Does your older patient have the cognitive ability to manage his or her own life? Can he pay his bills? Can she safely get around? Here: an expert describes the steps involved in a thorough, thoughtful capacity evaluation.
Results of a 10-week prospective study, recently reported at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, offered no conclusive evidence about the mortality risk of elderly patients with Alzheimer disease who were treated with antipsychotics.
Our brains can be trained to function better as we age, and it doesn't take the Fountain of Youth to get there. In this podcast, geriatric psychiatrist Helen Lavretsky prescribes strategies to challenge our brains. She notes: "The more we challenge our brain, the more new nerve pathways and circuits we form."
The day began on a high note. As I sat and talked with an elderly patient sitting in her wheelchair, quiet, not remembering much, she suddenly broke out in song.
Cognitive decline feels as though a little man is inside the elderly patient's head, with darkness all around him. To the front, some light seeps in through the eyes. Sounds come from a distance, muted, like in a heavy fog.
A recent symposium brought together some of the nation’s leading experts to talk about promising advances in psychiatry and to address areas where progress has faltered.
For patients with treatment-resistant depression—especially geriatric patients—ECT is a viable treatment option . . . one that should no longer be relegated to the option of last resort.
Our brains can be trained to function better as we age, and it doesn't take the Fountain of Youth to get there. In this podcast, geriatric psychiatrist Helen Lavretsky prescribes strategies to challenge our brains. She notes: "The more we challenge our brain, the more new nerve pathways and circuits we form."
In this podcast, Dr Helen Lavretsky discusses the topic of appropriate diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment. It will be increasingly important to strengthen the definitions of what is “normal” to avoid the “pathologizing” of aging or of any individuals who experience temporary or continuous cognitive impairment.
