Geriatric Psychiatry

This article focuses primarily on the issues facing a psychiatrist who has been retained as an expert witness in a will or trust contest involving claims of a lack of capacity.

Comorbid medical symptoms, polypharmacy, and cognitive decline are hallmarks of depression in the fastest growing segment of the population.

Eating disorders can frequently be unrecognized or masked behind medical conditions, depression, or the natural changes of aging.

Sleep disorders represent a significant problem in patients with Alzheimer disease. Here: assessment strategies and a review of drug and non-drug interventions.

Do cholinesterase inhibitors lead to weight loss in older adults with dementia? Here's a wrap up of a large study of patients in a real-world setting who had newly started these medications.

The clock drawing test is useful for diagnosing dementia, but can it differentiate Alzheimer disease (AD) from other forms of dementia?

With an aging population and subsequent predicted increase in incidence of Alzheimer disease, identifying early markers and interventions is on the fast track. Will sleep be the key?

The cultural aspects of treating patients are similar for all age-groups, but certain themes have greater relevance with the elderly.

Many of us are seeing patients who have been prescribed potentially addicting medication by another physician, and our level of vigilance needs to be high.

What is the most common problem in individuals with dementia?

Although delusional jealousy was described as an initial symptom in Alois Alzheimer’s first case report, little is known about its clinical features and prognosis in dementia.

Although a number of observational studies point to an association between conventional antipsychotic agents and increased risk in older patients, new research suggests such findings may have been flawed.

There is no worse death than a hospital death. This requires preparation and preparation requires recognizing that dying is a necessary, and indeed desirable, part of life.

What are some clues that help distinguish delirium from dementia?

A test on post-stroke apathy versus post-stroke depression.

What is the potential role of rTMS in treating neuropsychiatric symptoms of neurological disease?

The patient did not just scream for more medication-he literally rolled on the floor, ranting and raving and demanding higher doses. Some may write him off as an "addict," but this case reaffirms the value of studying medicine before practicing psychiatry or psychopharmacology.

In order for older patients to derive greater enjoyment from their later years, clinicians must take special care during evaluation, treatment, and follow up when working with this growing population.

Therapeutic lying, a concept that is currently seeping into the medical literature, is the practice of deliberately deceiving patients for reasons considered in their best interest.

This review focuses on post-stroke depression, apathy, anxiety, and PTSD, because these disorders occur and have been studied most frequently.

The potential of TMS as a treatment for cognitive disorders, fatigue, pain, and other manifestations of brain disease is discussed, as is the encouraging prospect for neuropsychiatric management of many patients.

Elderly patients represent approximately what percentage of the population with bipolar disorder? Take the quiz and learn more.

This article provides a practical framework that can guide consultation-liaison psychiatrists through solving problems of capacity and informed consent.

The need to integrate psychiatric treatment with somatic care puts psychosomatic medicine in a unique position to focus on older patients who would not otherwise seek specialized treatment.

There are a considerable number of aging patients with an eating disorder who have only partial symptom remission or who remain ill for many decades. Here is a case in point.