Popular Drugs Linked To Dementia Even At Low Dosage [View all]

[azurnoir]

A new study out of the University of Washington provides the strong evidence that certain popular drugs may increase the risk for dementia in older adults. The drugs share some common mechanisms within key areas of the brain, but are used primarily as ingredients in over-the-counter sleep, cough and cold, and allergy medicines as well as in the treatment of an overactive bladder and depression.
Drugs and Dementia

The most commonly used drug linked to dementia was diphenhydramine, which is used in many popular products such as Benadryl, Nytol Sominex, Theraflu, Triaminic Allergy, plus many others. Also implicated where drugs containing chlorpheniramine (Aller-Chlor); oxybutynin (Ditropan) and tolterodine (Detrol) for overactive bladder; and the tricyclic antidepressants, such as doxepin or amitriptyline.
Background Data

Acetylcholine is a critical brain chemical involved in the transmission of the nerve impulse and is especially important for proper memory and cognitive function. For example, Alzheimer’s disease is associated with a severe reduction in acetylcholine levels due to reduced activity of the enzyme that manufactures acetylcholine (choline acetyltransferase).

Given the link between low acetylcholine levels and poor brain function, including dementia, previous studies have linked drugs to reduced acetylcholine activity as well as mild cognitive impairment. These drugs include the ones mentioned in the introduction above. While discontinuation of the drugs is thought to reverse the mental deficit, there is evidence that anticholinergic drugs may produce permanent changes leading to irreversible dementia. These drugs are known to cause short-term drowsiness or confusion, which is included in the prescribing information, but the long-term effects these drugs have on mental function are generally not known by physicians or the people taking them.

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