Antipsychotic Drugs Put Alzheimer’s At Risk

Seattle – British researchers are reporting that patients who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and prescribed antipsychotic drugs have a higher risk of death than those patients who have Alzheimer’s disease and are not on antipsychotic drugs.

Patients who are on antipsychotic drugs have shown improvements with the disease, however it has also been shown to increase the risk of having Parkinson’s disease type symptoms, a decline in brain function, stroke, chest infections, sedation and death.

The study included 128 participants with Alzheimer’s disease who were put on antipsychotic drugs and some were put on a placebo. The antipsychotic drugs that were used included thioridazine, chlorpromazine, haloperidol, trifluorperazine and risperidone. It was shown that those who were on the placebo had a 42 percent lower chance of dying than those who were on the actual antipsychotic drugs.

The researchers followed up with the participants one year later and found 77 percent of those who were on the placebo to still be alive, while only 70 percent of those on the antipsychotic drugs were still alive. Again, after two years, the researchers followed up with the participants and the numbers were drastically different. They found that only 46 percent of those continuing to take antipsychotic drugs were still alive, compared to 71 percent of those who were taking the placebo. After three years, the numbers once again proved what the researchers were after, only 30 percent of those on antipsychotic drugs were still alive compared with 59 percent of those taking a placebo.

It has been suggested, that instead of using antipsychotic drugs for those with Alzheimer’s disease, that non-pharmocological treatment may also be of great use and should be used first. Non-pharmocological treatment is when the environment of the patient is changed in a positive way to help them handle day to day events, the way the patient is spoken to is changed in a positive way, and things that seem to trigger side effects of the disease, like aggression, be taken away from the patients life daily.

Doctors agree that the use of these drugs does need to be use sparingly but they also believe that they have a place in helping patients with the disease. They say that as a last resort the antipsychotic drugs should be used for those patients who have exhausted all other avenues of treatment and are still having severe episodes related to the side effects of the disease.

It is being recommended that those families who may have someone with Alzheimer’s disease and are being talked to by a doctor about the use of antipsychotics, should seriously question the doctor about it and become knowledgeable about what can happen before giving the approval.