Study of influence of anti-dementia drugs and nutritional supplements in elderly patients with mental decline

Abstract

Background: Malnutrition is a common condition among elderly people with dementia and is associated with low nutrient and calorie intake. There are no data about efficacy of intervention with nutritional supplements in addition to medication in cognitive decline people. Aims and Objectives: we aimed to find out the nutritional status of patients with cognitive decline and to ascertain the effects of nutritional supplements with medication in such patients. Materials and Methods: This observational study was conducted for 12 months. All patients admitted with cognitive decline as per the mini-mental state examination score were included after informed consent. The demographic details, clinical features, treatment given, and response to treatment were noted and tabulated as mean ± and SD and analyzed statistically. Results: Maximum patients were found to be of moderate degree cognitive decline and were at risk of malnutrition. There was significant improvement in cognitive status and behavioral symptoms after 12 months of treatment with nutritional supplements and drugs in our study population. Conclusions: Addition of nutritional supplements to drug therapy does provides significant advantages in cognition and neuropsychiatric symptoms. They did add a lot in rectifying the deficiency of different nutritional parameters and thereby improving the domains such as nutritional functions and activity of daily living.