SEE FINAL SECTION FOR INTROD. TO FREE MEDSCAPE USE - OTHER LINKS FREE AS-IS.
tiny URL for linking: http://tinyurl.com/anti-cholinergharm
At the
2015 Alzheimer's Association International Conference this month in Washington DC, two research studies presented findings from the
Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and
Oregon Health & Science University which Maria Carrillo, PhD, chief science officer of the Alzheimer's Association, characterized to
Medscape Medical News as suggesting that biological differences between women and men may figure in vulnerability to cognitive deterioration:
... The Alzheimer's Association is launching a $2 million grant program in the fall that will have a call for applications for researchers to study biological, genetic, and hormonal underpinnings of sex differences in Alzheimer's disease.
Camille Newton, MD,San Diego county, California, critiqued this approach in a comment at
Medscape's reportage:
Women are much more likely to [be prescribed] benzodiazepines, sleeping pills, antidepressants and other psychotropic medications and anticholinergics. These medications have been shown to accelerate cognitive decline. Perhaps we need to do more studies on how medications contribute to dementia. We currently test medications for causing heart failure, kidney failure, liver failure. Why not test and label them for causing brain failure? ... we keep ignoring the issue and it is contributing to an epidemic of dementia. We need to look at the differences in psychotropic medication use between men and women as a possible culprit. Or maybe women's smaller size may also make them more susceptible to the dementing effects of these medications. There are numerous studies showing that many medications can alter cognition - we need to quit treating [dementias] as something that just happens to people and start testing and labeling every medication for it's effect on cognition. [e.g.] American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. Effect of Benzodiazepine Discontinuation on Dementia Risk, Feb 2011, Vol 19, Issue 2 p. 151-159. Wu, et al. [Emphasis added. --ed.]
The Medscape article began with:
Women with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) decline twice as fast as men with MCI, and they also have a much higher risk for cognitive problems after surgery and general anesthesia, new research suggests.
"Two thirds of Americans with Alzheimer's are women, and two thirds of caregivers are women, so this is a problem..." [Emphasis added. --ed.]
Related PubMedCentral articles at
this link including fulltext.
Related DK discussions: ■ Delirium vs Dementia by pharmacist STUDENTOFEARTH for KosAbility, July 19, 2015 ■ The Adverse Drug Effects Discussion in the Medical Community... by mettle fatigue, Jan.2015 ■ Gender in Pharmacokinetics ... & other Women's [Global] Health Topics by mettle fatigue, Feb.2015
Separately see/compare sites:■
MEDLINEPLUS (
WIKIPEDIA descr.) ■
PubMed Central and other authoritative resources.