Control of psychobehavioral symptoms of dementia

Psychobehavioral symptoms are common in patients with dementia, increasing the mortality rate of patients and increasing the burden of caregivers. Timely and effective control of psychobehavioral symptoms can improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Currently, there are two main approaches to improve psychobehavioral treatment: non-pharmacological and pharmacological. Non-pharmacological treatments mainly include psychological interventions for patients and caregivers, and are the preferred treatments for improving mental behavior. Caregivers are required to treat the patient with respect and kind language while maintaining a safe and relatively quiet environment to avoid triggering the patient’s psychobehavioral symptoms. Prior to non-pharmacological treatment, the patient’s behavioral and emotional changes need to be analyzed to determine causes or triggers for proper, targeted treatment. The effectiveness of the treatment should be examined after treatment and the symptoms should be reassessed to guide the next step. Drugs have been widely used in the treatment of mental behavior and have received positive results. However, since most patients are elderly, the following principles should be noted: (1) start with a low dose; (2) slowly increase the dose; (3) increase the interval a little longer; (4) try to use the smallest effective dose; (5) can alleviate the condition, but do not seek to completely control; (6) pay attention to the interaction of drugs; (7) individualization of treatment. 1.Depression At present, selective 5 hydroxytryptamine reuptake inhibitors are more commonly used in the elderly, including fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Sylocet), citalopram, sertraline and so on. 2, anxiety Benzodiazepines are effective in improving anxiety (e.g., valium, lorazepam, etc.), but drug resistance and dependence can occur due to long-term use of such drugs, clinical application of such drugs for the treatment of anxiety should be short-acting preparations, and the longest course of treatment does not exceed 4 weeks or intermittent application, but also at the same time, the application of selective 5-hydroxytryptamine reuptake inhibitors such as paroxetine, cetiaplatin, etc., which will have an effect in 2 weeks, and then discontinue the use of 5-serotonin inhibitors. , after which the tranquillizers are discontinued. For terror disorder or panic, selective 5 hydroxytryptamine reuptake inhibitors can be tried. 3, hallucinations, delusions, agitation, aggression and other psychotic symptoms commonly used atypical antipsychotics, including risperidone, olanzapine, Seroquel and so on. Clinically, smaller doses should be used as much as possible.