Spending a good chunk of my time in geriatrics, we get into these situations where there are options on the table, but we may not like any of them. Selecting antipsychotics in Parkinson’s is one of those crappy situations. If you remember the pharmacology and...
Selection of antipsychotics is challenging, and in my experience, you never know for sure which medication will work for each patient. Here’s a few important clinical pearls regarding the use of antipsychotics. Typical (1st generation) antipsychotics are generally...
81 year old female at a long term care facility with a history of dementia related behaviors. Whenever you hear dementia related behaviors, do not jump to conclusions. Define the behaviors first. This particular patient refused medications at times, refused...
Digoxin is a cardiac glycoside that has a narrow therapeutic window. Because of this, we typically monitor digoxin levels. If levels get too high, we can run into adverse effects. In some cases, particularly geriatric patients, those adverse can be misinterpreted as...
The prescribing cascade occurs when a side effect of a medication is misinterpreted as a new medical condition, leading to the prescription of additional medicines that may be unnecessary and potentially harmful. In patients with dementia, this can be common due to...
