Antipalapic drugs are associated with an accumulation of days of hospitalization in people with Alzheimer's disease

Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are also often used by older people, particularly those with Alzheimer's disease. Although the essential sign for DEA is epilepsy, new drugs are being used for neuropathic pain, in addition to the treatment of bipolar disorder, mood disorders, migraine, and certain behavioral and psychological side effects. dementia (BPSD).

In previous studies, antiepileptic drugs have been badociated with an increased risk of stroke, falls, drug interactions and drug-related adverse events. The treatment of AEDs in the elderly is difficult because of changes in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, co-morbidities and polypharmacy badociated with aging.

A new study from the University of Eastern Finland suggests that the number of days of hospitalization accumulated was higher among people with Alzheimer's disease who used antiepileptic drugs. During a two-year follow-up, people who started taking antiepileptic drugs accumulated about eight additional days of hospitalization per person-year.

The study is limited to people without a diagnosis of epilepsy. Despite this, differences in the number of hospital days accumulated between epilepileptic users and non-users were more evident for musculoskeletal, respiratory and neurological diseases (excluding Alzheimer's disease). and for mental and behavioral disorders (excluding dementia). However, dementia was the most common diagnosis of hospitalization.

All-cause hospitalizations have been proposed as a substitute for general drug safety. Thus, the results can somehow reflect adverse effects. Whatever the case may be, the results also reflect the treatment of the ordeal or neuropathic conduct and the mental side effects of dementia. Due to communication problems, the badysis of neuropathic pain is surprisingly demanding and the danger of an inaccurate diagnosis in this population is high.

Since untreated pain can manifest itself through behavioral and psychological symptoms, such as an aggression, its identification and treatment are important. The results highlight the importance of future studies on the benefit / risk ratio of antiepileptic drugs in the elderly, particularly in people with Alzheimer's disease.

The exams were conducted with the companion MEDALZ based across the country and bringing together all people living in the community in which Alzheimer's disease had been clinically verified in Finland between 2005 and 2011 (70,718 people).

Information on the use of antiepileptic drugs for tranquilization purposes has been extracted from the Finnish Drug Register. Comorbidities, accompanying medications and the time elapsed since the discovery of AD were taken into account in the examinations. The survey was conducted at the University of Eastern Finland and supported by the Academy of Finland.

The results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.