Anticholinergics are widely used for a variety of common medical conditions including insomnia, allergies, or incontinence, and many are sold over the counter. Now a large six-year study of older African-Americans has found that taking one anticholinergic significantly increased an individual's risk of developing mild cognitive impairment and taking two of these drugs doubled this risk. The risk was greater for those who didn’t have the ‘Alzheimer’s gene’, APOE-e4.
This class of drugs includes Benadryl®, Dramamine®, Excedrin PM®, Nytol®, Sominex®, Tylenol PM®, Unisom®, Paxil®, Detrol®, Demerol® and Elavil® (for a more complete list of medications with anticholinergic effects, go to http://www.indydiscoverynetwork.org/AnticholienrgicCognitiveBurdenScale....).
Reference:
[1671]
(2010). Use of anticholinergics and the risk of cognitive impairment in an African American population.
Neurology. 75(2), 152 - 159.
