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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 Tsao's group evaluated the annual changes in thinking ability of 870 Catholic nuns and clergy members who are part of an ongoing study of older people called the Rush Religious Orders Study.
During the eight-year follow-up, 679 participants took at least one medicine that was an anticholinergic. Those who took the drugs had a rate of cognitive function decline that was 1.5 times faster than those not on the drugs.
Overall, those not on the drugs had a decline in cognitive performance of about 0.5 on the scale used, Tsao said. Those on the medicines showed a decline of 1.5.
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When they looked more closely at individual drugs, they found those used for bladder problems and Parkinson's disease impaired memory about three times as much as those not taking anticholinergic drugs.
Another study, published in 2006 in the British Medical Journal, found that elderly people taking anticholinergics had poorer performance on memory and other tests than those who didn't take the drugs.
Another expert, Dr. Niall Galloway, a urologist and director of the Emory University Continence Center in Atlanta, said one strength of the study is that it includes relatively large numbers. Overall, however, he said, "this is not a strong study."
One major problem, he said is that the volunteers are "lumped together," regardless of what the indication is for taking an anticholinergic. It would be helpful to know more specific information, such as how many anticholinergics each patient was taking and how those taking one compared to those taking more than one.
Tsao agreed that more specific information would be better. Meanwhile, he said, "my recommendation is, if someone is having what they feel is a noticeable problem with their ability to remember things, they need to go see their doctor. And they need to mention if they are on one of these drugs."
Galloway agreed, saying that many patients may stay on medications longer than they need to, either because they forget to ask the doctor about it or the doctor doesn't re-evaluate. It's a fair question, he said, to ask your doctor if you need to continue a medication.
More information
To learn more about older adults and medications, visit the U.S. National Institute on Aging.
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