mom and brother never seemed to be able to recall what the drugs he was taking were. Thankfully he only "lived" in the nursing home for three weeks, a miserable three weeks, but only three, before the pneumonia released him from his suffering.