An analysis of tens of thousands of people in nursing homes in the U.S. suggests that residents who take certain antipsychotic drugs for dementia are at about double the risk of dying compared to residents not taking those specific medications.

All the residents in the study, published Friday in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), were over age 65.

The Harvard Medical School study, the largest ever undertaken among U.S. nursing home residents, focused on 75,445 nursing-home residents from 45 states from 2001 to 2005. Their risks of death were looked at during a six-month period.
Facts about dementia in Canada

What is it? An umbrella term for a variety of brain disorders. Symptoms include loss of memory, judgment and reasoning, and changes in mood and behaviour.

Prevalence: In 2010, more than 500,000 Canadians were living with dementia. Of these, about 71,000 were under age 65. One in 11 Canadians over 65 have the condition.

Who is most at risk? Women account for 72 per cent of all Alzheimer’s cases, and 62 per cent of all dementia cases.

Cost to health-care system: Estimated at $22 billion a year, including direct costs of health-care services, the opportunity costs of a caregiver’s ability to work, and indirect costs of […]