Several Common Drugs Are Linked to Dementia

It is well-known that dementia is often a result of aging. However, sometimes it can be caused by medications.

Drug-induced dementia, the late neurologist and neurosurgeon K.K. Jain wrote, is a type of reversible dementia different from common neurodegenerative disorders.

Several drugs increase the risks of dementia, the most prominent being anticholinergic drugs, anti-epileptics, oncology drugs, and sedative-hypnotic drugs. These are all common prescriptions for older people.

In recent years, antidepressants have also been linked with dementia risks.

Psychiatrist Dr. Peter Breggin, who has published several books on psychopharmacology, told The Epoch Times that most drugs on the market have some degree of neurotoxicity, which can lead to cognitive and neurological side effects.

Not everyone will be affected by a drug’s neurotoxic effects, though older people and those with brain deficits are more vulnerable.

With illnesses that surface in old age and the pills prescribed to treat each symptom, older people also tend to be the most likely cohort to be prescribed drugs that damage their cognition.

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