Dementia Patients Being DRUGGED?! (Shocking!)

I took an oath when I became a physician to do no harm.

And I take that oath seriously.

I wish I could say the same for all my colleagues.

A recent study discovered that doctors are drugging their Alzheimer’s patients—and as you can imagine, it’s having some disastrous health consequences.

Doctors these days hand out prescription drugs like candy. And this has become a major problem particularly with dementia patients.

A recent study found that older adults are being prescribed dangerous drug combinations—many of which are completely unnecessary.

And since dementia patients aren’t able to advocate for themselves, they’re left at the mercy of the professionals.

A study just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association highlights this all too clearly.

Researchers looked at data on prescription drugs for more than 1.2 million people with dementia.

They found that 14 percent of dementia patients were taking three or more drugs that act upon the central nervous system—a dangerous cocktail that can ultimately cause more harm than good.

And of those people, more than HALF were on OVERLAPPING medications for more than half a year!

As an example, this would include an anti-depressant, an anti-epileptic, and an antipsychotic. Many of these drugs are prescribed off-label, meaning they’re given for a condition they’re not intended for.

Like an anti-seizure drug can be prescribed for pain.

Or an anti-psychotic for insomnia.

Drugs like these that affect the central nervous system can increase the risk of a fall, which can be serious for elderly individuals.

Even worse?

Drugs like antidepressants and antipsychotics could possibly CONTRIBUTE to the loss of memory and reasoning among dementia patients.

Talk about throwing fuel on the fire!

Any way you slice it, it’s bad news.

These vulnerable individuals are being drugged without their knowledge or consent, and they’re the ones paying the price.

What can we learn from this?

Make sure your doctor knows ALL of the medications you’re taking. Before a new doctor tries to give you a new drug, he or she should review all of the medications you’re currently taking.

And if someone you love is suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s, it’s time to sit down and review their list of drugs with their doctor.

They shouldn’t be taking more than three different central nervous system drugs. Make sure there’s no duplicates. And make sure they’re not taking anything unnecessarily.

Sometimes in medicine (like in life) less is more.