By. Emma Innes. PUBLISHED:. 05:42 EST, 13 March 2013. |. UPDATED:. 05:43 EST, 13 March 2013. Antipsychotic drugs given to the elderly could triple the risk of potentially fatal strokes, The Alzheimer’s Society claims. The charity also suggests that the medication could double the risk of death and leave patients unable to walk or talk. Antipsychotics, which are prescribed. to elderly patients to treat symptoms such as agitation, psychosis,. anxiety, insomnia and depression, should only be given for a limited period. But they are often seen by care home staff as an easy way to calm dementia patients. Antipsychotic drugs given to the elderly could triple the risk of potentially fatal strokes. Previous research has suggested that at least 1,800 dementia sufferers die each year from the 'chemical cosh' drugs. Just. one in five of the 180,000 dementia patients prescribed the. anti-psychotic drugs benefit, meaning nearly 150,000 are given them. needlessly, the government-commissioned report found. Now, new research suggests that antipsychotics can raise the risk of a potentially fatal stroke. Researchers at the National Taiwan University claim that stroke risk is greatest in patients who are older or who have dementia. Writing in the journal Biological. Psychiatry, they found that the risk is also linked to the duration and dosage of. treatment. Patients who received high doses of antipsychotic treatment,. or who were treated for a short period of time, were at greater risk of. stroke. The. researchers believe this suggests the risk is highest in the. initial weeks of antipsychotic treatment and for those with a higher. average daily dose. In their study, the Taiwanese scientists focused on the wide range of brain mechanisms targeted by antipsychotic medications. Researchers at the National Taiwan University claim that the risk of stroke is sufficient that some guidelines discourage the prescription of antipsychotics to the elderly. ‘The. stroke risk profiles from this study suggest that it may be possible to. use antipsychotics more safely in the elderly,’ said Dr John Krystal,. Editor of Biological Psychiatry. The researchers recommended that doctors start antipsychotics at low dosages, closely monitoring. for side-effects in the initial treatment, particularly for individuals. who are older or who have dementia. An Alzheimer’s Society spokesperson. said: ‘Tens of thousands of people with dementia. are having their lives put at risk every day by being inappropriately. prescribed this “chemical cosh” which can double the risk of death,. treble the risk of stroke and can leave people unable to walk or talk. ‘Whatever the situation,. antipsychotics should only ever be used as a last resort. They should be. prescribed at low dosages and should be closely monitored. ‘Only by empowering staff with the. knowledge they need to understand dementia and the person behind the. condition can we ensure that the inappropriate prescribing of these. harmful is stamped out for good.’ Dr Clare Walton, Research Communication Officer from the Stroke Association, said: 'This research shows doctors need to be cautious about the dose and type of antipsychotics they prescribe, especially for older people or anyone at risk of stroke. Previous research suggested that at least 1,800 dementia sufferers die each year from the 'chemical cosh' drugs. 'If antipsychotics are being used, we recommend patients are closely monitored for the first few weeks when stroke risk seems to be highest.' Dr Simon Ridley, Head of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK, added: 'This study provides yet more evidence highlighting the potential dangers of antipsychotics for people with dementia. 'Research funded by Alzheimer's Research UK revealed in 2009 that long-term use of these drugs increases the risk of death for people with dementia, and we have since seen positive steps to reduce their use. 'Where antipsychotics are prescribed for these people it's vital that their use is closely monitored. Symptoms such as agitation and aggression can be extremely difficult for doctors and carers to deal with, and research must continue into alternative treatments for these symptoms.'

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The Alzheimer's Society claims antipsychotic drugs can triple the risk of strokes and double the risk of death. National Taiwan University study shows the drugs are most dangerous in high dose and when first taken. Government-commissioned report suggested the drugs kill at least 1,800 dementia patients a year in the UK.

Poland's former democracy leader Lech Walesa has broken his leg - and landed in a hospital where a fellow patient is a communist-era official involved in directing the 1981 crackdown that put him in prison. Walesa, 71, the founder of the Solidarity trade union and a former president of Poland, broke his right leg on Tuesday while leaving a church in his hometown of Gdansk. A photo he posted on his blog shows Walesa in his hospital bed with his broken leg raised and in a cast. Lech Walesa, a former president of Poland and democracy campaigner during the 1980s, pictured in hospital with a broken leg. Walesa pictured with British Prime Minister Sir John Major (left) in 1992, and with Pope John Paul II in 1989. Polish media on Wednesday highlighted the irony of him being in the same Gdansk hospital as General Czeslaw Kiszczak, who as interior minister in 1981 played a key role in imposing martial law. The hospital's doctors are examining Kiszczak, 89, to determine whether he is strong enough to stand trial for his role in communist-era repressions. Kiszczak has said that he is too sick to appear in court, but tabloids have shown photos of him this year vacationing and apparently in decent form. Walesa was a key figure in Poland's transformation from a member of the Soviet bloc to an independent post-communist nation. An engineer and electrician by trade, shortly after beginning work at the shipyard in Gdansk, Poland (then known as Lenin Shipyard), he came a vocal dissident and worker rights campaigner, and established the Soviet bloc's first trade union, Solidarity. Lech Walesa (pictured in 2005) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for his campaigning in Poland. Lech Walesa was a fierce workers' rights campaigner. Here he is pictured in 2006 (left) on the 26th anniversary of the founding of the Solidarity movement, and right, addressing a crowd during the heyday of his activism in 1989. During this time he operated in fierce opposition to the Polish communist leadership, which included Kiszczak, who is currently being treated in the same hospital as Walesa. Kiszczak was instrumental in overseeing martial law throughout Poland from 1981 - 1983. Walesa's staunch advocacy of worker rights led to him being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and he was later President from 1990 to 1995, where he helped oversee the country's transition through privatization and to a free-market economy.

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Poland's Nobel Peace Prize winner bedridden in hospital with broken leg. Lech Walesa helped found the Solidarity trade union movement in 1980. He is being treated in the same hospital as an old communist nemesis. General Czeslaw Kiszczak played a key role in imposing martial law in 1981. Hospital doctors are examining Kiszczak to see if he is fit to stand trial.