Anticholinergic medications might increase the risk of ad

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe “Strong anticholinergic medications can cause acute impairment in aspects of cognition,” explains Shelly Gray, lead author of the new report.

“However, the general thinking was that any effect on cognition was reversible once the medication was discontinued.” A previous study had suggested a link between dementia and prior use of

anticholinergic drugs, but questions remained over what level of exposure—in terms of dose and duration—conferred a substantial risk. Gray and colleagues prospectively followed a cohort of

3,434 people aged over 65 years who were enrolled in a Group Health Cooperative (WA, USA) health-care plan. At study entry, and every 2 years thereafter, participants' cognitive

function was assessed using the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument. Every member of the study cohort was cognitively normal at the beginning of the study, and participants who showed

signs of impairment during the follow-up period received a standardized dementia screening protocol. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS

Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access $209.00 per year only $17.42 per issue Learn more Buy this article * Purchase on

SpringerLink * Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about

institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support REFERENCES * Gray, S. L. _ et al_. Cumulative use of strong anticholinergics and incident dementia: a prospective

cohort study. _JAMA Int. Med._ 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.7663 Download references Authors * Alex Chase View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Chase, A. Anticholinergic medications might increase the risk of AD. _Nat Rev Neurol_ 11, 125 (2015).

https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2015.11 Download citation * Published: 10 February 2015 * Issue Date: March 2015 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2015.11 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone

you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the

Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative