Drug prescribed to dementia patients accelerates cognitive decline

'Research by Professor Clive Ballard suggests that suggests that quetiapine (Seroquel), a drug commonly used in nursing homes to combat agitation, could significantly speed up the rate of patients' decline.

All too often we hear of people with dementia being prescribed powerful sedative and neuroleptic drugs (also known such antipsychotics) to treat behavioural symptoms such as agitation, wandering and aggression.

The Alzheimer's Society strongly believes that sedation is not the answer. Instead people should be encouraged to understand or investigate the cause of difficult behaviour - for example, distress, feelings of humiliation or fear.

Three-quarters of people living in care homes will have Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia, yet only ten percent of care home staff will have received specific dementia care training. Evidence suggests that training health and social care staff improves their understanding of communication problems and reduces the need to use neuroleptics.

The Society welcomes Professor Ballard's research and hopes it will strengthen calls for a more person-centred approach to caring for people with dementia and more appropriate training for care staff.'

Neil Hunt
Chief executive