When you take medicine for everyday health issues like allergies, high blood pressure, or even a cold, you expect it to help you feel better. But scientists from the University of California, San Diego, have found that some of these medications could actually make your memory worse over time.
The medicines in question belong to a group called anticholinergic drugs. These are used for a wide range of problems—people take them for blood pressure, hay fever, colds, bladder issues, Parkinson’s disease, and more.
There are around 100 types of these drugs. Some are available over the counter, meaning you can buy them without a prescription, while others need a doctor’s approval.
The researchers studied 688 older adults, with an average age of 74. At the beginning of the study, none of the participants had any memory or thinking problems. To join the study, they had to be taking anticholinergic medications regularly—at least once a week for more than six months.
The researchers followed these people for up to 10 years, checking on their memory and brain function every year. About one-third of the participants were taking at least one anticholinergic drug, and many were taking more than one—about five different kinds on average.
Some commonly used ones included Metoprolol and Atenolol (for blood pressure), Loratadine (for allergies), and Bupropion (often used for depression or to help people quit smoking).
The results were concerning. People who were taking at least one anticholinergic drug had a 47% higher chance of developing memory problems during the study. These problems could be early warning signs of more serious brain issues, like Alzheimer’s disease.
Even more alarming, people who already had early signs of Alzheimer’s in their brain—something that can be found with certain medical tests—were four times more likely to have memory trouble if they were also taking anticholinergic drugs.
And if someone had genes that made them more likely to get Alzheimer’s, these drugs raised their risk of memory loss by 2.5 times.
This research suggests that medicines meant to treat common problems might be causing harm to our brains, especially in older adults.
It doesn’t mean you should stop taking your medicine on your own, but it does mean you might want to talk to your doctor about the risks and whether there are safer options—especially if you’re worried about memory loss or have a family history of dementia.
The lead researcher, Lisa Delano-Wood, emphasized the importance of thinking carefully about which medicines we use, especially as we get older. Her study was published in the medical journal Neurology, which focuses on brain health.
In the meantime, taking care of your overall health can also protect your brain. Keeping your blood pressure in a healthy range, eating nutritious foods like beetroot, and staying active are all good ways to look after your heart—and your memory. More and more studies are showing that what’s good for the heart is also good for the brain.
This study is a strong reminder that even common medications can have side effects we don’t always expect. Paying attention to what we take—and how it affects us—can help us make better choices for our long-term health.
If you care about brain health, please read studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and Omega-3 fats and carotenoid supplements could improve memory.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about antioxidants that could help reduce dementia risk, and higher magnesium intake could help benefit brain health.
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