Can These Common Drugs Raise Your Risk of Dementia?

There are constant studies to examine how common drugs and medications may affect our bodies. Recently, many people are curious about dementia – specifically if certain common medications may increase your risk of dementia. Here’s what we found.

Dementia is a blanket term for a series of different conditions that negatively impact the brain.

These conditions usually progress slowly, causing problems with memory as well as an overall decline in cognitive function.

Unfortunately, few forms of dementia are curable. Over time, the body “forgets” how to handle normal bodily functions, leading to death.

Medication may slow the progression of symptoms.

What Are the Different Types of Dementia?

There are several different types of dementia; each has the ability to alter a person’s ability to live a normal life.

• Alzheimer’s disease — the most common form of dementia
• Vascular dementia — caused by reduced blood flow to the brain
• Lewy body dementia (LBD) — Substances called Lewy Bodies build up on the brain, damaging brain cells and disrupting neurological function
• Korsakoff Syndrome — a chronic memory disorder caused by a B1 deficiency
• Frontotemporal dementia — occurs when there is nerve cell damage or loss in the temporal and/or frontal lobes of the brain

Upon evaluation, some people are found to have more than one form of dementia.

This is known as mixed or multifactorial dementia. For example, a person may have vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s at the same time.

What Are the Common Risk Factors of Dementia?

While it’s important to understand your risk factors for developing any condition or disease, it’s also important to remember that a risk is not a guarantee.

Having a risk factor does not necessarily mean you will develop any condition, including dementia.

Furthermore, research proves you may be able to reduce that risk with diet, exercise, and regular medical care.

Dementia Risk Factors

• Genetics, or a family history
• Heavy smoking
• Alcohol abuse
• Heart or vascular disease (including high blood pressure)
• History of head injury
• Gender (females are more likely than males)
• Aging in general (your risk doubles every five years after age 65)
• Elevated blood sugars (with or without a diabetes diagnosis)
• History of depression
• History of disordered sleeping (including sleep apnea)
• Obesity

Can Common Drugs or Medications Increase Your Risk of Dementia?

While some forms of dementia have identifiable traits, researchers are still trying to identify the underlying reasons dementia develops.

What they do know so far is that the prolonged use of certain medications is likely to increase your risk. Anticholinergics, specifically, are an area of great concern.

What Are Anticholinergics?

Anticholinergics are a category of drug that disrupt the body’s neurotransmitters.

They specifically block a substance known as acetylcholine, which is responsible for sending messages that control muscular movements, but it also a major player when it comes to preserving one’s memory.

Drugs that treat a wide variety of different health conditions, ranging from depression to lung disorders, fall into this category.

The Study

The study, conducted by the University of East Anglia (UEA), used what is referred to as an Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) scale to assign a one, two, or three rating to each drug reviewed.

Drugs assigned a one were considered least risky, while those labeled a three were considered higher risk.

While few other studies agree, this particular study found that not every drug that falls into the anticholinergic category increases the risk of dementia.

The drugs studied included:

• Antidepressants
• Antipsychotics
• Antiparkinson
• Analgesics
• Gastrointestinal drugs
• Respiratory drugs
• Urological drugs

The Findings

One of the most notable aspects of the study is that the length of time before the diagnosis a drug was used seemed to have little significance.

An individual could have taken a drug labeled with a three anywhere from four to twenty years before the diagnosis.

This particular study placed particular emphasis on the following drugs that were found more troublesome than other common drugs:

• Depression medication
• Parkinson’s medication
• Bladder control medication

It’s important to note, again, that this study focuses on increased risk.

The full study UEA study focused on a group of 40,770 patients ages 65 to 99 with dementia. Each member of the study was paired with a small group of non-dementia patients of a similar gender and age.

The researchers  then compared the lists of medications each patient took in the time period spanning 20 years before diagnosis to look for commonalities between each group, reviewing more than 27 million prescriptions in the process.

Controlling Your Risk Factors of Dementia

You can’t stop the hands of time from turning but you can control some of the other risk factors involved, slowing or preventing brain cell degeneration.

• Seeing your doctor for regular exams: increases the chance of identifying potential problems early on, but it can also give you the tools necessary for prevention. This is especially true when it comes to identifying trends in your weight or blood pressure numbers.
• Abstaining from alcohol use and quitting smoking: these are both important, controllable risk factors as well. Alcohol abuse can cause severe vitamin deficiencies, which have a huge impact on your brain and memory. This ultimately leads to a condition called “wet brain” and can cause the development of Korsakoff Syndrome as well.
• Smoking: deprives your body of proper oxygen supply, also damaging brain cells over time. As a matter of fact, smokers have been found to have a risk factor 30 percent greater than non-smokers when it comes to developing dementia. The same studies that determined the percentage also showed that your risk factor can return to that of a non-smoker after quitting.

While the researchers participating in the UEA study published classifications of common drugs, they did not make their full list of prescriptions readily accessible to the public — and for good reason.

When making a medical decision, it is critical to discuss the risks versus the benefits of any drug with your prescribing physician.

This is especially true when it comes to life-saving lung medications, like inhalers for asthma, or for allergy medications like antihistamines.

Conclusion

There is little reason to deny a drug for a serious medical condition now just because it might increase your risk for developing dementia later on especially with so many other risk factors involved.

You can (and should) ask your doctor or local pharmacist as many questions as you have about common drugs you are using before making your final decision.