Antipsychotic Drugs for People with Dementia: Yes or No?

Someone forward you this email? No Sweat! Sign up here to get your own If you're having trouble viewing this email, click here Follow Us Antipsychotic Drugs for People with Dementia: Yes or No? A recent article in the British Medical Journal debates whether antipsychotic medications should be used to treat people with dementia. These drugs are controversial because they carry the risk of significant side effects, yet limited research has shown benefits for some people. Here's more about the risk of these medications, why they are sometimes prescribed and what non-drug approaches might be used instead.   Esther Heerema, MSW Alzheimer's/Dementia Expert Should Your Loved One Really Be Taking an Antipsychotic? Here's straight talk about the potential benefits and risks of antipsychotics for people who have dementia, as well as more information on which drugs are classified as antipsychotics... Read more   READ NOW Share Tough Questions about Medications for People with Dementia If you have a family member with dementia who's taking an antispychotic medication such as Seroquel, Risperdol, Zyprexa or Abilify, do you know why it was prescribed? Have you asked the doctor about a gradual dose reduction? Here are a few questions to consider... Read more   READ NOW Share What Are Psychotropic Drugs and When Are They Used in Dementia? Psychotropic medications are a broad group of drugs that include antipsychotic medications as well as antidepressants, anti-anxiety (anxiolytics), mood stabilizers and hypnotics (sleeping pills). Do you know when it might be helpful and appropriate to use these medications in dementia? Read more   READ NOW Share 8 Non-Drug Tips for Coping with Challenging Behaviors While medications can sometimes be helpful to cope with difficult behaviors, non-drug approaches should always be tried first. Here are 8 practical tips on putting this guideline into action...Read more   READ NOW Share Too Many Drugs Can Cause Reversible Symptoms of Dementia Taking too many medications together or certain medications alone is one of many situations that can cause symptoms that mimic dementia but may be reversible. Learn more about how to identify and prevent this problem from happening to yourself or those you care for... Read more   READ NOW Share MORE FROM ABOUT.COM • 5 Things Everyone Should Know About Nutrition • Improve Handgrip Strength with this Simple Exercise • Ideas for Stocking an Emergency Food Pantry • 7 Mind Games and Strategies for Long Runs and Races • Does shaving or waxing "down there" affect STD risk? Maybe • Hate Bad Advice About Fibromyalgia & ME/CFS? Heres How to Handle It! • Your Fibromyalgia Questions Answered! • 6 Tips for Running a Faster Race Advertisement About Health   |   Follow Us: You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the About Alzheimer's/Dementia newsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe, please click here. If you would like to unsubscribe from all newsletters sent from About.com, please send an email to optout@about.com with "Unsubscribe" as the subject line. 1500 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York, NY, 10036 © 2014 About.com - All rights reserved