I'd rather have to take a leak every five minutes than this poison:
"Incontinence drugs linked to problems with memory"
"by Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press | April 18, 2008
CHICAGO - Commonly used incontinence drugs may cause memory problems in some older people, a study has found.
"Our message is to be careful when using these medicines," said US Navy neurologist Dr. Jack Tsao, who led the study. "It may be better to use diapers and be able to think clearly than the other way around."
Urinary incontinence sometimes can be resolved with nondrug treatments, he added, so patients should ask about alternatives. Exercises, biofeedback, and keeping to a schedule of bathroom breaks work for many.
US sales of prescription drugs to treat urinary problems topped $3 billion in 2007, according to
See?
They don't care about your health (Viagra makes you blind, so you are better off beating off and getting hair on your palms), they only care about $$$$$$$!!!
Bladder control trouble affects about one in 10 people age 65 and older, according to the National Institute on Aging, which helped fund the study. Women are more likely to be affected than men. Causes include nerve damage, loss of muscle tone, and, in men, enlarged prostate.
The research began after Tsao met a 73-year-old patient. Shortly after starting an incontinence drug, she began hallucinating conversations with dead relatives and having memory problems. Her thinking improved when she stopped the drug.
Tsao and his colleagues knew of similar reports. They decided to look at a large group of people to see if they could measure an effect of these and other medications that affect acetylcholine, a chemical messenger that shuttles signals through the brain and the rest of the nervous system. The drugs block some nerve impulses, such as spasms of the bladder.
The findings, released yesterday at a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, come from an analysis of the medication use and cognitive test scores of 870 older Catholic priests, nuns, and brothers who participated in the Religious Orders Study at Chicago's Rush University Medical Center. The average age was 75.
Researchers tracked them for nearly eight years, testing yearly for cognitive decline. They asked them to recite strings of numbers backward and forward, to name as many different kinds of fruit as they could in one minute, and to complete other challenges during the annual testing.
Nearly 80 percent of the participants took one or more of a class of drugs called anticholinergics, including drugs for high blood pressure, asthma, Parkinson's disease, and incontinence."
Oh, so it could be any poison they give us. At least that clears that up.
Excuse me a minute, readers, I have to go to the bathroom.
:-)
