Incontinence Drugs may cause cognitive problems

[Guest guest]

In today's Connecticut Post it was reported:Commonly used incontinece

drugs may cause memory problems in some older people. Dr. Jack Tsao,

a U.S. Navy neurologist led the study. The research began after Tsao

met a 73 year old patient. Shortly after starting an incontince drug

she began hallucinating converstations with dead relative. Her

thinking improved when she stopped the drug for several months.

Tsao and his collegagues decided to look at a larg group of people to

see if they could measure the effect of these and other medications

that affect acetylcholine, a chimical messenger that shuttles signals

through the brain and the rest of the nervous system.

Nearly 80 opercent (Yikes) of the study participants took one ofr

more of a class of drugs called anticholinergics including drugs for

high blood pressure, asthma, Parkinsons, and incontinence drugs such

as Detrol and Ditropan.

The people who took the drugs had a 50 percent faster rate of

cognitive decline compare to those who didn't

Here is another article in the Miami

Herald.http://www.miamiherald.com/852/story/499998.html

So is this another case of nature versus " nurturning " by our

pharmacutical companies(whose sales of uninary prescription drugs

topped $3billion in 2007) Add this to your do-not-take statins list

for drugs to avoid. As a card carrying member of the baby boomer

generation I am hoping that those who may be helping me make choices

as I age have the love and wisdom to approach with caution all drugs

offered.

Of course, my dad who is 84 and has suffered with Lewy since his 70s

has never taken any drugs, has all his own teeth and hair so for him

being healthy physically has made his on going time with Lewy a long

journey.

P.S. Did anyone see this week's Boston Legal?

Bergan's character went to court to petition for a morphine

drip for her dad. He had fallen and broken some ribs and was in end

stage ALZ (wish they gave Lewy some prime time exposure) and she said

she wanted the drug to manage his pain (he winced when anyone touched

him) The doctor refused because of his frail condition. So she went

to court and it was a powerful court case.. She did win. Her real

reason we learn is to help assist her dad to die as he had no quality

of life and he had verbally conveyed his wishes to her on life

without quality. I am sure we have all had this debate at times as

we watch our loved ones linger in this nowhere land -their minds and

whole essence have long left us but their bodies linger.... Tough

show but thought provoking.