| |
|
| This news site is not sanctioned by, nor part of, the Diamond Headache Foundation, The American Academy of Neurology OR The American Headache Society. |
| News covering selected sessions related to migraine from 2008 medical conferences. |
| Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology |
Chicago, IL April 15-18, 2008 |
|
|
|
| |
Anticholinergic Drugs, Cognitive Decline
Linked in Rush Religious Order Study |
|
|
BY DENISE NAPOLI
Assistant Editor |
CHICAGO
— The use of anticholinergic drugs triggered swift
cognitive decline in an elderly cohort compared with people not
taking such agents, which include medicines for stomach cramps,
motion sickness, and urinary incontinence.
“Doctors may need to take this into account before prescribing
these commonly used drugs,” said Dr. Jack Tsao, a neurologist at
the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences,
Bethesda, Md.
Dr. Tsao looked at the annual change in cognition in a cohort of
870 Roman Catholic nuns and other clergy members who had no
cognitive impairment at enrollment. The average age of the
cohort was 75 years. The participants were part of the ongoing
Religious Orders Study at
Rush University Medical Center, Chicago. This is a
collaborative, longitudinal cohort study of cognition and aging
that is designed to capitalize on the excellent record keeping
and relatively clean living of religious clergy.
All of the participants underwent yearly cognitive tests and
also reported their medication use to researchers, who confirmed
the reports by direct observation of patients’ pill bottles. At
the time of their enrollment in the study, none of the
participants showed any signs of dementia. A
21-item global cognitive function test was used to evaluate
changes in cognitive abilities. The average follow-up was 7.8
years.
Overall, 679 people took at least one anticholinergic medicine
at some point during the study period. The remaining nonusers
served as a reference population. The results were adjusted for
age, gender and education levels. There were no differences in
rate of cognitive decline between the medicated group and the
reference group before initiation of use of the anticholinergic
drugs.
Compared with the reference group, the rate of cognitive decline
after drug initiation in the medicated group was more rapid, at
0.045 units per year (P = .0044), or approximately 1.5 times as
fast.
Dr. Tsao and his colleagues could offer no explanation for the
mechanism of action of these drugs on cognition. But more
research is needed to identify which drugs in particular are
associated with impairment, and why, Dr. Tsao said while
presenting his findings at the annual meeting of the American
Academy of Neurology.
Dr. Tsao has financial ties to Amgen Inc., and several of his
fellow investigators on the study disclosed financial ties with
various other pharmaceutical companies. The study was supported
in part by a grant from the American Philosophical Society and
the National Institute on Aging.
|
| Copyright 2008 Elsevier Custom Conference Coverage. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, through negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, the Publisher recommends that independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the original authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Publisher, the sponsor, or the editors. Elsevier assumes no liability for any material published herein. |
|
|
|
