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[...] The research team studied the medical records of 40,770 patients aged over 65 diagnosed with dementia, and compared them to the records of 283,933 people without dementia. More than 27 million prescriptions were analysed.
[...] They found that there was a greater incidence of dementia among patients prescribed greater quantities of anticholinergic antidepressants, and anticholinergic medication for bladder conditions and Parkinson's.
[...] "We studied patients with a new dementia diagnosis and looked at what anticholinergic medication they were prescribed between four and 20 years prior to being diagnosed.
"We found that people who had been diagnosed with dementia were up to 30 per cent more likely to have been prescribed specific classes of anticholinergic medications. And the association with dementia increases with greater exposure to these types of medication.
"What we don't know for sure is whether the medication is the cause. It could be that these medications are being prescribed for very early symptoms indicating the onset of dementia.
"But because our research shows that the link goes back up to 15 or 20 years before someone is eventually diagnosed with dementia, it suggests that reverse causation, or confounding with early dementia symptoms, probably isn't the case.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday April 29 2018, @02:11AM (4 children)
Searched Google. Anticholinergic medication appears to treat secondary symptoms of not only more serious disorders but the side-effects of other medicines, medicines that otherwise-healthy nuts would be prescribed.
Analysis: If the root cause of the ailment is not directly biologically known (as in the Parkinson's example) it's quite possible that other medications people are fed nowadays are the cause of the dementia, rather than what was stated in the article. The summary references Parkinson's in particular but with other drugs used in conjunction with the ones described in the summary, one of their side-effects is called "Parkinsonism."
The research team described in the summary are close but no cigar. They are barking up the wrong tree. How many people pumped up with that Haldol shit also take some other anticholinergic drug to attenuate Haldol's side-effects?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 29 2018, @10:45AM
1. Take drugs to beat disease.
2. Live longer.
3. Get dementia and cancer as time goes by.
Ergo, medication causes dementia and cancer in the same way water and carbon have a 100% mortality rate since anything that lived and died consumed water and carbon.
Putting aside the correlation/causation/duck/witch jokes, there's research like https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/dementia-numbers-developing-world-point-global-epidemic [alzforum.org] suggesting access to medicine, eating healthy and living in a less polluted environment (as indicated by higher education) reduce the likelihood of getting dementia regardless of where you live.
If you want to rule out pollution verses medicine in the above, just look at high-income Beijing families. They still get good medicine but they can't escape the environmental pollution. It's how the vehicle traffic -> air pollution -> cancer and asthma links were made.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 29 2018, @11:59AM
I agree with you. The real value of a study like this is not the conclusions. The value is in pointing towards areas of focus for subsequent research.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 29 2018, @06:10PM
Finally EF has gotten help!! Not a single racist or misogynistic thing in that post. Wonder what horrifying shit he'll respond with.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 30 2018, @10:25AM
You don't have the knowledge to interpret what you're reading... and your interpretation (it's a joke that you call it an analysis as you do) is wrong, just like your anti-vaccine rant above.
Please don't come back with your nonsense again.