July 1, 2019
Each year, 200,000 new cases of dementia are diagnosed and 900,000 people develop Alzheimer’s disease. A growing number that raises questions about certain drugs.
A study on anticholinergics
Anticholinergics are drugs prescribed to treat depression, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, but also overactive bladder. A British study showed that people over 55 who used these drugs had a 50% risk of dementia.
Scientists at the University of Nottingham studied data from about 58,000 people with dementia. The patients all over the age of 55 had an average age of 82. The study found that 57% of participants with dementia had taken anticholinergics. These people received an average of six prescriptions. The most prescribed drug was the antidepressant, the antimuscarinic but also drugs against dizziness.
A higher risk of dementia
The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, followed the patients over eleven years. It also shows that the risk of dementia increased by 49% for people who used anticholinergic drugs compared to people who had never taken it. These drugs could cause deterioration of certain cognitive abilities. They would have an impact on memory, language but also reaction time.
The link between dementia and these drugs is most important when the disease is diagnosed before age 80. Researchers recommend certain precautions with anticholinergics especially in middle-aged and elderly people. However, it is not advisable to stop this treatment suddenly and it is necessary to talk to a doctor before making a decision.
Stephanie Haerts
Read also : Dementia: three times more cases expected by 2050
