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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nFrequent consumption of a common drug that acts on the nervous system and treats a range of ailments may lead to faster ageing in older adults, a new study says.<\/p>\n
The study, published in JAMA Open Network<\/em>, concludes that high exposure to anticholinergic drugs used for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bladder illnesses and Parkinson\u2019s is associated with a faster decline in physical performance in older age.<\/p>\nAnticholinergic drugs block the action of the nerve-to-nerve signalling molecule acetylcholine, which plays a key role in the functioning of the nervous system. By inhibiting acetylcholine, these drugs affect several key bodily functions controlled by the nervous system. Their sedative and cognitive adverse effects, though, can be reversed with discontinuation.<\/p>\n
It is not completely clear if their prolonged use is linked to sustained reduced physical function, researchers say.<\/p>\n
Previous studies indicate that regular consumption of anticholinergics may have a constant effect over time, meaning all past exposure may show the same effect on the current risk of physical decline. <\/p>\n
The latest study assesses the effects of cumulative exposure to the drugs over a decade, accounting for varying intensity, duration and timing of past intake.<\/p>\n
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Representational (AFP via Getty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nResearchers monitored changes in walking speed and grip strength of over 4,000 older adults over time and compared this with their exposure to anticholinergic medications based on data collected from February 1994 to March 2020. While grip strength appeared unaffected, a higher exposure to anticholinergics was linked to a greater decline in walking speed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHigher anticholinergic exposure was associated with accelerated decline in physical performance,\u201d scientists wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe accumulation of loss over time can become clinically meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n
These findings are significant as frailty and changes in balance and gait are increasingly linked to multiple measures of poor health outcomes, including disability and mortality.<\/p>\n
Researchers call for minimising the prescription of anticholinergic medication to promote healthy ageing. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe provide novel findings by considering time-varying anticholinergic exposure and examining the annual change rate of physical performance,\u201d they wrote in the study. \u201cAnticholinergics are associated with numerous adverse outcomes in older adults. Therefore, it is essential for clinicians to avoid their use whenever possible, prescribe the lowest effective dose and periodically reevaluate patients to identify de-prescribing opportunities to minimise potential harms.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Frequent consumption of a common drug that acts on the nervous system and treats a range of ailments may lead to faster ageing in older adults, a new study says. The study, published in JAMA Open Network, concludes that high exposure to anticholinergic drugs used for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bladder illnesses and Parkinson\u2019s is associated with a faster decline in physical performance in older age. Anticholinergic drugs block the action of the nerve-to-nerve signalling molecule acetylcholine, which plays a key role in the functioning of the nervous system. By inhibiting acetylcholine, these drugs affect several key bodily functions controlled by the nervous system. Their sedative and cognitive adverse effects, though, can be reversed with discontinuation. It is not completely clear if their prolonged use is linked to sustained reduced physical function, researchers say. Previous studies indicate that regular consumption of anticholinergics may have a constant effect over time, meaning all past e…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}