Many docs off mark on off-label scripts

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Chicago Sun Times

HEALTH | 45% in study wrong about FDA's approval

BY MONIFA THOMAS Health Reporter/mjthomas@suntimes.com

Doctors often prescribe drugs "off-label" to treat conditions for which they're not approved.

But a new study suggests that some off-label prescribing may be driven by doctors' mistaken belief that certain drugs are actually approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for such use.

Researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Virginia asked 1,200 psychiatrists and primary care doctors to identify whether 14 common drugs were approved by the FDA for treatment of various illnesses.

The average doctor was wrong about the FDA approval status of 45 percent of the drugs he or she was asked about, according to the study, published in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety.

One example was the schizophrenia drug quetiapine. Nearly one in five doctors who said they prescribed the drug for dementia erroneously believed that it was FDA-approved for this purpose. In fact, at the time of the study, the FDA had issued a "black box" warning about an increased risk of death in elderly dementia patients who used quetiapine.

Study co-author Dr. G. Caleb Alexander said the results suggest that doctors need to have a better understanding of the science supporting certain off-label drug uses.

"Our findings highlight an urgent need for.....read more about docs off mark on off-label scripts

Grow old gracefully to keep dementia at bay

TIMESONLINE

Working until you are 70 instead of 65 is one of the ways that you can minimise the risk of brain disease in later life

Dr Mark Porter
The Government is rumoured to be considering raising the retirement age to 70 in an attempt to reduce the national debt — plans that will have been given a useful fillip by new research that reveals postponing retirement can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

According to researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry, at the Maudsley Hospital, southeast London, every extra year worked delays the onset of dementia by just over a month. So working until you are 70 instead of 65 is likely to give you an extra six Alzheimer-free months. I am not sure that is enough of a benefit to warrant the additional effort, but extending your working life is not the only thing you can do to protect yourself.

One person in 20 over the age of 65 in the UK has some form of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease — characterised by a loss of brain cells, shrinkage and protein deposits forming tangles and plaques throughout the brain — may be the most common form, but it is not the only one. Gradual furring up of the arteries supplying the brain accounts for at least 20 per cent of cases and causes similar impairment to Alzheimer’s with resulting loss of memory and cognitive ability, disorientation and confusion. And, while there isn’t much we can do to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, there is a lot that can be done to keep our brain and its circulation healthy — and the healthier your brain the less noticeable any deficit is going to be.

Use it or lose it. The brain is often compared to.......read the whole article

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