Cognitive decline can range from mild memory issues to severe dementia, with Alzheimer’s disease being the most common form. Many factors can cause memory and thinking problems, including depression, infections, and medication side effects. Some causes are treatable, but others, like Alzheimer’s, cannot be reversed.
A study from the University of California San Diego suggests that a common group of medications may increase the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, a condition that can lead to dementia.
These drugs, called anticholinergic drugs, are used to treat various health issues, including high blood pressure, motion sickness, urinary incontinence, overactive bladder, and Parkinson’s disease.
There are around 100 different anticholinergic drugs available, some by prescription and others over the counter. The study found that the risk of memory problems was especially high in people who already had biological or genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers followed 688 adults with an average age of 74 who had no memory or thinking issues at the start of the study.
Participants reported whether they had taken any anticholinergic drugs at least once a week for more than six months before the study began. They then took cognitive tests every year for up to 10 years.
One-third of the participants were taking at least one anticholinergic drug, with an average of 4.7 different drugs per person. The most commonly used drugs included metoprolol, atenolol, loratadine, and bupropion.
The findings showed that people taking anticholinergic drugs were 47% more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment over the next decade than those who were not taking these medications.
The risk was even higher for people with early biological signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Those with Alzheimer’s-related biomarkers in their cerebrospinal fluid who took anticholinergic drugs were four times more likely to develop cognitive impairment than those without the biomarkers who were not taking the drugs.
Similarly, participants who had genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and took anticholinergic drugs were about 2.5 times more likely to develop memory problems compared to those without genetic risks who were not taking these medications.
These findings suggest that avoiding or reducing the use of anticholinergic drugs may help prevent memory decline, especially for people who are at higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
The study was led by Dr. Lisa Delano-Wood and published in Neurology.
If you care about Alzheimer’s, please read studies about the likely cause of Alzheimer’s disease , and new non-drug treatment that could help prevent Alzheimer’s.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about diet that may help prevent Alzheimer’s, and results showing some dementia cases could be prevented by changing these 12 things.
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