Treatment of depression comorbid with dementia among the elderly patients

Depression is a frequently encountered comorbidity in individuals with dementia, posing significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.Among older adult population, clinical manifestations often do not represent a typical phenotype of depressive symptoms, which poses a challenging issue in the differential diagnosing process and requires engaging additional clinical assessment tools for guiding patient management.Conjunction of multimorbidity and polypharmacy in these individuals, creates obstacles in the pharmacological treatment of depression, because of higher risk of adverse drug reactions and interactions.In this review we present a comprehensive summary of the clinical approach to depression in the context of dementia.We discuss development of those two diseases, while identifying senior patients at increased risk of depression, and latest treatment strategies.Further, we draw attention to the fact that according to mildly cognitively impaired individuals' consideration of efficacy and safety profiles of particular classes of antidepressants is extremely significant.Obtaining sufficient treatment requires a holistic approach to our patients, therefore we included in this review non-pharmacological interventions, which may enhance medication.