Drugs for overactive bladder are increasing the risk of dementia in hundreds of thousands of Britons, new research has revealed.
Pills called anticholinergics work by slowing the movement of certain muscles to stop bladder contractions.
This helps to stop the incontinence and the urge to urinate frequently.
But a new study of almost 1 million Britons suggests that certain types of medication can increase the risk of dementia by a third.
British experts compared the health records of more than 170,000 dementia patients over the age of 55 with 800,000 dementia patients in England.
Overall, the authors found that anticholinergic intake was associated with an 18 percent increased risk of developing dementia.
However, the risk is slightly higher in men – 22 percent, 16 percent in women.
Certain types of drugs also had a significantly higher risk.
Medications for overactive bladder, taken by hundreds of thousands of Britons, may increase the risk of mental illness, new research suggests.
Those prescribed oxybutynin hydrochloride had a 31 percent higher risk of developing dementia, while those on tolterodine tartrate had a 27 percent higher risk.
The experts said their findings emphasize that medical professionals should consider alternative treatments for overactive bladder in older patients.
According to NHS data, hundreds of thousands of prescriptions for these drugs are issued every month by the health service in England.
However, the authors who published their study in British Medical JournalThey found that some types of anticholinergics were not associated with dementia.
These are darifenacin, fesoterodine fumarate, flavoxate hydrochloride, propeverine hydrochloride and trospium chloride.
The experts analyzed the non-anticholinergic drug mirabegron, which is prescribed to patients with overactive bladder but works by a different mechanism than anticholinergics.
While the scientists found some evidence of dementia with this drug, the data is unclear and more research is needed, they said.
OpenPrescribing, a data source supported by the NHS, records around 110,000 oxybutynin prescriptions each month.
Clinicians should ‘consider the potential long-term risks and outcomes of treatment options for bladder cancer in the elderly,’ they concluded in their report.
Doctors should ‘consider prescribing alternative therapies associated with a lower risk of dementia,’ he added.
The study was carried out by analyzing the health records of 170,742 Britons aged over 55 with dementia who had taken an anticholinergic drug or mirabegron between three and 16 years earlier.
Each Briton with dementia was matched to a matched control group of 800,000 participants by their exact age, gender and GP practice.
The study had several limitations, the first of which was a lack of information on the exact dose given to patients, which meant the authors could not fully investigate whether higher doses of certain drugs increased the risk of dementia over time.
Another is that the data is based on patient records that may be unreliable or incomplete.
Although it is not fully known how the drugs affect the brain, the study is not the first to link certain anticholinergics to an increased risk of dementia.
Previous studies have highlighted oxybutynin, sold under brands such as Aspei, Ditropan, and Kentara. Special danger Because it has a smaller molecular size than other types.
Inability to learn new tasks and struggle to concentrate on one task can be a sign of dementia.
This allows it to penetrate deeper into the brain and have a greater effect on the sensitive tissues there, experts say.
OpenPrescribing, an NHS-backed data resource, has recorded around 110,000 oxybutynin prescriptions per month for the taxpayer at just 15p per pill.
Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a variety of progressive diseases that affect memory, thinking, and behavior.
There are many different types of dementia, with Alzheimer’s disease being the most common.
Dementia is a growing problem in Britain due to aging, with around one million people estimated to be living with the condition, although this is predicted to rise.
The problem is thought to cost the country £40billion a year, a combination of healthcare costs and lost income from people taking time off work to care for loved ones.
The new study comes just days after Britons were warned about another drug, this time to control acid reflux. It is also associated with dementia.
