By Michael Kaufman

If you, a friend, or a family member is an older person being treated with antidepressant and/or antipsychotic drugs, this post could save your life.

Seniors who take these drugs during a heatwave are at significantly greater risk of death, according to findings of a recent study presented in May at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

How great is the risk? “Use of any psychotropic drug by people aged 70 to 100 was associated with a 30 percent increased risk of death during the heatwave,” said Clementine Nordon, M.D., of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, lead investigator. She was referring to the massive heatwave experienced by Western Europe in August 2003. In France alone there were 15,000 more deaths than had been anticipated under normal weather conditions. Most of the deaths occurred among the elderly.

Nordon and her fellow researchers used information obtained from the French Social Security Insurance national database to compare death rates before, during, and after the 13-day heatwave. More than 23,000 records were analyzed.

“Our findings suggest that a causal relationship may exist between psychotropic drug use during a heatwave and increased risk of death in older people,” she explained. The risk was greatest for those who took more than one drug.

Although the findings were published in the December 2009 issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, they attracted little or no attention in other U.S. medical journals and publications, and were largely ignored by the U.S. mass media. The implications, however, are huge in the U.S. Nowhere in the world do seniors take more antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs.

“The risk/benefit ratio of antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs should be carefully assessed in older people during a heatwave,” said Nordon.

I spoke with Nordon as she stood in front of her “New Research” poster at the APA meeting.  Because of the risks often associated with abrupt stopping of medication, she said patients should consult their physicians before initiating any change in treatment on their own.

If your physician is unaware of Nordon’s study, refer them to the journal article, titled Psychotropic drug use in older people and risk of death during heatwaves: population-based case-control study.

The list of drugs of concern is too long to print here but many of the brand names are familiar. If you or someone you know is a senior being treated for depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia, you are probably taking one or more of these drugs…drugs  that put you at 30-percent higher risk of dying during a heatwave. Don’t wait. Talk to your doctor…now!  

FROM THE VIRTUAL MAILBAG—Since this is our first post since the month-long mysterious disappearance of Zest from the internet, we have some catching up to do. Thanks to EDWARD G. of Middletown for his comments on the virtues of bilingualism and the dual-language program being launched in Middletown elementary schools in September. “Our daughters both now work in the health related fields,” he wrote. “And as you said, being bilingual or multilingual gave them an advantage when they entered the workforce as adults.” Edward’s daughters began learning Spanish in elementary school in Middletown, which he said, “led to growth in tolerance and understanding.”

KRIS KERR, director of bilingual education in the Middletown schools, wrote, “Thanks for your blog post about your experience with two-way bilingual education. I will be including some of your words in my power point for the second parent meeting at the Truman Moon school.” Thanks, Kris. Glad to help, especially in these times.

RUSS L. wrote to say he could not attend the peace rally at West Point on graduation day because “I’ll be at my regular Saturday Peace Vigil in Wappingers Falls with Pete Seeger, who is 91 years young, still singing…and… STILL chopping wood!” Russ added that  Pete “is still feisty, always has his banjo…can’t quite hear as well as in his youth, but his mind is as sharp as a tack. He’s got some wonderful stories.”

And AMIE F. wrote to let us know we can download the first 45 episodes of Happiness in the Wind at http://d-addicts.com. “It’s updated every 3 weeks with 15 episodes at a time with English subtitles.” Thanks, Amie. Happiness in the Wind is my favorite of all the Korean dramas, although I have grown quite fond lately of Three Brothers, which airs at 9 p.m. on weekends. Happiness, as I’m sure our readers are aware, is shown weeknights at 9:20 p.m.  Both are on WMBC (Cablevision channel 20). 

Hey, it’s good to be back!

Michael can be reached at Michael@zestoforange.com.

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