Anticholinergics, and drugs with anticholinergic properties, are widely and frequently prescribed, especially to the elderly. It is well known that these drugs decrease cognitive function and increase the risk of dementia. Although the mechanism of anticholinergic drug-induced cognitive impairment has been assumed to be functionally reduced acetylcholine (ACh) neurotransmission, some data have ...

Anticholinergics are commonly used in primary and secondary care settings for the treatment of overactive bladder syndrome. The number of anticholinergic drugs available on the market is increasing and various studies, both observational and randomized controlled trials, have evaluated effectiveness of the different preparations available. When anticholinergic therapy is prescribed, there is st...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to determine if serum anticholinergic activity (SACA) arises from endogenous substances produced during illness. METHODS Elderly medical inpatients (N = 612) were screened for anticholinergic medication use in the week prior to the study by interviews of subjects and proxies and review of emergency room, hospital, and nursing home medication administra...

One characteristic neuropathological feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is profound neuronal loss in the nucleus basalis of Meynert, the major source of cholinergic innervation of the cerebral cortex. Clinically, anticholinergic activity causes a decline in cognitive function and increases the risk of dementia, thus possibly enhancing AD pathologies and neurodegeneration. Until now there has b...

Study selection Randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials in adults with symptomatic diagnosis of overactive bladder syndrome, urodynamic diagnosis of detrusor overactivity, or both, that compared an anticholinergic drug (given to decrease symptoms of overactive bladder) with placebo or no treatment. Studies of darifenacin, emepronium bromide or carrageenate, dicyclomine chloride, oxybut...

The results are reported of a trial in which 34 patients receiving a stable dose of levodopa for the treatment of idiopathic Parkinsonism, as well as anticholinergic drugs which they had been taking before the introduction of levodopa, underwent withdrawal of their anticholinergic remedies. Withdrawal was gradual over four weeks in 17 patients (group 1) and abrupt in the remaining 17 (group 2)....

OBJECTIVE An epidemic of scopolamine poisonings occurred in Oslo in 2008 among users of illicit drugs, caused by fake Rohypnol pills. The clinical features, diagnostic process, and handling of the epidemic are presented. METHODS Suspected cases of scopolamine poisoning were extracted by reviewing registration forms from an ongoing prospective clinical study of acute poisonings in Oslo. Medica...

We report 2 cases of teenagers who were poisoned with Jimson weed (Datura stramonium) and presented to the emergency department with a severe acute anticholinergic toxidrome after ingestion of several hundred seeds. The patients presented with visual hallucinations, disorientation, incomprehensible and nonsensical speech, and dilated sluggish pupils. Both patients required restraints for combat...