Common Dementia Medications Could Cause Harmful Weight Loss
Common dementia medications could cause harmful weight loss, according to a new study.
Previous research has shown that cholinesterase inhibitors, the class of drug most commonly used to treat Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, can cause serious side effects in patients, including gastrointestinal problems. It is unknown whether treatment with these drugs is also associated with weight loss, another common, serious issue seen in patients with dementia.
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For their study, researchers followed 1188 patients (age 65 years of older), diagnosed with dementia that received new prescriptions for cholinesterase inhibitors and 2189 patients prescribed other chronic medications between 2007 and 2010.
After 12 months of follow-up, 29.3% of patients on inhibitors had experienced significant weight loss, compared to 22.8% of patients taking other medications.
"Our study provides evidence in a large, real-world population that cholinesterase inhibitors may contribute to clinically significant weight loss in a substantial proportion of older adults with dementia," they concluded.
"Clinicians should take into account the risk of weight loss when weighing the risks and benefits of prescribing cholinesterase inhibitors in patients with dementia. In addition, clinicians should monitor for weight loss if these medications are prescribed and consider discontinuing cholinesterase inhibitors if significant weight loss occurs."
—Michael Potts
Reference:
University of California – San Francisco. Common medications for dementia could cause harmful weight loss [press release]. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-08/uoc--cmf073015.php. Accessed August 3, 2015.