Melancholy: drugs causing falls


A study claims that aged people with dementia are more likely to suffer falls if they are given anti-depressants by care home staff. Dr. Carolyn Sterke recorded the daily drug use and records of falls in 248 nursing home residents over a two-year period.



The average age of the residents was 82, and the records suggested that 152 of them had suffered a total of 683 falls. More research is now wanted to understand why this anti-depressant is having this effect on people with dementia and if there is another treatment for depression that they could be arranged. The consequences of falls were moderately high, with 220 consequential in injuries as well as hip fractures and other busted bones - and one resident died following a fall.

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