Some Meds Can Impair Seniors’ Memory

Anticholinergic drugs block the action of acetylcholine, a chemical messenger released by nerve cells to transmit a signal to a neighboring nerve cell or a muscle or gland. Many commonly-used drugs have anticholinergic effects. They are used to treat disorders such as stomach cramps, urinary bladder spasm, asthma, motion sickness, and muscular spasms. And many older people take anticoholinergics, such as Benedryl, Dramamine, Spiriva, or Detrol.

Now there’s a study posted in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society that indicates that exposure to anticholinergics is linked to poor memory in older men. Yale University researchers examined 554 community-dwelling men aged 65 and older who had been diagnosed with high blood pressure. A verbal recall test was used to test short-term memory, and the Instrumental Activity of Daily Living scale was used as a test of executive function. These tests were done at baseline and a year later. Anticholinergic medication use was derived (with permission) from the participants’ doctors records.

The cumulative anticholinergic drug use in the prior year was linked to poorer scores on the memory and daily living tests. Each 1-unit increase per 3-month period was linked to a 0.32-point drop in the verbal memory score and a 0.1 point fall in the daily living score.

It’s hard to see how relevant these somewhat alarming results are. There’s no doubt, however, that prescription of anticholinergics is common in elderly folk. A study published in the Archives of General Psychology demonstrated that 90% of elderly patients had detectable levels of such drugs in their blood. So, ask your doctor next time he/she prescribes a new drug whether it’s an anticholinergic, and if it’s strictly necessary . . .