Posts Tagged ‘medication in the elderly’

Nursing homes are jumping on the psychotropic drug bandwagon. Thousands of elderly are being drugged. This is a vulnerable population that has a problem with eliminating these drugs from their systems. When anyone in their senior years are administrated a toxic drug their body has a harder time to break it down. In the elderly decreased clearance of these drugs from the body has been noted. With the increased chance of drug interaction and accumulation of toxins the elderly are put in harms way.

Drug Use in the Elderly

There are no safe psychiatric drugs, and the elderly are placed in harms way by the use of these. Psychiatric drugs obtain results by causing changes in the brain. Psychotropic drugs dull awareness, cause emotional numbing, and cognitive dysfunction. Just what aging patients need more of is to walk around with dull senses. The portion of the American population that is over the age of 65 is increasing. Psychiatric problems are thought to be more common in the geriatric populations. The capacity for drugs to help with these problems is slim to none. Yet, the use of these agents for this population is growing.

Consequences

Psychotropic drug use in nursing homes is troubling. The elderly respond differently to psychotropic drugs. They are more sensitive to pharmaceuticals in general. There are problems with absorption, distribution, elimination, and clearance of these drugs in the elderly. There are biological reasons why these drugs are problematic for the geriatric population. The elderly display greater sensitivity to the effects of medication even at reduced doses. There are a greater number, and severity of side effects. A lower dose does not eliminate this problem.

These side effects are not only magnified, but become more dangerous in the elderly. One of the major side effects is orthostatic hypotension. This is also known as postural hypotension. In plain language it is a dizzy spell. A person’s blood pressure suddenly drops when they stand up. These occurrences are most pronounced after resting, and the incidence increases with age. 

The elderly are usually reclining or sitting thus this is a particularly troubling side effect. The other significant side effects are confusion, cognitive decline, dry mouth, constipation, urinary retention, tachycardia (heart rhythm disturbance), and blurry vision. Other possible ones are confusion, disorientation, impaired memory, worsening of irritability and agitation. Glaucoma can be precipitated, peripheral neuropathy, and weight gain may occur.

Candidates for Drug Intervention

Anyone is a candidate for the misuse of drugs. The elderly are just more vulnerable. They can be drugged without giving their consent, and without a legitimate psychiatric diagnosis. A psychotropic drug can be given for any number of reasons. People in nursing homes have every reason to become easily annoyed.

This is the population that suffers the most from malnutrition. A lack of B complex vitamins could account for any number of symptoms that this population displays. This can account for depression, and cognitive decline. Many patients who are given antipsychotic drugs have not been formally diagnosed with any kind of psychosis. The misuses of psychotropic drugs are a nationwide problem in both the nursing home setting, and the psychiatrist’s office.

In testimony before Congress some years ago, Food and Drug Administration scientist Dr. David Graham estimated that thousands of nursing home residents die each year from antipsychotic drugs that are used for patients who are not mentally ill. Graham is known for blowing the whistle on Vioxx, the painkiller tied to heart attacks, his warning on the psychotropics issue has not done much to curtail its use.

A New York researcher Christie Teigland, who has analyzed medical data on 275,000 nursing home residents with dementia, found that those on psychotropic drugs were more likely to fall or experience general decline than others.

When taken off the medication, the patients improved, she said.

“These residents come alive,” said Teigland, of the nonprofit New York Association of Homes & Services for the Aging. “It’s like they become functional individuals again.”

Why the Increased Usage

These are a prescription for perceived behavior problems. With the drug companies on your side you can bully people into behaving, without the use of force or effort. That is why the two most vulnerable groups’ children and the elderly seem to be signaled out. This shows that we have lost touch with ethics. With the pharmaceutical companies leading the way we fall in line like sheep. The only people that have a say in the use of these drugs, are not speaking up. We must be the protector of those that are being harmed by the use these pharmaceutical agents