Those who suffer from dementia could see their symptoms progress more rapidly due to a common medication, new research has found.
Antidepressants are normally associated with helping to relieve conditions such as anxiety and depression. However, they can also be used to aid bouts of aggressiveness and sleep disruptions for people who suffer with dementia.
A recent study, published in BMC Medicine, has found that despite being able to relieve dementia patients from frustrating symptoms, the drug may also be accelerating their cognitive decline. The research also found that some drugs seem to be less harmful than others.
The observational study was based on data from the Swedish Dementia Registry (SveDem), and it showed that patients who were treated with antidepressants experienced an increased cognitive decline compared to those who didn’t receive the medication.
From the comprehensive analysis of 18,740 dementia patients, it was found that 23 per cent of them were treated with antidepressants. During the course of the study, 11,912 prescriptions of antidepressants were registered – 65 per cent of them were selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
Sara Farcia Ptacek, researcher at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society in the Karolinska Institutet, said: “Depressive symptoms can both worsen cognitive decline and impair quality of life, so it is important to treat them.”
“Our results can help doctors and other healthcare professionals choose antidepressants that are better adapted for patients with dementia.”
Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet and Sahlgrenska University Hospital followed the patients’ cognitive development over time and compared both medicated and non-medicated groups. They also compared different types of antidepressants.
Although it cannot currently be determined whether the cognitive impairment is due to the drugs or the depressive symptoms, researchers are sure there is a link between antidepressants and faster cognitive decline.
In terms of the different types of drugs that were given, it was found that SSRI escitalopram was associated with the fastest rate of cognitive decline. This was followed by SSRIs citalopram and sertraline. Mirtazapine was seen to have a less negative cognitive impact, which could be due to it having a different mechanism of action.
Researchers are now wanting to investigate whether certain patient groups, such as different dementia types or biomarkers, respond better or worse to different antidepressants. Ptacek said: “The goal is to find these subgroups to create more individualised care.”