Antidepressants may help people recover from stroke even if they are not depressed Jan. 2013
Some antidepressants may be linked to dementia: study
Paris
(AFP) - Long-term use of certain anti-depressants have been linked to
dementia in a large British study, researchers said Thursday, though
they could not definitively conclude that the drugs were the cause.
The
study in more than 300,000 people in Britain found that those diagnosed
with dementia were almost a third more likely to have been prescribed
so-called anticholinergic medicines to treat depression and certain
bladder conditions between four and 20 years earlier.
"What
we don't know for sure is whether the medication is the cause" of the
dementia, said George Savva from the University of East Anglia's School
of Health Science. He had co-authored the study in the BMJ medical
journal.
"It could be that these medications are being prescribed for very early symptoms indicating the onset of dementia."
Anticholinergic
drugs block certain nerve impulses to reduce spasms of the bladder
muscles, for example, and to ease depression symptoms or Parkinson's
Disease.
Anticholinergic
anti-depressants include Amitriptyline, Dosulepin, and Paroxetine, said
the researchers who had compared the medical records of 40,770 dementia
patients over 65 to those of 283,933 people without dementia.
"More
than 50 million people worldwide are affected by dementia and this
number is estimated to be 132 million by 2050," Savva said in a
statement.
"Developing strategies to prevent dementia is therefore a global priority."
The study results suggested a "potential preventative approach" that demands further investigation.
The team urged people taking anticholinergic medicines not to stop until they have consulted their doctor or pharmacist.
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