Music and pets cam soothe dementia patients

Music, pets and aromatherapy should be used to calm agitated or delusional patients before using drugs, which often prove ineffective or have unhealthy side effects, researchers reported Tuesday.

After evaluating 29 studies dating to the mid-1960s, researchers at Wake Forest University noted that "it was discouraging to find that we currently don't have good drug therapies (for dementia-related behaviors)."

Dementia is usually associated with memory loss, but at least 60 percent of patients also suffer such symptoms as agitation, aggression, delusions, hallucinations, repetitive vocalizations and wandering, said lead researcher Kaycee Sink.

"Dementia-related behaviors are very distressing to both caregivers and medical professionals," and often leads to the patient being placed in a nursing home, according to the report in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study analyzed data on more than 15 drugs commonly prescribed for dementia symptoms, including antipsychotics, antidepressants and mood stabilizers.

Of the drugs in a class called atypical antipsychotics, resperidone and olanzapine had the best record of effectiveness but both had potentially unhealthy side effects, the report said.

Resperidone is sold under the brand name Risperdal by Johnson & Johnson and olanzapine is sold as Zyprexa by Eli Lilly and Co.

Better treatments for dementia are needed as the U.S. population ages and the number of cases and costs escalate, the report said. Improved training of caregivers is also needed, the report said.

Small studies have shown music therapy, aromatherapy and pet therapy may be effective in calming patients, and should be tried first before drugs are prescribed, the researchers concluded.