| Popis: |
In this chapter, we discuss the different pharmacological interventions for psychiatric diseases in the geriatric population. We specifically divide these treatments into five categories: anxiolytics and sedative-hypnotics, antipsychotics, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and cognitive enhancers. These categories are further divided into disease-specific medications. The utility, general recommendations, mechanism of action, dosing, and adverse reactions of drugs are covered for the medications in this chapter. The treatment of mental illness in the geriatric population is a complicated process due to the physiologic changes of metabolism, drug absorption, and drug excretion. These transformations specifically alter the dosing of pharmacological treatments in older adults. The shift in metabolism inherently changes the side effect profile of medications compared to the general adult population, which further complicates the utilization of pharmaceutical interventions for older adults with psychiatric conditions. It is our goal to provide a solid background for clinicians to make prudent decisions in the treatment approach of psychiatric diseases in the geriatric population. |
