Posts tagged: Alzheimer’s

The Difference Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia

Many people use the terms Alzheimer’s disease and dementia interchangeably, but they have very different meanings. Although dementia is a group of symptoms that include memory loss, the term itself doesn’t explain what is causing the symptoms. Alzheimer’s disease is the leading cause of dementia, but there are many other causes.

Dementia is a general term for memory loss that is severe enough to interfere with daily life. The signs of dementia may include forgetfulness, difficulty making plans, thinking ahead, or using language, as well as changing character traits, among other symptoms. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases according to the Alzheimer’s Association, but there are other causes, including vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. For a list of the different causes of dementia, click here. Some causes of dementia are treatable, so it is important to understand the cause.

Alzheimer’s disease is a partially hereditary disease that causes a loss of brain cells. The symptoms start out mild but grow progressively worse over time. There is no cure, but there are medications that can treat the symptoms and slow the disease’s progress. An early symptom of Alzheimer’s is difficulty learning new information. It can then progress to more severe symptoms such as forgetting names and places, disorientation, mood and behavior changes, and an inability to relate to others. Eventually, it can lead to the inability to talk, walk, or eat. Check out the Alzheimer’s Association for more information.

Dementia, whether caused by Alzheimer’s disease or some other underlying disease, is not a normal part of aging. If someone you love is exhibiting signs of dementia, they should get immediate medical attention to understand what is causing it.

This blog originally appeared in a post from Elder Law Answers.

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categories Elder Needs | Kristina | datetime October 13, 2011 11:21 am | comments Comments (0)

Antipsychotic Drug Use for Dementia Should be Closely Monitored by Doctors & Family Members

Are you a family member or guardian of someone that suffers from dementia? Is s/he living in a nursing home? Do you know what medications s/he is taking? Do you know what the dosages are? When was the last time those medications were reevaluated to determine if they are helping in any way, or if they are even necessary? These are all important questions to keep in mind and to continue asking the administrators of the nursing home and the physicians who care for your loved one.

On March 10, 2010, Massachusetts joined a federal suit against Johnson & Johnson for paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to Omnicare, Inc., the largest pharmacy in the US that specializes in providing drugs to nursing home facilities. United States Attorney Carmen Ortiz argues in the complaint that substantial monetary kickbacks can be especially harmful in the nursing home context because nursing home patients have little to no control over the medical care they receive. He states: “Nursing home doctors should be able to rely on the integrity of the recommendations they receive from pharmacists, and those recommendations should not be a product of money that a drug company is paying to the pharmacy.”

risperdalThe primary drug at issue in this case is Risperdal, an antipsychotic drug that is usually prescribed for patients with severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia. It is legal to prescribe antipsychotics for “off label” uses to treat people with dementia, but these drugs may also raise the risk of death among such patients. At the same time, antipsychotics can help patients with dementia suffering from extreme agitation and sleeplessness. When prescribed in small doses, these drugs can actually have amazing effects on making the lives of patients with dementia more bearable. However, it is important that the prescriptions and dosages be reevaluated regularly to determine their effectiveness and potential harm to the patient.

On March 8, 2010, the Boston Globe reported that 2,483 nursing home residents in Massachusetts were treated with powerful antipsychotic drugs in 2009. This data was collected by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medical Services, and Massachusetts has the 12th highest rate in the nation for nursing home patients on antipsychotic drugs. While these statistics may appear alarming at first glance, any good researcher knows they don’t paint the whole picture. Many patients with dementia are only put on small doses that do not harm them in order to lower their agitation and improve their sleeping habits, but it is also critical not to simply overlook these statistics. As noted earlier, two after the data was published in the Boston Globe, Massachusetts joined an important federal suit against one of the drug companies that promotes these potentially harmful practices.

It is extremely important to be educated and informed regularly about the drugs your loved one is taking, especially if s/he is in a nursing home. While issues concerning antipsychotic drugs are currently making headlines, it will take individual conversations to ensure that your loved ones are being treated appropriately. Sometimes antipsychotic drugs are extremely beneficial for a patient with dementia, but if not administered properly, they can also be very damaging. Open communications between you, the patient, the patient’s guardian (if that is not you), the patient’s primary care physician, and the administrators at the nursing home s/he lives at, will make it possible to ensure that your loved one is on the right medication so that s/he is safe and comfortable.

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categories Elder Needs, Family, Guardianship, Health Care Proxy, Uncategorized | Kristina | datetime March 25, 2010 9:00 am | comments Comments (1)

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