A New England Journal of Medicine study issued last fall fired a warning shot about the lack of efficacy and safety regarding drugs typically prescribed for Alzheimer's patients. New research from the UK-based Alzheimer's Research Trust has discovered links between some drugs and a higher degree of long-term patient mortality.
Scientists have learned specific kind of sedatives known as neuroleptics were tied to a significant deterioration in verbal and cognitive functioning. Moreover, treatment with neuroleptics were found to be of no benefit to patients with the mildest symptoms, according to the five-year study of 165 Alzheimer's patients living in UK nursing homes.
What's more, as much as 45 percent of Alzheimer's patients living in British nursing homes were prescribed a neuroleptic, like Risperdal, trifluoperazine or haloperidol for symptoms like aggression.
With Alzheimer's rates exploding, there's no time like the present to begin protecting your body from this devastating disease by following an extensive list of recommendations, none of which have anything to do with a drug.
Alzheimer's Research Trust March 30, 2007Science Daily March 31, 2007