Two years after Grace died in 2003, a randomized double-blind study found that neuroleptics caused greater cognitive decline than a placebo. A study in 2005 conducted by researchers at King's College in London reported that neuroleptics actually hasten death.
Vancouver's premier Alzheimer's expert, neuroscientist Dr. Howard Feldman, director of the University of B.C. Clinic for Alzheimer's Disease, says medical therapy has come a long way since 1990.
While there is still no cure, nor any medication to stop the progression of the disease, the cholinesterase inhibitors now commonly used do modestly improve function in some patients. And since the release of the studies about neuroleptics, prescriptions have declined.
"There is a risk of increased mortality with the neuroleptics that we have come to realize, so they are now used very judiciously," he says.
Ray didn't know any of this in 1991, but he held firmly to the belief that he could better treat Grace with love, stimulation, exercise and good diet.