Drug-Induced Dementia: a perfect crime [Paperback]

MD Grace E. Jackson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 2009

Under the influence of declining birth rates, expanding longevity, and changing population structures around the world, the global prevalence of senile dementia is expected to increase more than four-fold within the next forty years. Within the United States alone, the number of affected individuals over the age of 65 is expected to rise exponentially from 8 million cases (2% of the entire population in the year 2000), to 18 million retirees (roughly 4.5% of the national census in the year 2040). Although they are striking, these statistics quite likely underestimate the scope of the coming epidemic, as they fail to consider the impact of under-diagnosis, early-onset disease, and the potential for a changing incidence of illness in the context of increasingly toxic environments. In the face of this imminent crisis, concerned observers have called for policies and practices which aim to prevent, limit, or reverse dementia. Drug-Induced Dementia: A Perfect Crime is a timely resource which reveals why and how medical treatments themselves - specifically, psychopharmaceuticals - are a substantial cause of brain degeneration and premature death. A first-of-its-kind resource for patients and clinicians, the book integrates research findings from epidemiology (observational studies of patients in the "real world"), basic biology (animal experiments), and clinical science (neuroimaging and autopsy studies) in order to demonstrate the dementing and deadly effects of psychiatric drugs. Highlighted by more than 100 neuroimages, slides of tissue specimens, and illustrations, the book uniquely describes: Ø the societal roots of the problem(target organ toxicity, regulatory incompetence, and performativity) Ø the subtypes and essential causes of dementia Ø the patterns, prevalence, and causes of dementia associated with antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, mood stabilizers, and stimulants and Ø the actions and reforms which patients, providers, and policy

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Grace E. Jackson is a board-certified psychiatrist who graduated summa cum laude from California Lutheran University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Science in Biology, as well as a Masters Degree in Public Administration. She earned her medical degree from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, in 1996, then completed her internship and residency in the U.S. Navy. Following her transition from military service to civilian status in the spring of 2002, Dr. Jackson has worked for the North Carolina Department of Corrections, the Veterans Administration, and as a clinician in private practice. An internationally renowned lecturer, writer, and forensic consultant, she has submitted testimony to governmental agencies and authorities on behalf of patients' rights, medical ethics, and health care reform, and she has served as an expert witness for the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (a non-profit organization based in Anchorage, Alaska). Dr. Jackson's first book, Rethinking Psychiatric Drugs: A Guide for Informed Consent, underscored the urgent need for societies and health care systems to recognize the unnecessary harmfulness of psychiatric medications, and to protect the rights of those who desire drug-free care. Expanding upon this same theme, Drug-Induced Dementia: A Perfect Crime presents a methodical analysis of the scientific and epidemiological evidence which confirms psychopharmaceuticals as a cause of brain damage and premature death. Hopefully, these publications will be used by laypersons, clinicians, lawyers, and policy makers to improve the quality and integrity of health care, and to safeguard the fundamental right of all patients to avoid unwarranted bodily harm - particularly, when that harm occurs in the form of misinformed, fraudulent, and/or coercive (involuntary) medical care.

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (May 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1438972318
• ISBN-13: 978-1438972312
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,042,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A LIFE-SAVING OPPORTUNITY, June 16, 2009

By 

carolyn moody - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drug-Induced Dementia: a perfect crime (Paperback)

Drug-Induced Dementia - a perfect crime is an important book that is brimming with insights and groundbreaking revelations.

Written by a former Navy physician who has worked with patients in prison settings, in private practice, and in the VA, the author (Grace E. Jackson, MD) appears to be the first American psychiatrist to clearly state and publish:

1) the causal connection between antipsychotic drugs and Alzheimer's disease

2) the evidentiary link between stimulants (ADHD drugs) and shrinkage of the brain

3) the limitations of the neurogenesis theory of antidepressant action (in fact, Dr. Jackson discusses the research evidence which shows that antidepressants damage the hippocampus - the learning and memory center of the brain)

4) the evidence for mood stabilizers as neurodegenerative, rather than neuroprotective agents

5) the reasons why existing drug treatments are particularly hazardous for survivors of traumatic brain injury (i.e., soldiers with head injuries)

Although any one of these revelations should be reason enough to read the book and recommend it to others, there are additional insights which should make this a mandatory text for all healthcare professionals, policy makers, legislators, and consumers.

In three separate appendices, Dr. Jackson explores potential solutions for governmental regulators; for individual patients (consumers of health care); and for society as a whole.

In Appendix A, Dr. Jackson specifically reviews the nine essential variables which are used by the Food and Drug Administration (and by the courts) in confirming or denying a CAUSAL LINK between drug treatments and adverse effects. (These are called the Hill criteria.)

Appendix B is the first-of-its-kind analysis of four KEY STEPS which should guide the use of any and all psychiatric drugs.

Appendix C is the first-of-its-kind analysis of ten possible societal and systemic reforms.

Dementia is no longer a disease which is limited to old people. Dementia affects all age groups. Psychiatric medications increase the risks of dementia by 2- to 14-fold. However, as Dr. Jackson points out, there is a real chance of preventing and/or limiting this expanding scourge.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is TRUE!, October 26, 2009

By 

Karl E. Humiston (San Diego, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Drug-Induced Dementia: a perfect crime (Paperback)

Grace Jackson is a no-nonsense redhead who won't give up. She walked out of a good career as a Navy medical officer (psychiatrist) so she could speak freely about the obvious harm being done by psychiatric medication. A recovering psychiatrist myself, I know her from meetings we have attended. If you think this book is too heavy with technical details, I say that she knows that this is what makes her argument unassailable in its truth, so we readers must put up with it. What she says is true -- all of it. She is a beautiful person.

Mental health and happiness depends on a healthy brain, which depends on a complex of subtle ecological factors, just like a healthy garden or any other living thing. Psychiatric drugs "solve" problems crudely, like bullets from guns, always by damaging something in the brain. But psychiatrists who don't prescribe the drugs find themselves outside the box and in trouble. Who can blame them? Who is to blame for this destruction? With exceptional insight, the author has done a fine piece of detective work on the enormous crime of today's psychiatric medication prescribing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Who knew?, February 15, 2011

By 

tabby - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Drug-Induced Dementia: a perfect crime (Paperback)

Drug-Induced Dementia was an eye opener into the world of legal drug overdose. While the book is more technical than expected, the reader is still able to absorb the fact that there is alarming danger connected to drugs prescribed by the psychiatric community. The danger can be summed up by a quote from the book: "... the lessons of history have shown that psychopharmaceuticals are incompatible with a normal lifespan." There are good illustrations of the brain showing how different parts are affected by these drugs. One gets the impression the author is screaming out the information for any thinking person to reconsider taking even antidepressants.