Alzheimer's patients using antipsychotic medications have a higher mortality rate in addition to other complications, according to Prof. Clive Ballard during his presentation at the first international Alzheimer's disease conference here on Feb. 20-22. The director of research for the Alzheimer's Society at King's College in London added that antipsychotic medications pose complications such as increased respiratory infections, Parkinsonism and gait disturbance. “Complications that we are very worried about include a higher mortality rate, more vulnerability to strokes and accelerated cognitive decline,” Prof. Ballard told the conference. He clarified that patients of Alzheimer's using these medications have 46% survival rate during a period of 24 months, while a patient using placebo medications have a survival rate of 71% on the same period. Patients of Alzheimer's often get prescriptions for antipsychotic medications to reduce hallucinations and agitation. However, personalized non-pharmacological interventions resulted in significant improvements in contrast to antipsychotic medications, which resulted in worsening for 30% of the cases studied, according to Prof. Ballard. There are more than 50 thousand patients of Alzheimer's disease in Saudi Arabia. Raising awareness of the disease is one of the mandates of the Saudi Alzheimer's disease Association, which organized the event with the participation of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.
