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How is this better than giving drugs for these people to keep them happy until they die?

• nerdponx 10y ago
  It's not at all obvious to me that drugs are actually keeping dementia suffers happy.
• throwaway7767 10y ago
  From my experience watching grandparents with alzheimers in a nursing home whose primary treatment is pumping drugs into the patients, I wouldn't say they come off as happy. Actually, if there is a hell on earth, those places are about as close to it as you'll get.
• will_hughes 10y ago
  You can't keep them bed bound for N years until they die. The problem with severe dementia is that people forget - not only where they live, but whole swathes of time. They forget people, places, faces, all sorts of things (varying based on their particular condition). So they wander off, trying to go home or just to go somewhere else. In many nursing homes this is handled by having locked wards, which are often completely indoors or have small fenced areas. This is a more village like aspect, so someone can go and do normal activities without putting themselves at risk.