In the spirit of an earlier post that suggests you should not believe everything you read, we are providing the research paper to this CNN report from last week on commonly prescribed drugs and the incidence of dementia. This study is typical of large epidemiological reviews of medical data bases, not necessarily explaining cause, but observing correlations. You make your own deductions ……
And just to point out, this research focuses on anticholinergic drugs alone, although the CNN piece expands it to other drug classes where there does seem to be additional clinical evidence of long standing – this is not new news!! And before you ask ……
Anticholinergic drugs range from the overactive-bladder agents and the Parkinson’s-disease agents that are known to be strongly anticholinergic, to drugs such as warfarin, furosemide (Lasix, Sanofi-Aventis), hydrochlorothiazide, and ranitidine(Zantac, GlaxoSmithKline), an antireflux drug, that have weaker anticholinergic properties
(Medscape – Anticholinergic Drugs May Increase Cognitive Decline, April 2018).
Several antidepressants, like amitryptiline also fall into this same category .. just sayin’!
On a personal note, I once tried hydrochlorothiazide to control blood pressure, but felt lousy from it so dropped the drug – otherwise I could have been on it for the past several years.