Photo: Nina Varumo/Scanpix
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Sveriges Radio), September 10, 2008:
An investigation by Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter has revealed that many elderly people suffering from dementia in Sweden are being prescribed dangerous medication.
More than 45,000 people over the age of 75 are given anti-psychotic drugs in Sweden according to figures from the National Board for Health and Welfare. Pills such as Risperdal that are usually used to treat younger people with schizophrenia and manic depression are being given to elderly patients.
Prescriptions of anti-psychotics for dementia sufferers have gone up by a fourth since 2000 with double as many women receiving them as men. In dementia care homes in Jönköping, four in ten residents are given anti-psychotic drugs.
The tablets are prescribed to give the same effect they would have on a younger patients, namely to calm them down. Some doctors also believe they are given to ease pressure on the care staff.
But extensive studies in the past have shown that those taking anti-psychotic drugs at an older age are three to four times more likely to die, suffer a stroke or injure themselves in an accident.
The medicines are said to make patients stiffer, increasing their memory loss and causing them to lose their ability to communicate.
The news has been called ’a scandal’ by doctors. The National Board for Health and Welfare admit there is a problem but say it up to individual councils around the country to control medicine distribution.
© Copyright Sveriges Radio 2008
September 10, 2008
SWEDEN: Dementia Sufferers Given Anti-Psychotics
.
Photo: Nina Varumo/Scanpix
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Sveriges Radio), September 10, 2008:
An investigation by Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter has revealed that many elderly people suffering from dementia in Sweden are being prescribed dangerous medication.
More than 45,000 people over the age of 75 are given anti-psychotic drugs in Sweden according to figures from the National Board for Health and Welfare. Pills such as Risperdal that are usually used to treat younger people with schizophrenia and manic depression are being given to elderly patients.
Prescriptions of anti-psychotics for dementia sufferers have gone up by a fourth since 2000 with double as many women receiving them as men. In dementia care homes in Jönköping, four in ten residents are given anti-psychotic drugs.
The tablets are prescribed to give the same effect they would have on a younger patients, namely to calm them down. Some doctors also believe they are given to ease pressure on the care staff.
But extensive studies in the past have shown that those taking anti-psychotic drugs at an older age are three to four times more likely to die, suffer a stroke or injure themselves in an accident.
The medicines are said to make patients stiffer, increasing their memory loss and causing them to lose their ability to communicate.
The news has been called ’a scandal’ by doctors. The National Board for Health and Welfare admit there is a problem but say it up to individual councils around the country to control medicine distribution.
© Copyright Sveriges Radio 2008
Photo: Nina Varumo/Scanpix
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Sveriges Radio), September 10, 2008:
An investigation by Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter has revealed that many elderly people suffering from dementia in Sweden are being prescribed dangerous medication.
More than 45,000 people over the age of 75 are given anti-psychotic drugs in Sweden according to figures from the National Board for Health and Welfare. Pills such as Risperdal that are usually used to treat younger people with schizophrenia and manic depression are being given to elderly patients.
Prescriptions of anti-psychotics for dementia sufferers have gone up by a fourth since 2000 with double as many women receiving them as men. In dementia care homes in Jönköping, four in ten residents are given anti-psychotic drugs.
The tablets are prescribed to give the same effect they would have on a younger patients, namely to calm them down. Some doctors also believe they are given to ease pressure on the care staff.
But extensive studies in the past have shown that those taking anti-psychotic drugs at an older age are three to four times more likely to die, suffer a stroke or injure themselves in an accident.
The medicines are said to make patients stiffer, increasing their memory loss and causing them to lose their ability to communicate.
The news has been called ’a scandal’ by doctors. The National Board for Health and Welfare admit there is a problem but say it up to individual councils around the country to control medicine distribution.
© Copyright Sveriges Radio 2008
