Research: Dementia patients die from prescribed drugs

Research by a leading UK dementia charity, the Alzheimer's Research Trust, has revealed that many Alzheimer’s patients die early because of prescribed sedatives. The research is the largest neuroleptic withdrawal study of Alzheimer's patients and the only long-term one of its type.

The research results were presented at the Alzheimer's Research Trust conference in Edinburgh. Results from the five-year project, which was funded by the Alzheimer’s Charity revealed that the prescribed drugs were linked to a significant increase in long-term mortality - patients dying on average six months earlier than normal.

The investigation was conducted by King’s College London researchers and found that the sedatives, known as neuroleptics, were associated with significant deterioration in verbal fluency and cognitive function. They also found that neuroleptic treatment had no benefit to patients with the mildest symptoms.

In nursing homes they found up to 45% of people with Alzheimer’s disease are prescribed neuroleptics as a treatment for behavioural symptoms such as aggression.

Professor Clive Ballard, Professor of Age Related Disorders at King’s College London, and lead researcher on the project, said:

“It is very clear that even over a six month period of treatment, there is no benefit of neuroleptics in treating the behaviour in people with Alzheimer’s disease when the symptoms are mild – specifically when a measure of behavioural disturbance known as the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Score is equal to or less than 14. For people with more severe behavioural symptoms, balancing the potential benefits against increased mortality and other adverse events is more difficult, but this study provides an important evidence base to inform this decision-making process.”

Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said:

“These results are deeply troubling and highlight the urgent need to develop better treatments. 700,000 people are affected by dementia in the UK, a figure that will double in the next 30 years. The Government needs to make Alzheimer’s research funding a priority.

“Only £11 is spent on UK research into Alzheimer's for every person affected by the disease, compared to £289 for cancer patients.”

It will be interesting to see if this research results in changes to prescribing patterns for Dementia patients, particularly in care setting where there has been concern at the use of medication as a form of chemical restraint.