There is a significant link between serious falls causing injury in older men and a particular group of commonly used medicines, say scientists who analysed data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing.
The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, led by Trinity College Dublin, commenced in October 2009 with the aim of making Ireland the best place in the world to grow old. This study has recorded the medications the participants aged 50 and over were taking and the number and type of falls they had experienced, among other things.
An analysis of the data shows that falls resulting in injury were more than twice as likely in men taking medicines with potent anti-cholinergic activity. However, there was no such association between the anticholinergic medications and falls for women.
Many of the medicines prescribed for bladder problems, depression, psychosis, insomnia, and respiratory problems, common in older people, have anti-cholinergic effects.
The anticholinergic medications block the neurotransmitter Acetylcholine, which is involved in passing messages between nerve cells. This can lead to side effects including blurred vision, increased heart rate, sedation and confusion, say the scientists.
Commenting on the findings, Kathryn Richardson, a former PhD student at Trinity, who is now a Research Fellow at the University of East Anglia said, "Our findings indicate the importance for doctors, pharmacists and healthcare professionals to regularly review the appropriateness of medications taken by their older patients. It is however, important that people don't stop taking any medications before speaking with their GP. It is not fully clear why the same link was not found in women and further research is needed to explore this and the reasons behind the findings in men".
The findings are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
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