“Would a geriatric psychiatrist help my mother during early dementia stages?”
My 78 year old mother is beginning to show signs of dementia. She has been very sad lately. Would bringing her to a geriatric psychiatrist help ease her worries during these early stages of her dementia?
3 Answers
Yes, I would strongly recommend a consultation.
The answer is yes. There are 2 double-blind placebo controlled studies of Lithium Carbonate treatment of patients with mild cognitive impairment amnestic type. Both showed Lithium can slow or even prevent progression of patients with MCI-amnestic type to Alzheimer's disease. The second study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2018 which had 61 patients, had 2 phases. In the first phase, which lasted 2 years, patients randomly assigned to Lithium showed no worsening of cognitive impairment while the placebo group showed progressive worsening of cognitive impairment. In the second phase, lasting another 2 years, 9 patients in the placebo group developed Alzheimer's disease compared to 4 patients in the
Lithium-treated group. Thus, there is a randomized double-blind placebo controlled study, which showed Lithium Carbonate reduced progression to Alzheimer's disease by slight more than half. Another research paper reviewed using combinations of drugs to prevent progression very early Alzheimer's by using combinations of medications. The author identified 25 different pathophysiological mechanisms present in very early Alzheimer's. The author identified eight medications proven to stop some these pathophysiological mechanisms. He concluded a combination of Lithium, which blocked 18, Memantine, which blocked 4, and Minocycline, which blocked 3 mechanisms, could block all 25 mechanisms, thus prevent progression of early Alzheimer's disease. There is another study in progress at the University of Pittsburgh containing 80 subjects which is studying the use of a higher dose of Lithium to prevent the progression of early Alzheimer's. The study will be completed in 2022.
Lithium-treated group. Thus, there is a randomized double-blind placebo controlled study, which showed Lithium Carbonate reduced progression to Alzheimer's disease by slight more than half. Another research paper reviewed using combinations of drugs to prevent progression very early Alzheimer's by using combinations of medications. The author identified 25 different pathophysiological mechanisms present in very early Alzheimer's. The author identified eight medications proven to stop some these pathophysiological mechanisms. He concluded a combination of Lithium, which blocked 18, Memantine, which blocked 4, and Minocycline, which blocked 3 mechanisms, could block all 25 mechanisms, thus prevent progression of early Alzheimer's disease. There is another study in progress at the University of Pittsburgh containing 80 subjects which is studying the use of a higher dose of Lithium to prevent the progression of early Alzheimer's. The study will be completed in 2022.
Yes, the psychiatrist will be able to help distinguish between Pseudodementia due to an episode of Major Depressive Disorder and Dementia and also treat the depression and, if necessary, make an early intervention with medication to slow the progression of dementia if she does have early dementia.
