SEATTLE: In a study of more than 3,000 older Group Health patients living in the community, taking commonly used medications with anticholinergic effects is associated with a significantly higher risk for developing pneumonia, said senior author Sascha Dublin, MD, PhD, a Group Health physician and Group Health Research Institute (GHRI) associate investigator.
“This is important because so many older people use these medications, and pneumonia is such a common cause of illness and death in this age group.” Dr. Dublin is also an affiliate associate professor of epidemiology at the UW School of Public Health.
A recent University of Washington (UW)-Group Health study linked cumulative use of anticholinergic medications to a higher risk for dementia. Dr. Dublin was a coauthor of that study of a different group of Group Health patients. Anticholinergic medications block the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine in the brain and body, and that can cause many side effects, including sedation, confusion, constipation, vision changes, retaining urine, and dry mouth and eyes.
In the new study, more than 1,000 Group Health patients aged 65 to 94 years who developed pneumonia were compared with a control group of more than 2,000 patients who were matched to the first group by age, sex, and year and didn’t get the disease…