Overuse of Dementia Drugs is at Fault for Deaths in the UK December 14
180,000 patients each year are given drugs to treat dementia in hospitals, care homes and even in their own homes. But according to a recent review of these drugs as many as 150,00 of those who are treated with anti-psychotics have no valid reason to receive them and worse their use lead to the deaths of at least 1,800. The UK government has agreed to take measures to reduce their use including : improved access to other forms of therapy like counseling, family guidance to explain what to do if they’re concerned about drug abuse, better prescription monitoring, appointing a new national; director to oversee dementia and it’s treatment, and specialist training for those in social and health care jobs.
Increasingly the NHS has turned to dementia treatment over the course of the last 30 years, spurring a concern over the potential drug abuse. The drastic upturn in treatment came in response to the rising level of patients who were considered to have dementia 700,00 of the population are already diagnosed with the disorder and the number is expected to rise as high as one million over the course of the next 10 years. According to the review of the 180,000 who received the drugs only about 36,000 truly benefited from their use. A significant reduction in use must occur but there are still those who benefit from the treatment, great care needs to be taken with these drugs over time and only those who truly need to drugs should be given them.
Tags: death, dementia, drug abuse, uk