You'll have to ask your doctor what anticholinergics are and if they know this might be causing your cognitive problems.
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Drugs used to treat common complaints could delay the recovery of
brain injury patients according to research led by University of East
Anglia (UEA) scientists working with other UK universities including
Aston and the NHS, published today in Brain Injury.
Prescribed for up to 50 per cent of older people, medications with
anticholinergic properties are used to treat a broad range of common
conditions including bladder problems, depression and insomnia.
Anticholinergics are already known to have side effects such as
temporary cognitive impairment, dizziness and confusion. But their
effects on people with pre-existing brain and spinal injuries have not
been investigated until now.
Medications with anti-cholinergic properties are often used on
neuro-rehabilitation units frequently to manage symptoms from urinary
incontinence to pain.
The study of 52 patients with acquired brain or spinal injury at a
neuro-rehabilitation unit showed that the average length of stay was
longer in patients with a higher level of anticholinergic drugs in their
system, known as the anticholinergic drug burden, or ACB.
Results showed that the change in ACB correlated directly to the
length of hospital stay. A higher ACB score on discharge, compared with
on admission, was associated with a longer stay in hospital and a lower
ACB on discharge saw on average a shorter stay. The team cautioned
however that as an observational study, cause-and-effect relationship
cannot be implied.
Dr Chris Fox, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Norwich Medical
School at UEA and lead author on the paper, said: “The findings suggest
there may be a statistically significant relationship between ACB score
and length of stay in a neuro-rehabilitation unit following traumatic
brain or spinal cord injury”.
He added: “This pilot study demonstrates the need for larger studies
to confirm the results and need for further investigation into what
long-term effects these common medications are having on the recovery of
these patients.”
“While medications with ACB are often needed to treat common
complications of brain or spinal cord injuries, cognitive impairment due
to the medication may adversely affect a patient’s ability to engage in
the rehabilitation process, potentially increasing their length of stay
in hospital.”
Length of patient stay is used a performance indicator for hospitals,
with financial incentives in place for units to discharge patients as
soon as is safe.
Dr Ian Maidment, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy at Aston
University said: “This work adds to the evidence that anticholinergics
should be avoided in a wide-range of populations, when possible. Regular
medication review by a nurse, doctor or pharmacist may be a way of
ensuring that medicines with anti-cholinergic effects are used
appropriately.”
Prof Fox said: “Identifying factors which might adversely affect the
length of a patient’s stay can have important financial as well as
quality of life implications. So the findings of this study could be
directly useful to current health care settings if they can reduce the
time patients spend in rehabilitation units, improving wider efficiency
of care.”
‘Does anticholinergics drug burden relate to global neuro-disability
outcome measures and length of hospital stay?’ is published in the
journal Brain Injury on Monday 10 August 2015.
https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/-/common-medications-could-delay-brain-injury-recovery
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