Geriatric Psychiatry

This Special Report on Geriatric Psychiatry addresses a variety of clinical issues in the rapidly growing diverse population of older adults.

Some of the thorniest ethical dilemmas in psychiatry evolve around food: forced feeding in anorexia nervosa, artificial nutrition and hydration at the end of life, and the covert administration of psychotropic medications

Among the topics covered in this year's noteworthy studies: lithium and suicide prevention, mixed depression, and light therapy.

These common conditions may affect the risk of Alzheimer disease or the ability to cope with daily activities.

What underlies the higher prevalence of Alzheimer disease among older African Americans?

Hypertension, loss of sense of smell, personality changes: which can predict dementia?

A look at sex differences in the neuropsychological deficits of Alzheimer disease.

When, if ever, is it ethical to administer a medication to a patient-even an incapacitated one-without his knowledge? Read the case, and weigh in.

New tools for the armamentarium: a patient self-management app, a retinal imaging system, and a computer program for Alzheimer diagnosis.

Blood-based vibrational spectroscopy shows promise as a screening tool for dementia.

Persons with dementia can still retain the capacity to experience humor, joy, and mutual interactions. Therein lie the seeds of a new perspective on aging.

Are you up-to-date on the latest findings in mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and depression in elderly patients?

A look at the impact of shift work and long hours on cognitive function.

What factors predispose patients to TRD and what treatment strategies achieve response? Find out here, with a bonus case vignette.

Here: what psychiatrists need to know about frontotemporal dementia. Case examples convey the variety of possible psychiatric presentations of behavioral variant FTD.

Researchers investigate Alzheimer disease in 3 key areas: sleep, seizures, and proton pump inhibitors.

Recent findings challenge the notion that these agents can provide sustained protection against cognitive decline.

In this pilot study, older adults who practiced yoga did better on measures of verbal and visual memory and executive function than those in memory training classes.

Among the clues revealed in 3 recent studies: brain amyloid, saliva biomarkers, and microvascular dysfunction.

Alzheimer disease-or dementia with Lewy bodies? Recently revised consensus criteria can help you solve this diagnostic dilemma.

Three new studies show exercise can improve cognitive function, psychotropics for PTSD may raise dementia risk, and 3 biomarkers can help predict cognitive decline in elderly persons.

Although high blood pressure may put patients at risk for dementia, a class of antihypertensives appears to have a preventive effect.

Clinicians need to consider and manage multiple medical and cognitive comorbidities when working with the elderly population. This slideshow provides an overview of key points relevant to geriatric bipolar disorder as it relates to comorbidity.

What do sudden cognitive disturbances, disorientation, and cloudiness of consciousness have in common? Take the quiz and learn more.

The latest news in geriatric psychiatry covers olfactory deficits in cognitively impaired patients, a smartphone app for older adults with serious mental illness, and adjunctive ketamine for late-life depression.