Risk of overactive bladder associated with medications for dementia
A study from the University of Houston College of Pharmacy, and published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, has evaluated the risk of overactive bladder (OAB) as a side effect of cholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI) drugs taken for dementia and Alzheimer's disease. The research was based on the dissertation work of the study's first author Prajakta Masurkar.
Dementia is a group of symptoms associated with a decline in memory, reasoning or other thinking skills. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for 60%–80% of cases. ChEI drugs, including donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine, increase communication between nerve cells to enhance cognition.
"The study found that the risk of overactive bladder varies across individual ChEIs," reports Rajender R. Aparasu, Mustafa and Sanober Lokhandwala Endowed Professor of Pharmacy and chair, Department of Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy. "Using a national cohort of older adults with dementia, we also found that donepezil was associated with a 13% increased risk of OAB compared to rivastigmine, whereas there was no differential risk of OAB with galantamine and rivastigmine."
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