A study has found that antipsychotic medications in dementia patients are associated with a higher risk of severe health issues, such as stroke and pneumonia, especially shortly after starting treatment. This underscores the need for careful evaluation and management of antipsychotic use in this vulnerable population. A study recently published by The BMJ finds that antipsychotic use in people with dementia is linked to higher risks of numerous severe adverse outcomes, including stroke, blood clots, heart attack, heart failure, fractures, pneumonia, and acute kidney injury, compared to non-use.
These findings show a considerably wider range of harms associated with antipsychotic use in people with dementia than previously acknowledged in regulatory alerts, with risks highest soon after starting the drugs, underscoring the need for increased caution in the early stages of treatment. Despite safety concerns, antipsychotics continue to be widely prescribed for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia such as apathy, depression, aggression, anxiety, irritability, delirium, and psychosis. Previous regulatory warnings when prescribing antipsychotics for these symptoms are based on evidence of increased risks for stroke and death, but evidence of other adverse outcomes is less conclusive amongst people with dementia.
To address this uncertainty, researchers set out to investigate the risks of several adverse outcomes potentially associated with antipsychotic use in people w.