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An antidepressant is routinely handed out to dementia sufferers—but not only is the drug useless, it also increases the risk of an early death.
The drug, mirtazapine, is supposed to reduce agitation, but researchers at the University of Plymouth have discovered it is no better than a sugar pill, or placebo. Worse, it also increases the chances of the patient dying prematurely.
The drug was thought to be a safer option than antipsychotics—often described as the ‘chemical cosh’—which can be lethal.
The researchers tested mirtazapine or a placebo on a group of 204 Alzheimer’s patients, but after 12 weeks of treatment, the drug hadn’t controlled agitation any better than the placebo, although there were more deaths in the drug group.
Lead researcher Sube Banerjee urges clinicians to stop prescribing the antidepressant.
(Source: Lancet, 2021; 398: 1487)
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