Journal article
Psychiatric Complications of Dementia
Ravi Bhat, Kenneth Rockwood
Canadian Journal of Psychiatry | SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC | Published : 2011
Abstract
Our paper describes the neuropsychiatric signs and symptoms of late-life disorders of cognitive impairment. Late-life cognitive disorders are associated with psychiatric symptoms in various ways-from apparent risk factors to pathognomonic features of particular dementias. They contribute greatly to the burden of illness, both in people with dementia, and in those who care for them. Here we consider specific dementia symptoms in relation to dementing illnesses and to the stages of dementia. Recognizing that no one drug is likely to successfully treat all dementia symptoms, we argue for a syndromic approach, which can lead to appropriately targeted therapy.
Grants
Funding Acknowledgements
Dr Rockwood is supported by the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation as the Kathryn Allen Weldon Professor of Alzheimer Research. Dr Rockwood has received speaking or consulting fees in the last 5 years from the Alzheimer Society of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eisai, Glaxo, and Pfizer and consulting fees from Pharmacare programs in Newfoundland and Labrador, and British Columbia. He is Chief Scientific Officer and a shareholder in DementiaGuide Inc, which has developed individualized symptom tracking software and has contracts with several pharmaceutical companies.Dr Bhat undertook much of this review while on academic leave, studying at Dalhousie University, where he received travel and other support from the Fountain Innovation Fund of the QEII Health Sciences Foundation.