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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Gregory Health editor

Dementia: experts urge doctors to reduce antipsychotic prescriptions

A doctor writing a prescription
Dementia patients using antipsychotics had a twofold increased risk of developing pneumonia, the study showed. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA

Doctors are being urged to reduce prescribing of antipsychotic drugs to dementia patients after the largest study of its kind found they were linked to more harmful side-effects than previously thought.

The powerful medications are widely prescribed for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia such as apathy, depression, aggression, anxiety, irritability, delirium and psychosis. Tens of thousands of dementia patients in England are prescribed them every year.

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